Thanks, Warren. The Carlton Theater is on the CinemaTour listing for Queens, but no address is given for it.
When the theater was known as Werba’s Jamaica, I wonder if it had anything to do with Werba Realty, in Ridgewood, or elsewhere, in Queens, circa 1965 or 66.
Trust your memory until tangible, objective evidence requires you to do otherwise.
“Five blocks past the end of the el (168th St.) and the Valencia and Alden” : in what direction ? East or west ?
Have you looked on Cinema Tour’s list of Queens theaters for this “poor sister movie house” ? Do you remember the name at all ? That would be better than trying to find it with an approximate address like 163-XX or 173-XX Jamaica Avenue.
Thanks, KenRoe. Any idea where in Manhattan that theater was supposed to have been, as, after Kong escapes, he demolishes an elevated train line and is then reported as heading west towards the Empire State Building ?
LouRom, please send me a private message through this board if you w ant to “keep going” with these recollections.
I attended St. Brigid from September 12, 1960 (began kindergarten that day, Tropical Storm Donna hit the NYC area that day also) to June 1969 when I graduated from eighth grade.
I remember “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” at the Ridgewood in Sept. 1974, “The Trial of Billy Jack” there Thanksgiving 1974.
Do you remember the Bickford’s that preceded McDonald’s at Myrtle and Wyckoff ?
I remember Luigi’s there from about 1969 on but never had a haircut there. Glenridge Medical Labs and a stationery or paper supply store was next door also.
Yup, that’s the one. I’ve also noticed “Disco Mundo” and Frenchie’s Gym in 1979 and 1980 near the Manhattan-bound platform of the Marcy Avenue station.
TomScott, then 1955 is probably when it stopped being a movie theater. Thanks for mentioning its precise address.
Lou Rom, “The Narrow Platforms At The Marcy Avenue Station” is one of four great articles by Karl Burkhardt on the “My Recollection” site. I’d forgotten about that one.
When was Marcy Avenue your home station ? Ever go to the Eastern District YMCA right near there ? I was supposed to go swimming there with the Ridgewood YMCA in spring 1968, but didn’t.
Yes. An el ran over Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn from about 1885 to October 13, 1950. If you’re interested, read “The Last Lex” by Karl Burkhardt on the “My Recollection” site :
lostmemory, I think there was, and I think it was adjacent to a mass transit line. I seem to recall it being mentioned in the excellent PBS documentary, “A Walk Through Brooklyn Part I” with Dick Hartman and Barry Lewis.
It could be the Marvin / Van Buren Theater, because the theater was at Bway and Van Buren, between the Kosciuszko and Gates el stations on Bway’s southwest side, and that is where the “Reid Furniture” building is in the photo. It’s hard to be sure without legible street signs. The roof of the building has that “silver-painted trapezoid” look of the Colonial and other Bushwick and Ridgewood Theaters.
“Reid Furniture” is confusing because Reid Avenue intersects Bway between Myrtle and Kosciuszko, as opposed to Van Buren intersecting Bway between Kosciuszko and Gates.
Yes, Our Lady Of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church was on Aberdeen Street between Bushwick Avenue and Broadway. The idea of it being demolished because of interfering with low flying airplanes was my father’s idea, and his memory is, to say the least, not the greatest.
I think a more likely reason was the decline of the neighborhood.
Thanks, Warren.
Thanks, Warren. The Carlton Theater is on the CinemaTour listing for Queens, but no address is given for it.
When the theater was known as Werba’s Jamaica, I wonder if it had anything to do with Werba Realty, in Ridgewood, or elsewhere, in Queens, circa 1965 or 66.
David Robertson :
Trust your memory until tangible, objective evidence requires you to do otherwise.
“Five blocks past the end of the el (168th St.) and the Valencia and Alden” : in what direction ? East or west ?
Have you looked on Cinema Tour’s list of Queens theaters for this “poor sister movie house” ? Do you remember the name at all ? That would be better than trying to find it with an approximate address like 163-XX or 173-XX Jamaica Avenue.
Try this link :
View link
So, P.S. 152, the Grateful Dead literally did NOT bring the house down ! ERD, the mechanical birds reads one better than the Loew’s Valencia !
Please don’t feed the troll !
There were two blizzards, one in late January, the next in late February, 1978. Which one do you mean ?
Jwood, did you ever see a film at Loew’s Hillside, with or without your grandfather ? There’s a page for it on this site.
Why did your grandfather look down on the RKO Alden ? What about the nearby Merrick ?
A friend of mine at work once wrote a poem about church services as entertainment, titled, “Praise The Lord ! It’s Showtime !”
Thanks, KenRoe. Any idea where in Manhattan that theater was supposed to have been, as, after Kong escapes, he demolishes an elevated train line and is then reported as heading west towards the Empire State Building ?
King Kong was advertised as “the eighth wonder of the world” by Carl Denham, who captured and exhibited him.
In what Manhattan theater do you think this happened ?
As soon as I make my first two million in the stock market, by “pyramding” investments.
Perhaps the Prayer Palace has no phone number, or an unlisted one. It reads like a field trip is needed to check this one out.
Thanks. BTW, I asked my dad about the Marvin last night, told him where it was, but he doesn’t remember it. I’m glad I tried asking him, though.
LouRom, please send me a private message through this board if you w ant to “keep going” with these recollections.
I attended St. Brigid from September 12, 1960 (began kindergarten that day, Tropical Storm Donna hit the NYC area that day also) to June 1969 when I graduated from eighth grade.
I remember “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” at the Ridgewood in Sept. 1974, “The Trial of Billy Jack” there Thanksgiving 1974.
Do you remember the Bickford’s that preceded McDonald’s at Myrtle and Wyckoff ?
I remember Luigi’s there from about 1969 on but never had a haircut there. Glenridge Medical Labs and a stationery or paper supply store was next door also.
You’re welcome.
Yup, that’s the one. I’ve also noticed “Disco Mundo” and Frenchie’s Gym in 1979 and 1980 near the Manhattan-bound platform of the Marcy Avenue station.
Thanks, Lou Rom. Where was the Williamsburgh Cinema ?
I was very sorry to read that the Commodore had closed.
The old Chase Manhattan Bank at 260 Bway near Havermeyer is now a law center for social justice. I rode by there on the M train today.
There are so many ex-New Yorkers in Florida, retired or otherwise, that I half-expect a new state of “South New York” to secede from Florida proper !
TomScott, then 1955 is probably when it stopped being a movie theater. Thanks for mentioning its precise address.
Lou Rom, “The Narrow Platforms At The Marcy Avenue Station” is one of four great articles by Karl Burkhardt on the “My Recollection” site. I’d forgotten about that one.
When was Marcy Avenue your home station ? Ever go to the Eastern District YMCA right near there ? I was supposed to go swimming there with the Ridgewood YMCA in spring 1968, but didn’t.
Yes. An el ran over Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn from about 1885 to October 13, 1950. If you’re interested, read “The Last Lex” by Karl Burkhardt on the “My Recollection” site :
http://www.myrecollection.com/
I’ve found it in my e-mail. Thanks. Where on the building can you now read that it’s the “Prayer Palace” ?
lostmemory, I think there was, and I think it was adjacent to a mass transit line. I seem to recall it being mentioned in the excellent PBS documentary, “A Walk Through Brooklyn Part I” with Dick Hartman and Barry Lewis.
Reid Avenue is apparently now known as Malcolm X Boulevard.
It could be the Marvin / Van Buren Theater, because the theater was at Bway and Van Buren, between the Kosciuszko and Gates el stations on Bway’s southwest side, and that is where the “Reid Furniture” building is in the photo. It’s hard to be sure without legible street signs. The roof of the building has that “silver-painted trapezoid” look of the Colonial and other Bushwick and Ridgewood Theaters.
“Reid Furniture” is confusing because Reid Avenue intersects Bway between Myrtle and Kosciuszko, as opposed to Van Buren intersecting Bway between Kosciuszko and Gates.
Yes, Our Lady Of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church was on Aberdeen Street between Bushwick Avenue and Broadway. The idea of it being demolished because of interfering with low flying airplanes was my father’s idea, and his memory is, to say the least, not the greatest.
I think a more likely reason was the decline of the neighborhood.
Lou Rom, you’re most welcome to my memories.