New Boro Park Theatre
5102 New Utrecht Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11219
5102 New Utrecht Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11219
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Showing 51 - 75 of 81 comments
The one thing I do not recall seeing in this theatre or
Loew’s 46th Street was an organ. Does any member know for sure?
1952 saw a wide re-release of “King Kong” and “Leopard Man” playing here
View link
Bway… I believe that fine work “When Brooklyn Was The World” has a piurure of the Boro Parks marquee. It is from the early 1920s.
I think this image may show the roof of the Boro Park Theater. This photo was taken in 1969 and taken from the 55th Street station of the New Utrect Ave El:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1787
Here’s another photo that i believe shows at least the roof of the Boro Park. It’s on the opposite side of New Utrect Ave from the 46th Street Theater, and is around where 51st Street should be. This photo was taken in 1974:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?24043
By 1976, the building in the 1969 photos is gone, so if this was the Boro Park Theater, it was demolished between 1974 and 1975:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4520
Does anyone know of any “real” photos of the Boro Park. The ones I found of the theater linked above, obviously are better than nothing, but it would be nice to see something that shows more than just the roofline and watertower.
Had trouble with the computer on Sunday and tried to complete the above before the internet crashed again. In the rush made two small errors. Naturally the figure should be $750,000. Also in the sentence “the theatre was completed two years”— “ago” was left out. Sorry.
The Levy Brothers were not theatre operators has such but builders. Also from the June 7th, 1923 article:
“The theatre and business block was part of 100 lots acquired in 1919 by the Levy Brothers. The builders entered the Boro Park field about ten years ago, and built many small homes and apartments in the section.”
Also in the article “The theatre (Boro Park) is one of the many handsome buildings in this boro, devoted to moving pictures and vaudeville built by the Levy Brothers.”
Excerpts from a July 24th, 1919 Eagle article announcing “Big New Theatre for Borough Park”:
“Borough Park is to have a modern theatre building to be similar in design and size to the Bedford Theatre at Bedford and Bergen Street which has a seating capacity of 2,500. The theatre is to be built by Levy Brothers of 189 Montague Street, builders and proprietors of the Bedford, Ridgewood and Fifth Avenue Theatres.” (to avoid any confusion, this is the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Park Slope)
The new theatre “will occupy a plot 200 feet on 12th Avenue, 111 feet on New Utrecht Avenue and 146 feet on 52nd Street”. It was to be called the “Borough Park”.
Excerpt from Brooklyn Eagle article March 28th, 1921:
“Brooklyn’s newest neighborhood theatre, the Boro Park, seating 2,500, just completed at the corner of 51st St. New Utrecht, has been bought by the B.F. Keith Circuit and will open with vaudeville and motion pictures on Thursday evening April 7th. it will hereafter be known as the B.F. Keith’s Boro Park Theatre. The policy will be two performances a day, presenting six acts of Keith Vaudeville from Keith’s Palace and Orpheum theatres and a first run photodrama”
Excerpt from the Brooklyn Eagle June 7th, 1923:
The Boro Park Theatre, one of the finest playhouses in the boro has been purchased by the Marcus Loew Theatrical Enterprises, Inc. from the Levy Brothers who built the theatre.
“The property, which covers over 13 ½ city lots and includes the theatre, an office building and nine stores was valued at $750,00"
"The theatre was completed two years and has been successful from opening night”
“It is the second theatre” (sold by the Levy Brothers) in the past few months. They sold the Fifth Avenue which they built about 12 years ago. They still retain the Ridgewood and the Bedford Theatres."
Your welcome, “Theatrerat.” It is nice to share memories with others who have the same warm feelings of the movie palaces.
EDR Thanks for the correction. Guess the old memory can play tricks on you, especially after almost 4 decades. What I do remember about the Boro Park is that it was a nice theater and fun to go to- especially if you got to sit in a box seat.
Tyop correction in above post- There was no main chandelier.
There was no main chanelier. There was a domed ceiling which had
a circular design on its top with spokes or “rays that came from it and surrounded the dome. Recessed colored lighting on its ledge lit the dome. There were, however, two large latern chandeliers that hung over the 2 marbled box seats on the sides of the proscenium.
The Boro park was a classy,elegant theater that opened in 1917.There were marble box seats on either sude of the proscenium and a domed celing.There was a chandelier that hung from the celing and the balcony curved in a graceful arch.There were opera house l[ke seats in the wings.The seats seemed a bit larger than average. There was no seperate entrance from the lobby to the proscenium so you could see and hear your movie if you got up to get a snack.There also was a marble stairway with a red carpet that led to the balcony.The theater resembled an opera house that one would see in Rome or Vienna. Even in its waning days in the late sixties it was always kept very clean. The theater wich was once owned by Loews showed double features and an occasional foreign art film. They also had Yiddish shows from time to time for the then buorgeoning Hassidic community.Ironically enough,the Hassidic community put pressure on the Boro Park and the nearby 46th St. to close on the Sabbath.From the mid to late sixties I saw movies like The great Race. Darling,Promise Her Anything.The Battle of the Bulge,The Professionals,Bonnie and Clyde and others. The last movie I saw there was the OddCouple in 68. Shortly after that they started to show porn. It was boarded up by 1970. The theater got a nasty surprise for her 55th birthday.It was totally leveled to the ground.A new post office opened there. Like so many others she is gone but not forgotten. Theaterat 3 6 05
Spelling corrections from the above post: Its neo classical interior was very beautiful.. It had a tiled floor that was slanted up to the entrance of the auditorium.
The audiotrium was not cramped at all. It’s neo classical interior was very beautiful. The theatre did not have a fancy lobby. It had a
tiled floor that was slanted up to the enternace of the auditorium.
I grew up going the boro park and saw many many films from the early 50’s up to the 60’s. The interior was cramped and not very interesting to me. The list of films is endless. It was torn down to make way for a post office. Any memories of the Normande theatre on new utrecht and 43st? I took a “tour” a few years back of the Loew’s 46st. Lots of great stuff was still there, the floor and water fountains and the staircase. Smaller than I remember it.
Thank you Warren. I will post links to nycsubway.org images of those stations that show those theaters once I have identified them.
My one time to the ex-Loew’s Corona Plaza at 103rd and Roosevelt was to see the 1998 “Godzilla” film with Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, and “Mayor Ebert” (Roger Ebert look-alike) the last Thursday in May 1998. It was like seeing the 1961 Sidney Pink film, “Reptilicus”, at the RKO Madison Theater in Ridgewood when I was 5 ½. I noticed a similarity in the ceiling over the orchestra seating section : a repetition of what I think of as “the bottom half of the planet Saturn” throughout the ceiling.
I found the Spanish captioning of “Godzilla” at the Corona Plaza to be interesting : “He’s a scumbag !” was rendered “ Es despicable !"
When French was spoken by Reno (the French Sly Stallone ?) English and Spanish were both shown below. Trilingual moment.
Thank you Warren.
And now for something completely different, to quote Monty Python. I cannot find Loew’s Coney Island Theatre on this site, though I suspect it is here, so I will post links to images that show Loew’s Coney Island Theater here. The theater can be seen at either the upper center or upper right of the following images of the Stillwell Avenue el station :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6503
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6851
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4987
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4774
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4818
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4880
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?5183
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?28296
If and when I find a page for Loew’s Coney Island Theater on this site I will copy these links to a comment on that page.
The Boro Park theatre' front enterance curved. It was on 51st street and New Utrecht Avenue Street. (west side of the el.)
The audiotrium & stage extended to 52nd street & 12th avenue.
“The French Connection” was filmed from the 62nd Street Station (location used in the movie) going up through Bensonhurst, thus the
Boro Park & 46th Street theatres were not in the film. Brandt’s never had any signs or notices indicating they owned the 46th street theatre in the 1960’s. I knew the manager when the theatre had many legendary performers appearing there in the late 60’s and early 70’s. During that period the theatre became known as the house of stars.
Yes, Warren, you are probably right, as it was near 51st Street and New Utrecht Avenue (5102), five street blocks “diagonally” to the southeast of the 46th Street Theater.
Could this el station image also show the Boro Park Theater ?
www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26346
Could it be the building with the triple brick arch cornice to the left of the front of the el train in this image ? Experts please comment. Thank you.
Thank you, Warren. I will try that, and, if it works, will re-post my links.
Yesterday I quickly browsed through what I believed to be the appropriate el station images, and found no certain images of either the Boro Park or Benson theaters. There is a building in one image that was brought to my attention that could either be a theater or a bank. If I come across it, I will post a link to it and let the Cinema Treasures gang of experts have at it.
I have “re-armed” myself with my “master list” of Bklyn and Queens theaters from Cinematour, and it says that the Boro Park Theater was demolished. The opening blurb on this page says it was torn down after it closed in the ‘70’s, and mentions “the el station”, which would be 50th Street on the West End elevated line.
This elevated line “starred” in the 1971 film “The French Connection”.
I cannot find Loew’s 46th Street Theater on this site, even though I suspect it is here. So I will post links to three images that show Loew’s 46th Street Theater, located at 46th Street and New Utrecht Avenue, in this comment on the Boro Park Theater :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4809
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2532
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1926
In all three images the 46th Street Theater is clearly visible above the train, near the vanishing point. In at least one image the name is visible in large white letters on the building.
Love that movie Liz, Dick and Noel Coward on the isle of Capri.
Loew’s gave up the theatre in 1966/7, the same time it gave the 46th Street to Brandt’s for a short while. I remember being bused to Shallow J.H.S. 1967-70 and passing the 46th Street and Boro Park along New Utrecht Ave. This was after Loew’s was out of the picture. I remember “Boom!” on the marquee with Elizabeth Taylor on the Boro Park marquee.
The Dyker was the nearest RKO theatre to Loew’s Boro Park on the West side section of Brooklyn.