Well there must have been at least 10 theaters on Myrtle Ave…in Ridgewood….
Irving-Mozart
Rivoli
Madison
Ridgewood Theater
Evergeen (at corner of Seneca and Myrtle, so it counts)
Ritz
Glenwood
Belvedere
Acme
I am sure I am missing some, and if you stretch that out to side streets and surrounding communities, you have the RKO Keith in Richmond Hill right at Myrtle and Hillside, and theaters like the Loews Broadway a block away from Myrtle and Broadway, and so many more.
But then again, if you think of a stretch like Broadway in Brooklyn, think of ALL the theaters on that corridor! And if you expand that out, you can triple those on Myrtle!
Unfortunately, the Commodore can’t “become” a school, as it has been robbed from Brooklyn. Thankfully, the people who bought the RKO Bushwick had the good sense to at least preserve it’s shell (and the RKO Bushwick was in WAY worse shape than the Commodore was). The Casino Theater (aka DeKalb Theater) is also a school now, or at least it’s shell is. I posted some photos of the Casio in it’s section. I am not sure what name it’s under, but try searching the theater section of either “Casino” or “DeKalb”. It’s on DeKalb Ave, between Broadway and Bushwick Ave.
42nd Street was trashed in the 80’s, and all it was was empty marquee after empty marquee of abandoned, and falling apart theaters, hardly “profitable” or in good shape. Intact perhaps, but far from a viable street, and certainly not in good shape.
The Tabernacle of Prayer took over the Valencia before the El closed, even if by a few months. I have seen photos of the 168th Street station of the jamaica el on September 11, 1977, the last day of the el service, and the cross for Tabernacle of Prayer was already on the Valencia building.
Ed, the Times Square you are talking about was already dead by the late 60’s. The 70’s and 80’s Times Square was a pit, a piece of garbage, and had already been trashed, and destroyed. Sure it was all still there, but in ruins, and in shambles. At least through the 90’s, Times Square once again became a viable part of the city once again.
By the way, I noticed the “Store World” on the sign on the wall in one of Warren’s photos. I am trying hard to think, but I wonder if that was the name of the flea market style store that occupied the Madison around the time the Busy Bee store took over. It was short lived.
Also, just to add, I am surprised Warren that you found the interior so startling. I think most here described how the place looked, and that absolutely nothing survived of the theater days inside, aside from the shape of the cureved balcony swooping through the store, it couldn’t possibly be a surprise to see that nothing remained, as many of us who have been through there described the scene in almost painful detail. The depressingness of it has been described here often, on what a beautiful place it once was, and now it’s all gone. All that possibly could remain is maybe a soot covered dome ceiling (from the fire) above the drop ceiling.
I have never seen Myrtle Ave look like a “ghost town”…so I can’t imagine why it may have looked like that. The occupancy rate of the stores on Myrtle Ave between Wyckoff and Fresh Pond Rd are like 99%, so if it was a “ghost town” often, it would show in many vacant stores. Obviously the businesses do quite well to keep all those stores filled, and when one moves out, there’s always another one filling it soon after….so I don’t have any worry for Ridgewood’s shopping district.
Bobby, the Bushwick Theater was gutted. All that remains it’s it’s shell. The interior was so bad, and so neglected after about 30 years of abandonment (and I am sure it was in need of help even before it closed), there wasn’t much of the inside that was salvagable, even if they wanted to. While I think they did a great job on preserving the exterior, and it’s great that it’s now being used, it would not have been bad at all (perhaps better) if it was gutted and made a Loews multiplex….as the exterior would probably also have been preserved, just as it is now….and inside it’s walls…would still be movies, even if not in the old theater.
Peter, as I said in the past, I think the Madison in it’s final years must have been a great place to see a horror film…
Notice that many horror films are actually set in beautiful “has been” sort of places, and “Haunted Mansions” are always some old decaying Victorian Home, or Queen Anne style like in Psycho…..
So yes, “The Exorcist” must have been really something at the Madison…
The demolition of Penn Station was a complete sin, and an outrage. Unfortunately, that was the thinking of the 50’s and 60’s….out with the old, in with the new. That building has been lamented as a loss by historians, architects, and all sort of groups to this day.
The only good that came out of it is that it made people aware of what can happen without laws to protect historic buildings from being robbed for future generations as Penn Station was. At the very least, to bring this back on topic is that at least the grand gothic exterior of the Madison building survives, even if partially covered.
Yes, it was a church for a while apparently, perhaps since the name was so close, I didn’t notice. I heard it was some sort of Pentecostal congregation.
The supermarket only opened over the last two months or so, so it hasn’t been that long….I posted a photo of the Met supermarket up above….
Well when it was a drive in, and you want to go to a drive in to see a particular movie, of course you would travel, as you don’t have too much of a choice. But with the choices of multiplexes out there nowadays, I don’t see many people traveling all the way to Deer Park to see a movie that’s easier seen so much closer….
I don’t know…but of course the Acme’s marquee wasn’t quite as big as the old Madison’s. There are many theaters that keep the marquee, such as the Keith’s Richmond Hill, Plaza in Corona, and many many others…
There could be many reasons the Madison’s was distroyed. One may be the charge as mentioned….another could be the shape it was in, who knows, it was original, perhaps it needed structural work. It was lost in the late 70’s, perhaps it was fresh on the minds of them that the Ridgewood’s caved in….many reasons it could have been removed.
I was in the bank about 5 years ago, and actually admired the way they did preserve so much of the bank when they did the conversion, but at the same time couldn’t understand that such a beautiful bank building couldn’t be home to another bank…… But it’s better than if they had just come in and destroyed the place instead…
I am glad it’s not the Ridgewood Bank they did that too. It would have been hard to see the grand hall of the Ridgewood Savings Bank converted into a store. As it is, I remember it had a different layout when i was a kid, the tellers were all in the middle of the hall until the 80’s some time.
Hahahaha, Deer Park????? That’s about a half hour away!!! If lucky!! I think the Island 16 and the Ronkonkoma will see it first….
As for when the way I pick out a movie I want to see….I first pick out the theater I plan to go to….see if the movie is even playing there….then see if the time is convenient….if any of those things don’t match, I go to the next theater, and do the same. Unfortunately, even when the Patchogue was open, it usually wasn’t my first choice, because of the condition of it…and the screens were much smaller…the lack of stadium seating, etc….. But I would have much rather seen the Patchogue retrofitted and redone with those amenities than see what happened to it…..
So by the way….is it official? did it close yesterday for good? I guess sadly if it’s true, the theater status can be changed to ‘closed"….until the sad day when demolition becomes reality….
Also to comment on Panzer’s mention of the missing ceiling tile by the check out…I also noticed a few missing tiles when I was in there, some close to the balcony edge….I couldn’t see too much, other than a lot of wires, and lots of Air conditioning and heating vents (also remember, that above the ceiling are all these utilities). Think also of the lighting. They lighting FOR A STORE is wired and placed throughout that fake drop ceiling. All that open space would be very dificult to light (also thinking back to 70’s technology when the theater was converted). Lighting would have had to be wired and hung from way up high (also think of unsightly wiring, that must be not exposed as to fire hazard standards). The Madison’s lighting was great as placed as necessary for a dim theater….but certainly not the bright light needed for a store.
Yes, I agree with all the comments. You have to look at it from the owner of the building’s perspective. As sad as it is, it was no longer a theater anymore. To have to air condition and heat all that open space, especially the size of the Madison (remember, you could probably fit the Meserole into the Madison at least one or two times!)….it makes perfect sense to lower the ceiling to a reasonable height for the store conversion. And again, even forgetting the fire or soot damage to the ceiling and original walls, if not maintained, the ceiling and walls way up there would be an eyesore. Just remember, that ceiling and walls won’t look the same today as everyone remembers them….the plaster/paint will have deteriorated, even under normal circumstances (and the roof never leaked, as the building has always been used, so I would assume there is little water damage, however, plaster does have to be maintained, even under normal circumstances. And thinking of the intricacies of the old ornate Madison plaster, it would have been a huge expense to keep from looking like an eyesore….so for heating/airconditioning/maintenance/cost standpoints the covering/removing of the old walls, or the instalation of a normal height ceiling for a store (after all, it is a store) makes sense…..as unfortunate and sad as it is…..
Panzer, I don’t know when the theater was stripped, but originally it opened as a Consumers store, and only the outer lobby area was open to the public, and perhaps maybe the innter lobby, but I don’t believe so. The auditorium probably was still open to the domed ceiling at that time, as that area was not open to the public, and was just used as the warehouse of the Consumers store (Consumers was a type of store like Service Merchandise where in an area where you come in, there are tables and catalogs where you look through, then write down on a slip what you want, then give it to a clerk and they bring you your item.
Next was Odd Lot, and I was in that store too, and by that time, the fake drop ceiling was in through the auditorium.
We must remember also that between when the theater closed, and when the first store opened up there, Consumers, the Madison burned. it’s safe to say that after the fire (and I don’t know how bad the fire was), but either way, the ceiling, and walls were probably at least heavily sooted up, and certainly unsightly, so it was probably much cheaper to just put the fake drop ceiling through, rather than go through the major expense of first having to clean the ceiling and walls of soot (so paint would at least stick) and having to repaint the entire auditorium tall ceiling and walls, for an area that is technically not necessary for a store.
I’m not saying of course it’s right or wrong what they did….but I can fully see why they did it. As as sad as it was even back then…all that beauty was no longer necessary for a store, as the Madison wasn’t a theater anymore.
As for the Meserole, of course it has to be remembered that the Meserole is much smaller for one, and it was already probably recently painted for when it was a roller rink…and it also wasn’t covered in soot or had fire damage like the Madison did in it’s conversion. So when the Madison came up to be transformed….it was in much worse shape even from the theater days when the ceiling probably was neglected for decades earlier…
Panzer, the stairway that is now there, and used to get to the furniture area of the store, obviously had it’s ornamentation stripped off of it many years ago. Even as an exit stairway for the theater, it would have had at least carpeting, and a nicer railing on it when it was the madison.
Probably the Island 16 right down Nichols Rd from the Patchogue. I doubt they will go to the Movieland Cinemas of Mastic. ISome may go to the Regal Ronkonkoma.
The Arion must have been a quite small theater, as I am trying to find it on local.live, and I was having trouble, but I think this is an aerial view of the building….
Well there must have been at least 10 theaters on Myrtle Ave…in Ridgewood….
Irving-Mozart
Rivoli
Madison
Ridgewood Theater
Evergeen (at corner of Seneca and Myrtle, so it counts)
Ritz
Glenwood
Belvedere
Acme
I am sure I am missing some, and if you stretch that out to side streets and surrounding communities, you have the RKO Keith in Richmond Hill right at Myrtle and Hillside, and theaters like the Loews Broadway a block away from Myrtle and Broadway, and so many more.
But then again, if you think of a stretch like Broadway in Brooklyn, think of ALL the theaters on that corridor! And if you expand that out, you can triple those on Myrtle!
Unfortunately, the Commodore can’t “become” a school, as it has been robbed from Brooklyn. Thankfully, the people who bought the RKO Bushwick had the good sense to at least preserve it’s shell (and the RKO Bushwick was in WAY worse shape than the Commodore was). The Casino Theater (aka DeKalb Theater) is also a school now, or at least it’s shell is. I posted some photos of the Casio in it’s section. I am not sure what name it’s under, but try searching the theater section of either “Casino” or “DeKalb”. It’s on DeKalb Ave, between Broadway and Bushwick Ave.
As far as I know that building IS the old Paragon Theater. Do you have any interior photos of it?
42nd Street was trashed in the 80’s, and all it was was empty marquee after empty marquee of abandoned, and falling apart theaters, hardly “profitable” or in good shape. Intact perhaps, but far from a viable street, and certainly not in good shape.
The Tabernacle of Prayer took over the Valencia before the El closed, even if by a few months. I have seen photos of the 168th Street station of the jamaica el on September 11, 1977, the last day of the el service, and the cross for Tabernacle of Prayer was already on the Valencia building.
Ed, the Times Square you are talking about was already dead by the late 60’s. The 70’s and 80’s Times Square was a pit, a piece of garbage, and had already been trashed, and destroyed. Sure it was all still there, but in ruins, and in shambles. At least through the 90’s, Times Square once again became a viable part of the city once again.
By the way, I noticed the “Store World” on the sign on the wall in one of Warren’s photos. I am trying hard to think, but I wonder if that was the name of the flea market style store that occupied the Madison around the time the Busy Bee store took over. It was short lived.
Also, just to add, I am surprised Warren that you found the interior so startling. I think most here described how the place looked, and that absolutely nothing survived of the theater days inside, aside from the shape of the cureved balcony swooping through the store, it couldn’t possibly be a surprise to see that nothing remained, as many of us who have been through there described the scene in almost painful detail. The depressingness of it has been described here often, on what a beautiful place it once was, and now it’s all gone. All that possibly could remain is maybe a soot covered dome ceiling (from the fire) above the drop ceiling.
I have never seen Myrtle Ave look like a “ghost town”…so I can’t imagine why it may have looked like that. The occupancy rate of the stores on Myrtle Ave between Wyckoff and Fresh Pond Rd are like 99%, so if it was a “ghost town” often, it would show in many vacant stores. Obviously the businesses do quite well to keep all those stores filled, and when one moves out, there’s always another one filling it soon after….so I don’t have any worry for Ridgewood’s shopping district.
Bobby, the Bushwick Theater was gutted. All that remains it’s it’s shell. The interior was so bad, and so neglected after about 30 years of abandonment (and I am sure it was in need of help even before it closed), there wasn’t much of the inside that was salvagable, even if they wanted to. While I think they did a great job on preserving the exterior, and it’s great that it’s now being used, it would not have been bad at all (perhaps better) if it was gutted and made a Loews multiplex….as the exterior would probably also have been preserved, just as it is now….and inside it’s walls…would still be movies, even if not in the old theater.
Absolutely. Ronkonkoma is where most of the clientele will go, it’s only about 10-15 minutes away.
Peter, as I said in the past, I think the Madison in it’s final years must have been a great place to see a horror film…
Notice that many horror films are actually set in beautiful “has been” sort of places, and “Haunted Mansions” are always some old decaying Victorian Home, or Queen Anne style like in Psycho…..
So yes, “The Exorcist” must have been really something at the Madison…
The demolition of Penn Station was a complete sin, and an outrage. Unfortunately, that was the thinking of the 50’s and 60’s….out with the old, in with the new. That building has been lamented as a loss by historians, architects, and all sort of groups to this day.
The only good that came out of it is that it made people aware of what can happen without laws to protect historic buildings from being robbed for future generations as Penn Station was. At the very least, to bring this back on topic is that at least the grand gothic exterior of the Madison building survives, even if partially covered.
Yes, it was a church for a while apparently, perhaps since the name was so close, I didn’t notice. I heard it was some sort of Pentecostal congregation.
The supermarket only opened over the last two months or so, so it hasn’t been that long….I posted a photo of the Met supermarket up above….
Well when it was a drive in, and you want to go to a drive in to see a particular movie, of course you would travel, as you don’t have too much of a choice. But with the choices of multiplexes out there nowadays, I don’t see many people traveling all the way to Deer Park to see a movie that’s easier seen so much closer….
I don’t know…but of course the Acme’s marquee wasn’t quite as big as the old Madison’s. There are many theaters that keep the marquee, such as the Keith’s Richmond Hill, Plaza in Corona, and many many others…
There could be many reasons the Madison’s was distroyed. One may be the charge as mentioned….another could be the shape it was in, who knows, it was original, perhaps it needed structural work. It was lost in the late 70’s, perhaps it was fresh on the minds of them that the Ridgewood’s caved in….many reasons it could have been removed.
I was in the bank about 5 years ago, and actually admired the way they did preserve so much of the bank when they did the conversion, but at the same time couldn’t understand that such a beautiful bank building couldn’t be home to another bank…… But it’s better than if they had just come in and destroyed the place instead…
I am glad it’s not the Ridgewood Bank they did that too. It would have been hard to see the grand hall of the Ridgewood Savings Bank converted into a store. As it is, I remember it had a different layout when i was a kid, the tellers were all in the middle of the hall until the 80’s some time.
Hahahaha, Deer Park????? That’s about a half hour away!!! If lucky!! I think the Island 16 and the Ronkonkoma will see it first….
As for when the way I pick out a movie I want to see….I first pick out the theater I plan to go to….see if the movie is even playing there….then see if the time is convenient….if any of those things don’t match, I go to the next theater, and do the same. Unfortunately, even when the Patchogue was open, it usually wasn’t my first choice, because of the condition of it…and the screens were much smaller…the lack of stadium seating, etc….. But I would have much rather seen the Patchogue retrofitted and redone with those amenities than see what happened to it…..
So by the way….is it official? did it close yesterday for good? I guess sadly if it’s true, the theater status can be changed to ‘closed"….until the sad day when demolition becomes reality….
Also to comment on Panzer’s mention of the missing ceiling tile by the check out…I also noticed a few missing tiles when I was in there, some close to the balcony edge….I couldn’t see too much, other than a lot of wires, and lots of Air conditioning and heating vents (also remember, that above the ceiling are all these utilities). Think also of the lighting. They lighting FOR A STORE is wired and placed throughout that fake drop ceiling. All that open space would be very dificult to light (also thinking back to 70’s technology when the theater was converted). Lighting would have had to be wired and hung from way up high (also think of unsightly wiring, that must be not exposed as to fire hazard standards). The Madison’s lighting was great as placed as necessary for a dim theater….but certainly not the bright light needed for a store.
Yes, I agree with all the comments. You have to look at it from the owner of the building’s perspective. As sad as it is, it was no longer a theater anymore. To have to air condition and heat all that open space, especially the size of the Madison (remember, you could probably fit the Meserole into the Madison at least one or two times!)….it makes perfect sense to lower the ceiling to a reasonable height for the store conversion. And again, even forgetting the fire or soot damage to the ceiling and original walls, if not maintained, the ceiling and walls way up there would be an eyesore. Just remember, that ceiling and walls won’t look the same today as everyone remembers them….the plaster/paint will have deteriorated, even under normal circumstances (and the roof never leaked, as the building has always been used, so I would assume there is little water damage, however, plaster does have to be maintained, even under normal circumstances. And thinking of the intricacies of the old ornate Madison plaster, it would have been a huge expense to keep from looking like an eyesore….so for heating/airconditioning/maintenance/cost standpoints the covering/removing of the old walls, or the instalation of a normal height ceiling for a store (after all, it is a store) makes sense…..as unfortunate and sad as it is…..
Those are my photos, but I never included them in the Meserole section, however, did email to some people when they asked in the past.
Panzer, I don’t know when the theater was stripped, but originally it opened as a Consumers store, and only the outer lobby area was open to the public, and perhaps maybe the innter lobby, but I don’t believe so. The auditorium probably was still open to the domed ceiling at that time, as that area was not open to the public, and was just used as the warehouse of the Consumers store (Consumers was a type of store like Service Merchandise where in an area where you come in, there are tables and catalogs where you look through, then write down on a slip what you want, then give it to a clerk and they bring you your item.
Next was Odd Lot, and I was in that store too, and by that time, the fake drop ceiling was in through the auditorium.
We must remember also that between when the theater closed, and when the first store opened up there, Consumers, the Madison burned. it’s safe to say that after the fire (and I don’t know how bad the fire was), but either way, the ceiling, and walls were probably at least heavily sooted up, and certainly unsightly, so it was probably much cheaper to just put the fake drop ceiling through, rather than go through the major expense of first having to clean the ceiling and walls of soot (so paint would at least stick) and having to repaint the entire auditorium tall ceiling and walls, for an area that is technically not necessary for a store.
I’m not saying of course it’s right or wrong what they did….but I can fully see why they did it. As as sad as it was even back then…all that beauty was no longer necessary for a store, as the Madison wasn’t a theater anymore.
As for the Meserole, of course it has to be remembered that the Meserole is much smaller for one, and it was already probably recently painted for when it was a roller rink…and it also wasn’t covered in soot or had fire damage like the Madison did in it’s conversion. So when the Madison came up to be transformed….it was in much worse shape even from the theater days when the ceiling probably was neglected for decades earlier…
Panzer, the stairway that is now there, and used to get to the furniture area of the store, obviously had it’s ornamentation stripped off of it many years ago. Even as an exit stairway for the theater, it would have had at least carpeting, and a nicer railing on it when it was the madison.
Perhaps. It’s still open too. But I don’t know how much Sayville’s 3 or 4 screens will replace the 13 screens of the Patchogue.
Probably the Island 16 right down Nichols Rd from the Patchogue. I doubt they will go to the Movieland Cinemas of Mastic. ISome may go to the Regal Ronkonkoma.
The Arion must have been a quite small theater, as I am trying to find it on local.live, and I was having trouble, but I think this is an aerial view of the building….
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