Again, it’s still unimaginable that all that beauty of this place was so recklessly destroyed. I couldn’t imagine when they came into the place with jackhammers and thought that was a good idea. A real shame. The place could have been converted to retail, yet retaining some of it’s beauty, but unfortunately, in the late 70’s and 80’s, they didn’t think about preservation. It was still an out with the old, in with the new thought process.
Many of the marquees we are so familiar with blocked architectual features of the theaters they were on, as most were not original. The original marquees were often very light, and thin, and didn’t house all the information the “classic” marquees we know did. This is a great example, and also think of the RKO Bushwick that had very decorative cement work above the doors, that by the 30’s was covered up by the big marquee it had. Ironically, covered most of the theater’s life. They are of course once again exposed now that the Bushwick is a school now, and marquee long gone.
I don’t know. Loews may have walked away from it. All I do know is that the Pilgrim Church that now occupies the Loews Gates originally was housed in the RKO Bushwick Theater after the Bushwick Theater closed. I don’t know when the Bushwick Theater closed though, but it was in the 70’s. For whatever reason, in a twist of fate, the Pilgrim Church moved out of the RKO Bushwick and into the Loews Gates when it became available. Perhaps the reason for this is the missing piece to the puzzle of why they did that, which you may have unearthed. Perhaps they were paying rent in the RKO Bushwick, but if Loews jsut waled away from the Gates, perhaps the Pilgrim Church had an easy way to obtain actual ownership of the Gates, instead of paying rent at the RKO Bushwick.
In any event, that move left the RKO Bushwick at the beginning of it’s almost 30 year fall into total shambles, as nothing ever occupied it again after the church, and was finally gutted and made into a school in 2004. At the same time, the Gates theater is now completely preserved and intact inside.
Unfortunately, the Greenpoint was torn down, and is now a store.
I have a current (5 years ago) photo of the outside of the store, but can’t find it, but will look for it.
Annie, thank goodness the Meserole survives intact. While it’s no longer a theater, it’s interior is very much intact. It’s one of the best conversions to retail I have ever seen… It’s a drug store now, but it’s so intact, that they even project slides of sales onto the old screen area!
Jim, you are correct, the the el was extended in 1915, and Lost mentioned that the Parthenon was built in 1921….For whatever reason though, the Parthenon’s corner was built too close to the el, and had to be chipped off, obviously for train cleaence. Notice also that the Marquee goes right under the el too.
Peter, yes, the building on the other corner of Palmetto and Myrtle was a smaller building with a coupolla (sp?). I have seen photos of it. At some point after this photo was taken, that building was torn down, and replaced with the 4 story building that is there to this day.
In the photo I linked yesterday, does anyone else notice that the whole top right corner of the Parthenon’s building was chipped off next to the el? That was probably because the Theater may have predated the el, and when the el was built, they needed to knock that corner off the building to allow for clearance of the trains to go by. The Parthenon is located right where the el turns off of Myrtle Ave and onto Palmetto St, and the part chipped off the building is immediately above the top of the el, where the trains would run.
Also, that traffic light was for Woodbine Avenue. Until around 1980 or so, Woodbine cut through to Myrtle. When the sidewalks were reconstructed, they made a park area on that part of Woodbine St, and it no longer cuts through between Myrtle and St Nicholas.
I remember seeing those security gate things next to the Madison when I was a kid. Those were the rest room windows on either side of the Madison. Those probably were there to keep people from sneaking to the Madison via the low roof next door. I can’t think of why else they would have been there. I don’t know what the middle windows were for or where they led, but they are too low to be the windows to the projection room.
That’s odd, I checked before I posted some of these links on the pages to see if anyone else posted them, but there were none about the Meserole here to those photos. But sometimes I press “submit” and sometimes it doesn’t submit to an actual comment here, and sometimes I don’t confirm that the post went through, and instead just go on to the next page. That is what probably happened to you.
Oddly, by the way, those photos fit fit on my browser, perhaps it’s something to do with individual browsers. It’s nothing I can alter, I just copied the link directly from the brooklynpix site.
There’s a photo of some “Mardis Gras” theater on brooklyn pix, but I can’t find it on this site. Is it listed under another name? It should be added, as it says, “Motion Pictures”, so it showed film.
There is a wonderful photo of the Pathenon on the brooklynpix website, it’s one of the best photos I have seen of the Parthenon thus far.
A shame they covered all this beautiful brickwork up with aluminum siding, as even as a bingo hall/drug store that it is now, this facade is quite beautiful.
Also, it appears that “Weingarten’s Parthenon” perhaps should be an aka name above, as that’s what it’s called on the Parthenon’s marquee in this photo.
And what does “Forbidden Paradise” the marquee mean on the side?
There’s a wonderful photo of the Empire on brooklynpix.com
I wonder if the scene may be of a visit from one of the stars in the movie, there seems to be a large amount of people waiting under the marquee and looking in one direction, perhaps looking at a star arriving or something to that effect. Also some people with cameras. I can’t explain why everyone would be there looking in the same direction otherwise:
Again, it’s still unimaginable that all that beauty of this place was so recklessly destroyed. I couldn’t imagine when they came into the place with jackhammers and thought that was a good idea. A real shame. The place could have been converted to retail, yet retaining some of it’s beauty, but unfortunately, in the late 70’s and 80’s, they didn’t think about preservation. It was still an out with the old, in with the new thought process.
Many of the marquees we are so familiar with blocked architectual features of the theaters they were on, as most were not original. The original marquees were often very light, and thin, and didn’t house all the information the “classic” marquees we know did. This is a great example, and also think of the RKO Bushwick that had very decorative cement work above the doors, that by the 30’s was covered up by the big marquee it had. Ironically, covered most of the theater’s life. They are of course once again exposed now that the Bushwick is a school now, and marquee long gone.
I don’t know. Loews may have walked away from it. All I do know is that the Pilgrim Church that now occupies the Loews Gates originally was housed in the RKO Bushwick Theater after the Bushwick Theater closed. I don’t know when the Bushwick Theater closed though, but it was in the 70’s. For whatever reason, in a twist of fate, the Pilgrim Church moved out of the RKO Bushwick and into the Loews Gates when it became available. Perhaps the reason for this is the missing piece to the puzzle of why they did that, which you may have unearthed. Perhaps they were paying rent in the RKO Bushwick, but if Loews jsut waled away from the Gates, perhaps the Pilgrim Church had an easy way to obtain actual ownership of the Gates, instead of paying rent at the RKO Bushwick.
In any event, that move left the RKO Bushwick at the beginning of it’s almost 30 year fall into total shambles, as nothing ever occupied it again after the church, and was finally gutted and made into a school in 2004. At the same time, the Gates theater is now completely preserved and intact inside.
Unfortunately, the Greenpoint was torn down, and is now a store.
I have a current (5 years ago) photo of the outside of the store, but can’t find it, but will look for it.
Annie, thank goodness the Meserole survives intact. While it’s no longer a theater, it’s interior is very much intact. It’s one of the best conversions to retail I have ever seen… It’s a drug store now, but it’s so intact, that they even project slides of sales onto the old screen area!
Jim, you are correct, the the el was extended in 1915, and Lost mentioned that the Parthenon was built in 1921….For whatever reason though, the Parthenon’s corner was built too close to the el, and had to be chipped off, obviously for train cleaence. Notice also that the Marquee goes right under the el too.
Peter, yes, the building on the other corner of Palmetto and Myrtle was a smaller building with a coupolla (sp?). I have seen photos of it. At some point after this photo was taken, that building was torn down, and replaced with the 4 story building that is there to this day.
In the photo I linked yesterday, does anyone else notice that the whole top right corner of the Parthenon’s building was chipped off next to the el? That was probably because the Theater may have predated the el, and when the el was built, they needed to knock that corner off the building to allow for clearance of the trains to go by. The Parthenon is located right where the el turns off of Myrtle Ave and onto Palmetto St, and the part chipped off the building is immediately above the top of the el, where the trains would run.
Also, that traffic light was for Woodbine Avenue. Until around 1980 or so, Woodbine cut through to Myrtle. When the sidewalks were reconstructed, they made a park area on that part of Woodbine St, and it no longer cuts through between Myrtle and St Nicholas.
But doesn’t “Forbidden Paradise” appear to be permanent letters with the same lights as the marquee lights?
I remember seeing those security gate things next to the Madison when I was a kid. Those were the rest room windows on either side of the Madison. Those probably were there to keep people from sneaking to the Madison via the low roof next door. I can’t think of why else they would have been there. I don’t know what the middle windows were for or where they led, but they are too low to be the windows to the projection room.
That’s odd, I checked before I posted some of these links on the pages to see if anyone else posted them, but there were none about the Meserole here to those photos. But sometimes I press “submit” and sometimes it doesn’t submit to an actual comment here, and sometimes I don’t confirm that the post went through, and instead just go on to the next page. That is what probably happened to you.
Oddly, by the way, those photos fit fit on my browser, perhaps it’s something to do with individual browsers. It’s nothing I can alter, I just copied the link directly from the brooklynpix site.
What street was the Brooklyn Garden on?
There’s a photo of some “Mardis Gras” theater on brooklyn pix, but I can’t find it on this site. Is it listed under another name? It should be added, as it says, “Motion Pictures”, so it showed film.
View link
Here’s a photo of the Linden/Century Theater:
View link
Thanks so much Richard. I didn’t notice this until now…..almost two years later! But thanks so much!!!
Here’s a 1951 image of the Alba:
View link
Here’s a great photo of the Wagner Theater when it was still the Reo Theater. It is now a health clinic.
View link
There’s a great photo of the Greenpoint on brooklynpix.com:
View link
There’s a great photo of the Majestic on brooklynpix.com:
View link
There is a wonderful photo of the Pathenon on the brooklynpix website, it’s one of the best photos I have seen of the Parthenon thus far.
A shame they covered all this beautiful brickwork up with aluminum siding, as even as a bingo hall/drug store that it is now, this facade is quite beautiful.
Also, it appears that “Weingarten’s Parthenon” perhaps should be an aka name above, as that’s what it’s called on the Parthenon’s marquee in this photo.
And what does “Forbidden Paradise” the marquee mean on the side?
View link
There’s a wonderful historic photo of the Madison Theater on the Brooklynpix.com website, with it’s marquee all lit up:
View link
There’s a wonderful photo of the Empire on brooklynpix.com
I wonder if the scene may be of a visit from one of the stars in the movie, there seems to be a large amount of people waiting under the marquee and looking in one direction, perhaps looking at a star arriving or something to that effect. Also some people with cameras. I can’t explain why everyone would be there looking in the same direction otherwise:
View link
There’s two wonderful photos of the Meserole on the brooklynpix.com website. One historic, and one in later years:
View link
View link
There are two woderful historic photos of the Loews Kings on the brooklypix.com website:
View link
View link
It’s very possible. I see the el up ahead. There is a photo on nycsubway.org that shows the upper part of the Garden:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6626