Alhambra Theatre

Groundstar, you are very welcome….se if I knew 24 hours ago when I took those photos, I would have panned more to the left! I don’t remember what was on the left, but the buildings on the left (across Knickerbocker) were still there.
Yes, it must be a shock to see your friends building gone! The lot was large. It’s hard to tell in the photo because it’s zoomed, but there must have been at least 3 buildings on that site (or one large building, since it was a corner). It’s probably strange, because you probably have a vision of the indside of your friend’s apartment, and now it doesn’t exist!
Of course the neighborhood fell on hard times, and a lot was abandoned or burned in the 70s and 80’s. In the 90’s a lot of the vacant or burnt buildings were razed. The neighborhood is getting better, there is so much new construction going on. Entire blocks around Cornelia and Central have been razed, and replaced with brand new 2 family homes. It’s getting much better. The vacant lot where your friend’s old apartment is one of the few. It’s only a matter of time till they build on it again, as this is happeneing everywhere in the neighborhood. I hadn’t been on Knickerbocker since I was a teenager, until yesterday.

Bway – the picture is quite a shock!
The vacant lot in your photo was apartment building with store on the street level – a candy store – tv repair – pizza parlour – cleaners – and my friends lived in the apartments above – Tom, Louie, Freddie –
I lived across the street to the left of your photo in the first buildings with stoops – there were two building closer to eldert st. but where we lived was ONLY apartments – three stories – damn I miss that place – I lived there from when I was 5 till I was 16 in 1965
Thanks again for the pictures they are wonderful!!!!!!!!

Groundstar, here’s the angle from the Knickerbocker side:

Click here

It’s sort of a crappy shot, (why I didn’t post it originally). I didn’t even get out of my car to take that (took it at the stop sign at Eldert), like I did for the Halsey St side.
They cut windows into the entire theater. I am going to assume there is not much left of the interior, what with the windows, and the supermarket conversion decades ago. I have no idea what the building is now.

I grew up at 800 Kniockerbocker Ave in the 50’s & 60’s – I remember the changeover from a vacant theater to a “Safeway” supermarket in the late 50’s and then a name change to “Finest” in the early 60’s.
I worked in the store while going to school – and the store closed in 1964 – it remained vacant until my family moved in 1965 and I don’t know what happened to it after that.
The picture from Bway taken from the Halsey Street side brings back many memories – and I would love to see a shot of the facade on the Kniockerbcoker Ave side –

The building does still exist.

Here’s a current view of the Alhambra Theater taken yesterday.

Click Here for Link

I don’t know what, if anything is in the building today.