Kings Theatre

The organ comments above make sense Jim. Never thought about it that way. You could certainly buy a good deal of dope by selling organ pipes for scrap. I would guess that it is not terribly difficult to remove them either. People…

Road to Hong Kong on Premiere Showcase was a symptom of the times. In NYC, Robert Moses was steadily at work towards the breaking-up of established neighborhoods with the building of the Cross Bronx Expressway and the failed Lower Manhattan Expwy. These traffic arteries were designed to bypass the city entirely, while traveling from one suburban center to another. Of course, this was the trend throughout the country. A major draw of the Times Square movie palaces were the live performances headlining star talent. The advent of TV and the elimination of live acts made the movie palaces less of a destination. Roadshow presentations did maintain a sense of exclusivity for a while. rlvjr’s idea might be interesting, but the economics of risking a major presentation to a limited number of venues may be more than a studio can handle, given their eye on the first weekend’s take..

The great movie palaces of New York met their death as a direct result of the liberal New York government’s embracing of crime and welfare circa 1968 through 1980, and leaving drug traffic unimpared. During that era, New York lost 20% of its population (mostly white middle class) and almost lost the New York Stock Exchange. NYC went literally bankrupt under the corrupt government and had to be bailed out by loans from Washington. (Their account was on my desk at the US Treasury). That was then, and this is now. QUESTION: Is the movie business dead? ANSWER: No, they rake in hundreds of millions at up to $10.50 a ticket. I wonder if just one motion picture company might risk playing just one of their pictures the old way, the way they succeeded for decades: Book the picture into one of the restored Wonder Theaters, rather than the multiplex, and see how many people respond. Why rule out the idea of filling a beautiful oversized theatre with just regular moviegoers?

All too common. This is why organ chambers are usually locked. Even if a thief doesn’t have a fence for the parts for organ use, he knows that there is a black market for old pipes and such — if only as valuable scrap metal. One can only wonder at how many dope habits were maintained with the sale of such pipe organ metals.

Dan, I tried the email on that page and got, well, a return to sender. You may want to place my site on it. There is a site to help save the Kings on the Unofficial New York Nostalgia Buff Webpage http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Stu/awaseniu and you can get right to it from the main index there.

The A&E special was good, even if in that annoying jumpy style. The link below is to an A&E web form where you can ask for the “A&E Breakfast with The Arts / Loews' Wonder Theaters” program to be released on DVD. Select ‘Programming /Programs On Home Video’ from the drop-down selection, then fill out the required items and especially the ‘Comments’ section with your request.

View link

I’ve seen photos of the old New Amsterdam theater on 42nd St. which was partially open to the sky and suffered from its exposure to the elements. It truly appeared to be unsavable. Yet it was saved! Through a combination of city initiative (The 42nd St. Business Improvement District)and private industry (Disney). The same could be done in Brooklyn! I know that Brooklyn is not Manhattan, but it isn’t East St. Louis either. Much can be done here.

The borough President talks about the King’s being a passion of his. Let’s see him put some money where his mouth is! Each Borough President has discretionary funds in his budget to allocate to worthy project within his borough. Give the King’s a grant to at least stabilize the building and jump start the rebuilding process. Then, he can press the local Brooklyn Corporate world for contributions.

The Kings can be saved, should be saved and will be saved!

While the Kings is a diamond in the rough, after viewing the A&E show, it really isn’t “that” bad. By that I mean, it’s not that it appears “unsafe”, and definitely, most of the theater is completely intact and restorable thankfully. While of course it “didn’t look good”, I thought it would be worse considering it’s been closed for 30 years. I really hope they find a way to restore it, and find a use for it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the A&E special but was left wanting more. Much More!!!!! The theaters are incredibly special and represent an architectural legacy that will never be duplicated. That all five of these theaters still exist is a miracle, but this show could easily have done a hour or more devoted to their history and current states of condition. It was truly uplifting to see what has been done by voulnteers to rescue the Jersey. Why can’t the same be done for the Kings! It is already owned by the city. The borough presidents office could easily earmark discretionary funds to jumpstart this project and Brooklyn corporate sponsors could be enlisted as well. I was disappointed that we saw virtually none of the 175th St. theater in this special. I also was surprised that they didn’t devote more to the Paradise since it has just been reopened. I wanted to see more of the architectual details.

Maybe I would never have been satified no matter how much they showed! :–)

I was great to see these theaters given the attention they desparately need if we are to preserve them for future generations.

Has someone set up a Friend’s of Loew’s Kings organization? If not, would the people at Friend’s of Loew’s in New Jersey help the people of Brooklyn set up a similar organization?

I think Brooklyn should stabalize the theatre so no more damage occurs. I think Brooklyn should look at what the City of Oakland in California is doing with the Fox Oakland. The City is going to spend 47 Million on a Charter School which will surround the Fox and money will be spent on the theatre to get it operational. It is called the ruins project and full restoration will come later. The Fox Oakland seats around 3500 and has been closed since the early 1970’s. The Fox has a new roof,a restored marquee and no seats. I think Brooklyn should look at doing some repairs to the Kings to get it operational and slowly restore the theatre in stages as funds become available. I think a small section of the theatre should be restored next to an area that has been damaged to show people what the theate could be and to show that some progress is being made. I would clean and restore the front of the theatre so it doesn’t look like an eyesore to the surrounding neighberhood. The City of Oakland spent $600,000 restoring the marquee in the front of the Fox a few years ago and this gave the theatre a big boost in the eyes of the public.brucec

The aerial view of the theater and its surrounding environs is quite revealing. Consider:

The theater is uniquely and prominently situated on a corner facing a main thoroughfare.

Mass transit is nearby and bus routes run adjacent to the theater.

For those wary of taking public transport, it is easily accessible by private car, as the theater is blessed with proximity to a large car park located directly across the street – one that could be readily used to accommodate the large crowds it could potentially attract.

It is located in an area that is certainly no worse than Bronx’s Paradise (and that theater has been playing to “sell-out” crowds) â€" and not too far away are “more desirable” and “not so bad” neighborhoods (such as Midwood, Ditmas Park, Albemarle-Kenmore Terrace, Kensington, Borough Park, Windsor Terrace and Park Slope-Prospect Park South/West) that could have a positive influence on redevelopment and as well provide an audience for cultural events that could occur at this venue. The demographic mix of these places could attract a variety of shows (look at the Ritz Theatre in Elizabeth, NJ).

Its huge interior and seating capacity make it a perfect candidate for large-scale productions and live performances.

So what’s the delay (besides the cost of reopening)? Isn’t there someone out there who can come up with the funding to restore and operate it â€" how about corporate sponsorship? (It would be great for public relations, image and name/brand awareness â€" several major/national retailers already have stores serving in this area.) â€" a big name on a big theater could mean big business!

A friend of mine is a freelance editor and works at A&E and saw the program yesterday. The segment is between 15 to 18 minutes and prominently features the Loew’s Jersey and the Kings. Some interviews and, what is most important to this group, interior footage.