RKO Keith's Theatre
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
51 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1,051 - 1,075 of 1,324 comments
Whatever they are doing is certainly selective. Raise the alarm if you see crane components arriving at the site.
I hope that they can do better than this glass wall. What a bastard child of a project.
Tom, I don’t see any Hebrew lettering on the truck; what I do see is the name Metro and a phone number. Unfortunately, I’ve tried blowing up the photo but it breaks down too much for me to make out the small print — I can only see the 718 area code, and can’t tell what it says under Metro. Can you see more detail in your original? I’m concerned because the logo looks like it could be that of Metro Environmental, which is a demolition company (http://www.metroenvironmental.com) although it does also do asbestos and mold remediation.
Sorry for the mistake, that picture above is of the rear including the parking lot behind the building on the next street.
Here’s the picture of the storefront:
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Here’s an interesting pic from early this year. We drove past the theater, and the wooden blockade on the first storefront from the left was open! As you’ll see, there was a commercial van inside it. The van had Hebrew lettering on it.
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Hi Melissa- I should be in touch soon with a phone number :–)
Hey Tom,
I am the one doing the Documentary. We are in the early stages of development and research.
For anyone interested in providing stories or pictures(!) please e-mail me at Please provide a phone number that you can be reached at so that I can set up appointments for interviews. Thanks!
Melissa Rubin
Spherewerx, LLC.
Hey Tom,
I am the one doing the Documentary. We are in the early stages of development and research.
For anyone interested in providing stories or pictures(!) please e-mail me at Please provide a phone number that you can be reached at so that I can set up appointments for interviews. Thanks!
Melissa Rubin
Spherewerx, LLC.
Thanks, Tom! :)
I’m 99% sure Farrington is still there. I sometimes see vans driving around from businesses with Farrington St. addresses painted on the side.
Why t'anks, Al
Hi Tom:
I just used Yahoo maps to search for Farrington Street in Flushing, NY… It indicates that Farrington runs south from 32nd avenue ending at Northern Boulevard, slightly west of the intersection of Northern and Main. Has that street been renamed? If that is Farrington, it does seem that the B.F. Keith’s mentioned by the Avery staff is indeed the RKO. Avery is by appointment only, I would definitely schedule a time to go look at the drawings and buy some copies if they are the RKO.
Hmmm. Hello, Tom.
You have a good heart.
Dave,
Farrington St. is a street or two away from Main st. I live a few minutes up Northern Blvd so I dont recall exactly where it is, but this certainly does raise some questions.
Has anyone heard back from the person doing a documentary on the Keith’s? I’d love to get involved.
As for the ornamental window frame being removed, I too passed by and saw this…to say the least I was worried and shocked. I’ll see if I can take a look down there again this week.
Thank you everyone for your continuous signatures on my petition- keep up the good work, and keep forwarding it :-D
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-Tom
Dave,
Farrington St. is a street or two away from Main st. I live a few minutes up Northern Blvd so I dont recall exactly where it is, but this certainly does raise some questions.
Has anyone heard back from the person doing a documentary on the Keith’s? I’d love to get involved.
As for the ornamental window frame being removed, I too passed by and saw this…to say the least I was worried and shocked. I’ll see if I can take a look down there again this week.
Thank you everyone for your continuous signatures on my petition- keep up the good work, and keep forwarding it :-D
View link
-Tom
I emailed the Avery Library at Columbia, asking if they hold any of Lamb’s architectural drawings or renderings of the RKO Keith’s in Flushing, Queens. They replied:
“We have 63 drawings for the B.F. Keith theater and office building on Northern Boulevard and Farrington Street, drawn in 1928.”
My question is, is this the same theater as the RKO Keith’s/Flushing? I am not familiar with the street necrology of the area, but thought perhaps “Main Street” might once have been “Farrington Street.” The facade of the RKO Flushing looks like it once housed offices, one of the pictures linked from this page showed letters on the windows above the marquee indicating a law firm there.
Sorry if this question has already been answered on this page. Thank you everyone
Dave
The fourth listing above claims tat Murry The K held his rock and roll shows at the Keith’s theatre in Flushing NY and then goes on to say thaat Cream (Eric Clapton) performed here ….
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!
Cream appeared at a Murry the K show I believe in 1967 at the RKO 58th (or 59th) street theartre in Manhattan. I remember the Who were on the same bill because I WAS THERE. I enjoy sites like this though we humans have memories that are sometimes subjective, even mine .. but I am absolutely certain that CREAM never played in FLushing NY. I grew up in College Point and wold have certainly gone to Flushing as opposed to Manhattan to see Cream or the Who
Hey Ed, now that you mentioned it, the movie poster fro running scared sat in the movie poster box right outside the theated for about 2 years after the theater closed before someone took it or they decided to strip the poster boxes away. I remember seeing the poster get lighter and lighter as it was bleached from the sun!
Re 11/22/63—My friend Ricky and I were wheeling our baby boys along Northern Boulevard on a nice day and decided to stop in the luncheonette near the RKO Keith for refreshments.
As we walked in, the people behind the counter had the radio on. They said Kennedy had just been shot. At that point no-one knew if he was alive or not. But we immediately headed back to our nearby apartments. School had just let out from Flushing High and the kids were happy and lively and unknowing about what had just occurred. We told a few of them as they approached: “Kennedy has been shot!” They laughed as if we had told them a joke. I guess they thought it was impossible.
I remember spending more days at home mourning at the TV than I’ve ever done since for any dear family members. It was not just for Kennedy. It was for the country. And the world. More insanity had arrived. And remains. Francesca
I doubt it too, Jeffrey. The assassination was on Friday 11/22/63. The Hootenanny ad ran in the Saturday 11/23 papers and the shows were to run that entire day alternating with the main feature. On Sunday, the supporting feature resumed its rotation in the schedule. And on Monday, 11/25/63, a day of National mourning was declared in respect for the state funeral and most cinemas did not open until 6pm that evening (as evidenced in the RKO block ad that ran 11/25 in the Daily News).
Fascinating stuff, Ed. I doubt they went ahead with the live shows on Friday. And I certainly didn’t remember that Jack Linkletter was the host of Hootenanny! How did they manage to use a picture of him in 1963 that looks like it was taken in 1943?
LOL, Jeffrey! I made note of that very odd juxtaposition myself when I posted a cropped version of those ads on the Adonis' CT page. Something for everyone there, eh? All that’s missing is an ad and coupon for a liquor store!
Hootenanny at the Keith’s:
Jack Linkletter – Long Island Star Journal 11/23/63
I was going to comment that these were certainly happier times for the RKO but they were certainly NOT happy days for the Country as it was mourning the assassination of JFK the preceding day. I wonder if the live shows went on as scheduled that day.
Here are some other movie ads from around this period:
Daily News 9/21/63
Long Island Star Journal 11/25/63
Daily News 11/25/63
Long Island Star Journal 5/18/64
That Prince ad is pretty scary. How can you create an ad that big and put ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in it that would make anyone want to see the movie?
But more enjoyable is the Daily News ad placement to the left of “Under the Cherry Moon”. Nothing like an ad for “My Little Pony – The Movie” directly above The Kit Kat Klub “GIRLS GIRLS LIVE”, the Adonis “The Young and the Strong” and the Seton Hotel “Low Day & Eve Rates”! Yep, plan your whole July 4th holiday!
A couple of ads showing two of the featured attractions towards the very end:
Running Scarred – Post 7/4/86
Under the Cherry Moon – Post 7/4/86
I haven’t found an ad for it yet, but “Karate Kid, Part II” was the third feature the Keith’s was running at the time. The theater would close sometime that summer and I’ve read more than once on this page where folks commented “Running Scared” was still playing on its final day before being shuttered. “Karate Kid” might have also made it to the end, but I doubt that the expensive egg Prince laid with “Cherry Moon” had any legs. I saw “Running Scared” at the Bay Terrace twin, by the way.
Thanks for the trip “down memory lane,” Ed. I had forgotten the Manes mess took place in ‘86 — for some reason it seemed like it was in the 70s. (You must have some collection of clippings! I confess, I have newspapers from '86 — but they’re about the Mets, not Manes!)