No, a sit in is the only thing that would work. They’d have to get the cops in the get the people out. Want to punch it up a notch or two? Handcuff ourselves to seats. Make the cops really work at it. This is going to continue to happen as long as New Yorkers (and other people living in the classin urban environs) take matters into their own hands and become pains in the asses.
Ever hear of Jane Jacobs? SHE was more than willing to make herself more than a bit of a nuisance. And New Yorkers have her to thank for NOT having a monstrous interstate connector highway running through lower Manhattan.
I had posted an inquiry about this theater on the Cinema Manhasset site. If this is the theater I’m talking about there, from the outside, it always looked like a Century’s theater with their standard (uninspired) bland white brick on the outside. That’s whuy I was kind of skeptical about it because it didn’t seem that old when I was there once in the mid 70’s. And yes, the seats ran perpendicular to Northern Blvd.
That picture collection is something like a work of photographic art that illustrates not only the demise of a once grand movie palace but of the urban decay and ruin that accompanied it’s demise.
I’ve heard Detroit is bad but my God, it looks like a ghost town. Was/is the theater in a bad neighborhood now? The surrounding areas look completely abandoned. Could be used for a movie about a nuclear war or something.
Which NYC theater does everyone here think is next to close? The Paris?
We’re all sick to death over The Beekman’s closing and I’m wondering (obviously too late) that maybe we all should’ve had a mass sit-in. I mean, we could’ve gone to the theater during the last showing and simply refused to leave, let the cops arrest us and I’d bet we’d be on the news and average New Yorkers and others in the metro area would be drawn to the cause. We probably would’ve been too late to save The Beekman but maybe it would give other developers pause. Even if it was just twenty or so people.
Bob Furmanek: scroll above to Warren’s comments dated February 13, 2004 as he and others touch upon the subject of the damage done to the theater (seems both physical and economical) by the “Windjammer” film.
RobertR: IMAX should be in NYC especially Times Square. I think they did not do it initially because only up until a couple of years ago, they did not show mainstream films in IMAX. They started doing it with some of the Disney revivals like “The Lion King” and now it seems they’re doing with more and more films. “The Polar Express” (a loathsome film) did vastly better business in IMAX than it did in the conventional theaters. In fact, I read in Entertainment Weekly that the only way that dud made it’s money back was in IMAX. So that proves the point.
RobertR: regarding your comment about “Batman Begins” and it’s playing in IMAX theaters. My wife and I went to see “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” last Saturday night (not a masterpiece but pretty good though…). Anyway, we stopped by the IMAX up in the Palisades Center and all three evening showings of the Batman flick for were completely sold out. I had posted something similar on another theater’s site: namely that if one looks closely at this phenomenon (sp?) you will see that people DO want to see grand movies presented BIG. This trend is continuing with the release of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” at the IMAX theaters soon also.
I have often wondered why there’s no IMAX theater in Times Square yet.
So the old adage, “everything old is new again” might be true when it comes to theaters. Revenues are down, right? Well when is some entrepreneur going to build a really kick-ass big theater in a large city and watch as the crowds come flocking in? The IMAX trend is showing there’s an audience for it. Why none of the “suits” has noticed this yet is beyond me.
From today’s Bergen Record—-say Goodbye to the Paramus Tenplex. The real estate alone where the tenplex now resides is probably worth God only know how many millions:
Theater complex upheld in Paramus
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
By MERRY FIRSCHEIN
STAFF WRITER
PARAMUS – The borough’s Planning Board was allowed to approve an application for a 16-screen movie theater at Garden State Plaza, the state appellate court unanimously ruled Monday.
The decision comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the borough against its own Planning Board and Westfield Corp., the parent company of the shopping mall.
In the suit, filed originally in December 2003, the borough said the Planning Board didn’t have jurisdiction over Westfield’s application to build a 163,000-square-foot “entertainment lifestyle precinct” at the mall.
The ruling could be the last step in a three-year quest by Westfield to build the project. Along with the cinema, the proposed addition would include shops and restaurants.
Attorney Brian Giblin represented the borough on May 25 before Appellate Division Judges Howard Kestin, Jose L. Fuentes and Naomi G. Eichen. He argued that the zoning board should have heard Westfield’s application. Giblin said only a zoning board can hear issues of square footage, parking and building height.
Westfield attorney Stephen Sinisi told the judges that the shopping center corporation fulfilled all the requirements asked of it and should not be penalized.
The judges, in Monday’s nine-page decision, unanimously agreed, saying that state Superior Court Judge Jonathan N. Harris was correct in his June 2004 decision when he said the Planning Board was the right place for Westfield’s application.
The panel also ruled that the borough cannot use a new ordinance to stop the project. That ordinance is the focus of a lawsuit brought by Westfield against the borough. A trial date in state Superior Court has not been set.
Planning Board Attorney Paul Kaufman said the ruling found that “the Planning Board acted completely within its authority and within the applicable law.”
Westfield officials said they are ready to start their project.
“We look forward to getting back on track with our reinvestment with Garden State Plaza,” said Katy Dickey, Westfield’s vice president of communications.
The concept of “entertainment lifestyle precincts” includes stores with a hands-on component, such as a Sony store or an Apple computer store or other stores with a large entertainment aspect.
Experts see this as a natural progression for the shopping experience, which some say has become routine.
“When it’s more fun to shop at Costco than the Garden State Plaza, then we’re missing the ball,” John Goodwin, Westfield’s vice president of development, said at the 2003 hearings.
There is no start date for building at the mall because Westfield still must get county and state permits before beginning any construction.
Construction is expected to take between 18 and 24 months.
Giblin said he hasn’t spoken yet with the mayor and council on Monday’s ruling. Giblin was the borough attorney in 2004.
“I’m sure [borough officials] will want to review it and ask me whatever questions they might have about it, and they’ll make their decision” on whether they want to appeal, Giblin said.
Unless the comment from rivjr stating that RCMH is dark most nights is indicative of the 70s, this is simply not true. While many on this site mourn that fact that regularly scheduled films are not shown here anymore, RCMH is usually booked with something virtually every night of the week. I know this because I see the Hall from my office every single day. And when I leave at night, I almost always see a crowd seeing one thing or another. Ok, so it’s “Yanni Live” or “Dora the Explorer”. But the place seems to me to be used quite a lot. Several NYC colleges also use the place for it’s graduations ceremonies as well.
The Village Voice piece points out (very well) the concerns of film go-ers, namely that the IFC Center will become a corporate run institution rather than a truly open place where independent films can be seen and appreciated.
Sorry but my cynical self tells me that this place is going to reek of selling out. Oh it’ll try very, very hard to look hip and “in” but it will only appeal to a bull**** “chic” crowd and the real movie lovers won’t go there.
Give me the Thalia’s and even Theater 80 St. Marks place for God’s sake. As pitiful as some of the presentations were at those places, they were run by people who did it for the LOVE of movies. The so called Indpendent film movement has become nothing but another way to make money. Only they drape it all in this pseudo anti-establishment look thinking they’re fooling anyone.
Wow! BoxOfficeBill…that was terrific. You gave such a wonderful description of all the things to choose from back then in Times Square! Must’ve been quite a time there.
I’ve just seen (again) “Sweet Smell of Success”. I saw it last summer before I became a tad obsessed with this website so I had no idea what I was looking at. Now that I know, I kept my eyes open.
BOY..do you get an eyeful of the movie theaters in Times Square in this flick. I only watched the first 1/3 of the movie (didn’t get a chance to sit through the whole thing again). But J.J. Hunsecker’s apartment is supposed to be in the Brill Building. So in one shot, we see his sister Susan entering the building and you get a perfect view of the Trans Lux with it’s HUGE marquee shining in the backgroun. I knew that The Rivoli is right across the street, but I couldn’t get a decent look at it. Was there at one time a Howard Johnson’s next door to The Rivoli? In the scene, it looked like there was.
This is one of the safest theaters around because it’s in a very nice town and such. But the new theater (located in the Garden State Plaza) is not yet a done deal. The town of Paramus is doing some in-fighting and I don’t believe that they mall owners have been given anything near a green light yet.
So that puts this place in limbo and it looks it. While the theaters are clean, the place looks very tired. Seats need to be replaced, carpet should be replaced as well as a new paint job all around. But why do it when a bigger and better place might open…eventually?
Not that this has anything to do with the Oceanside Theater but for anyone who knows the area or grew up there, it might be interesting to know that the “lovely” Oceanside Motel is going to be demolished. This “great” place has been a fixture in Oceanside right across the street from the movie theater since 1962.
Where the movie theater is and the motel is a strange place because most of Long Beach Road is very nice (though way overdeveloped). The particular store front where the movie theater is in is positively SLUMMY as hell. It looks more like a storefront in a rundown town. Maybe with the motel’s closing (they’re making it a town parking lot) it will improve that section.
This theater bears a striking resemblence to the Sunrise Multiplex in Valley Stream, LI, NY, Commack Multiplex on LI and the Whitestone Multiplex in The Bronx. These all must’ve been designed, built and owned (at first) by the same company, National Amusements. To me, all of these were the first real multiplexes in the early 80’s.
It’s so strange that a lot of these are now closing down or are in bad shape.
There is a very, very good shot of this theater in the book “New York, Then and Now” taken around 1974. You can see the huge marquee. The theater was playing “The Towering Inferno”. Also, on another page, there is a shot of the DeMille. You have to look very, very carefully for it because it’s all the way on the bottom right of the page. This book is in virtually every bookstore I got to in NY.
No, a sit in is the only thing that would work. They’d have to get the cops in the get the people out. Want to punch it up a notch or two? Handcuff ourselves to seats. Make the cops really work at it. This is going to continue to happen as long as New Yorkers (and other people living in the classin urban environs) take matters into their own hands and become pains in the asses.
Ever hear of Jane Jacobs? SHE was more than willing to make herself more than a bit of a nuisance. And New Yorkers have her to thank for NOT having a monstrous interstate connector highway running through lower Manhattan.
I had posted an inquiry about this theater on the Cinema Manhasset site. If this is the theater I’m talking about there, from the outside, it always looked like a Century’s theater with their standard (uninspired) bland white brick on the outside. That’s whuy I was kind of skeptical about it because it didn’t seem that old when I was there once in the mid 70’s. And yes, the seats ran perpendicular to Northern Blvd.
That picture collection is something like a work of photographic art that illustrates not only the demise of a once grand movie palace but of the urban decay and ruin that accompanied it’s demise.
I’ve heard Detroit is bad but my God, it looks like a ghost town. Was/is the theater in a bad neighborhood now? The surrounding areas look completely abandoned. Could be used for a movie about a nuclear war or something.
Very, very sad indeed.
Which NYC theater does everyone here think is next to close? The Paris?
We’re all sick to death over The Beekman’s closing and I’m wondering (obviously too late) that maybe we all should’ve had a mass sit-in. I mean, we could’ve gone to the theater during the last showing and simply refused to leave, let the cops arrest us and I’d bet we’d be on the news and average New Yorkers and others in the metro area would be drawn to the cause. We probably would’ve been too late to save The Beekman but maybe it would give other developers pause. Even if it was just twenty or so people.
Am I nuts?
Is this the theater that was located near the Holiday Inn on Route 46?
What the hell is it with theaters NOT using the friggin' curtains anymore? Are there ANY places in NYC that DO use them?
I checked out “Windjammer” on the IMDB site and there’s link to a site dedicated to Cinemamiracle.
http://www1.tripnet.se/~adler/wide2.html
Bob Furmanek: scroll above to Warren’s comments dated February 13, 2004 as he and others touch upon the subject of the damage done to the theater (seems both physical and economical) by the “Windjammer” film.
RobertR: IMAX should be in NYC especially Times Square. I think they did not do it initially because only up until a couple of years ago, they did not show mainstream films in IMAX. They started doing it with some of the Disney revivals like “The Lion King” and now it seems they’re doing with more and more films. “The Polar Express” (a loathsome film) did vastly better business in IMAX than it did in the conventional theaters. In fact, I read in Entertainment Weekly that the only way that dud made it’s money back was in IMAX. So that proves the point.
RobertR: regarding your comment about “Batman Begins” and it’s playing in IMAX theaters. My wife and I went to see “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” last Saturday night (not a masterpiece but pretty good though…). Anyway, we stopped by the IMAX up in the Palisades Center and all three evening showings of the Batman flick for were completely sold out. I had posted something similar on another theater’s site: namely that if one looks closely at this phenomenon (sp?) you will see that people DO want to see grand movies presented BIG. This trend is continuing with the release of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” at the IMAX theaters soon also.
I have often wondered why there’s no IMAX theater in Times Square yet.
So the old adage, “everything old is new again” might be true when it comes to theaters. Revenues are down, right? Well when is some entrepreneur going to build a really kick-ass big theater in a large city and watch as the crowds come flocking in? The IMAX trend is showing there’s an audience for it. Why none of the “suits” has noticed this yet is beyond me.
From today’s Bergen Record—-say Goodbye to the Paramus Tenplex. The real estate alone where the tenplex now resides is probably worth God only know how many millions:
Theater complex upheld in Paramus
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
By MERRY FIRSCHEIN
STAFF WRITER
PARAMUS – The borough’s Planning Board was allowed to approve an application for a 16-screen movie theater at Garden State Plaza, the state appellate court unanimously ruled Monday.
The decision comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the borough against its own Planning Board and Westfield Corp., the parent company of the shopping mall.
In the suit, filed originally in December 2003, the borough said the Planning Board didn’t have jurisdiction over Westfield’s application to build a 163,000-square-foot “entertainment lifestyle precinct” at the mall.
The ruling could be the last step in a three-year quest by Westfield to build the project. Along with the cinema, the proposed addition would include shops and restaurants.
Attorney Brian Giblin represented the borough on May 25 before Appellate Division Judges Howard Kestin, Jose L. Fuentes and Naomi G. Eichen. He argued that the zoning board should have heard Westfield’s application. Giblin said only a zoning board can hear issues of square footage, parking and building height.
Westfield attorney Stephen Sinisi told the judges that the shopping center corporation fulfilled all the requirements asked of it and should not be penalized.
The judges, in Monday’s nine-page decision, unanimously agreed, saying that state Superior Court Judge Jonathan N. Harris was correct in his June 2004 decision when he said the Planning Board was the right place for Westfield’s application.
The panel also ruled that the borough cannot use a new ordinance to stop the project. That ordinance is the focus of a lawsuit brought by Westfield against the borough. A trial date in state Superior Court has not been set.
Planning Board Attorney Paul Kaufman said the ruling found that “the Planning Board acted completely within its authority and within the applicable law.”
Westfield officials said they are ready to start their project.
“We look forward to getting back on track with our reinvestment with Garden State Plaza,” said Katy Dickey, Westfield’s vice president of communications.
The concept of “entertainment lifestyle precincts” includes stores with a hands-on component, such as a Sony store or an Apple computer store or other stores with a large entertainment aspect.
Experts see this as a natural progression for the shopping experience, which some say has become routine.
“When it’s more fun to shop at Costco than the Garden State Plaza, then we’re missing the ball,” John Goodwin, Westfield’s vice president of development, said at the 2003 hearings.
There is no start date for building at the mall because Westfield still must get county and state permits before beginning any construction.
Construction is expected to take between 18 and 24 months.
Giblin said he hasn’t spoken yet with the mayor and council on Monday’s ruling. Giblin was the borough attorney in 2004.
“I’m sure [borough officials] will want to review it and ask me whatever questions they might have about it, and they’ll make their decision” on whether they want to appeal, Giblin said.
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Great article, TC and disheartening as well. I don’t think I need to elaborate why….
Unless the comment from rivjr stating that RCMH is dark most nights is indicative of the 70s, this is simply not true. While many on this site mourn that fact that regularly scheduled films are not shown here anymore, RCMH is usually booked with something virtually every night of the week. I know this because I see the Hall from my office every single day. And when I leave at night, I almost always see a crowd seeing one thing or another. Ok, so it’s “Yanni Live” or “Dora the Explorer”. But the place seems to me to be used quite a lot. Several NYC colleges also use the place for it’s graduations ceremonies as well.
The Village Voice piece points out (very well) the concerns of film go-ers, namely that the IFC Center will become a corporate run institution rather than a truly open place where independent films can be seen and appreciated.
Sorry but my cynical self tells me that this place is going to reek of selling out. Oh it’ll try very, very hard to look hip and “in” but it will only appeal to a bull**** “chic” crowd and the real movie lovers won’t go there.
Give me the Thalia’s and even Theater 80 St. Marks place for God’s sake. As pitiful as some of the presentations were at those places, they were run by people who did it for the LOVE of movies. The so called Indpendent film movement has become nothing but another way to make money. Only they drape it all in this pseudo anti-establishment look thinking they’re fooling anyone.
Justin…yep…that’s the one. I’ve wondered why it was never put into this website. I would’ve but I know nothing about this theater.
From I-80, the auditorium looks very large. Must’ve been a nice movie theater back in the day.
Wow! BoxOfficeBill…that was terrific. You gave such a wonderful description of all the things to choose from back then in Times Square! Must’ve been quite a time there.
I’ve just seen (again) “Sweet Smell of Success”. I saw it last summer before I became a tad obsessed with this website so I had no idea what I was looking at. Now that I know, I kept my eyes open.
BOY..do you get an eyeful of the movie theaters in Times Square in this flick. I only watched the first 1/3 of the movie (didn’t get a chance to sit through the whole thing again). But J.J. Hunsecker’s apartment is supposed to be in the Brill Building. So in one shot, we see his sister Susan entering the building and you get a perfect view of the Trans Lux with it’s HUGE marquee shining in the backgroun. I knew that The Rivoli is right across the street, but I couldn’t get a decent look at it. Was there at one time a Howard Johnson’s next door to The Rivoli? In the scene, it looked like there was.
The movie’s great too.
Ah…that’s what I figured, that it had to have been The Palace.
Thanks!
I have no idea where to post this question but does anyone know where in NYC “Citizen Kane” had it’s premiere?
This is one of the safest theaters around because it’s in a very nice town and such. But the new theater (located in the Garden State Plaza) is not yet a done deal. The town of Paramus is doing some in-fighting and I don’t believe that they mall owners have been given anything near a green light yet.
So that puts this place in limbo and it looks it. While the theaters are clean, the place looks very tired. Seats need to be replaced, carpet should be replaced as well as a new paint job all around. But why do it when a bigger and better place might open…eventually?
Not that this has anything to do with the Oceanside Theater but for anyone who knows the area or grew up there, it might be interesting to know that the “lovely” Oceanside Motel is going to be demolished. This “great” place has been a fixture in Oceanside right across the street from the movie theater since 1962.
Where the movie theater is and the motel is a strange place because most of Long Beach Road is very nice (though way overdeveloped). The particular store front where the movie theater is in is positively SLUMMY as hell. It looks more like a storefront in a rundown town. Maybe with the motel’s closing (they’re making it a town parking lot) it will improve that section.
Just an FYI…
Where on Route 17 was this? And does anyone know what’s there now? I know this area very well and would love to know…
This theater bears a striking resemblence to the Sunrise Multiplex in Valley Stream, LI, NY, Commack Multiplex on LI and the Whitestone Multiplex in The Bronx. These all must’ve been designed, built and owned (at first) by the same company, National Amusements. To me, all of these were the first real multiplexes in the early 80’s.
It’s so strange that a lot of these are now closing down or are in bad shape.
There is a very, very good shot of this theater in the book “New York, Then and Now” taken around 1974. You can see the huge marquee. The theater was playing “The Towering Inferno”. Also, on another page, there is a shot of the DeMille. You have to look very, very carefully for it because it’s all the way on the bottom right of the page. This book is in virtually every bookstore I got to in NY.
Ok, that was it! I remember distinctly that it was on the same side as the State…don’t ask me how or why.