I think the Alhambra Theater on Knickerbocker Ave was also a Ward & Glynne Theater, but of course, I don’t know if Ruehl had anything to do with that one too.
The last day of normal operation on the Jamaica El was Sept 11, 1977. However, they did hold fantrips for the last time on both Sept 11th, 1977 (which was the last day for normal service), and Sept 12, 1977 ran a fantrip, which was the last day a passenger train traversed it….
It “has” to be 1977, as the Jamaica Ave el was closed on September 11th, 1977, and there are photos at nycsubway.org using the 168th St Station, which was right at the Valencia, and there is already a “Tabernacle of Prayer” cross on the Valencia.
Hehe, yeah, that was a strange movie…. The RKO Bushwick in the 80’s, however, was the perfect setting for that movie… There is a lot of footage in and around the theater for that scene where the human sacrifice is taking place on the stage of the Bushwick theater….. And the exterior! Just as perfect for the mood of that scene….
Perhaps if it was still an abandoned theater….but it has it’s new use now….
But speaking of drug stores, WHAT is it about theaters and drug stores? SO many theaters have become drug stores, just off the top of my head, I couldn’t even count them all. It’s such a high percentage that have become drugstores as opposed to other retain uses…
I use that Cypress Ave exit at Vermont from the JR Parkway often. Yes, couldn’t imagine it without a light!!
But I really think they are overdoing the traffic lights in Ridgewood. It’s slowly become like manhattan with lights at every corner, which certainly is not necessary…. I mean really, a light at Harmon and Seneca, and many of the other recent ones are just a but overdone….
Jim, even if the if the express track was ripped up, Myrtle-Bway should have been listed as an express stop, as of course it was an express on the Broadway El with the Jamaica line. Marcy Ave, which currently is an express stop, was originally a local stop. It was supposed to be rebuilt into a formal express stop at Williamsburg Bridge Plaza ( and look like Myrtle-Bway, etc), however, it was never done.
Quote PKoch:
“Should I look for you in the film ? Did you get on-camera as an "on-the-spot extra” ?"
Actually, my shadow is in Malcolm X, standing above in the Mezzanine at Wyckoff Ave in that opening scene, a bunch of us were standing up there…. We were told to move when the director saw us standing up there. Apparently, we in our 1990’s clothes may have been caught in their 1930’s scene….. They didn’t reshoot it though, and instead, we are sort of blurred to a shadow up above….
Interesting add…and just think, my heart almost skipped a beat, as at first glance it looked like “Ridgewood Folly”, but of course, the Folly was for the Folly Theater. There’s something about seeing those two words together that send shivers down my spine at this site, haha.
We probably rubbed shoulders there, as I also watched many many scenes being taped at Seneca Ave in the 80’s. I saw the funeral procession scene filmed, the scene where he eats the pickle, the scene where the mother and sister go to the ice cream parlor, the scene where the sister goes on a date in this guys car (that was pulled by another car, as in real life it apparently didn’t run)….the scene where he lies on the sidewalk after going to the pool hall, and also the scene where they are standing on the el mezzanine stairway when the brother goes to enlist in the military.
Fun stuff, it was good for a few evenings entertainment watching all that.
Good observation. Yes, that area was known as Brooklyn Manor. There was an LIRR station of the old abandoned LIRR Rockaway line on Jamaica Ave near there called “Brooklyn Manor”. It was abandoned in 1962. The theater was almost certainly named for that lost town name.
The sign on the side of the Madison’s building said “Madison Theatre”. It’s a bit hard to read now, as not only is it faded, but as it faded, it mixed with earlier painted versions of “Madison Theatre”, and they sort of began to blend together as one.
As for the El. The original Myrtle El terminated at Myrtle and Wyckoff. There was a seperate steam railroad that ran on the surface in the route of the current el to Metropolitan Ave, and yes, it was called the Lutheran steam line. At some point in the early 1900’s, they connected this steam railroad to the old Myrtle EL. El trains came down from the el and down to the surface, and ran over the former steam railroad on the ground to Metropolitan Ave. In 1914, the Myrtle El north of Broadway was completely rebuilt to handle heavier subway cars, and they extended the el over the old surface tracks, the el we know today.
They used to use the old tower for offices. It wasn’t used as a tower in many decades, perhaps since the express track was removed. It was however used for offices all these years. Those offices have since been moved into the brand new station building they just completed recently, so the tower is a casualty of the new station building….
I think most realize it isn’t a movie theater anymore. It says “Performing Arts” right on the top. The “single screen” refers to it being one auditorium, which it is.
I assume the loss of seats was over the years. 1800 was probably the original count.
PKoch….they took the Wyckoff Tower down from the el last weekend from what I heard….another end of an era. While I would assume the view to the Madison from the station is enhanced, it must be strange without the tower there.
I agree with both of you. I guess I was thinking more of Disney using it for some of their shows, perhaps after they leave Broadway, or something like that, and perhaps to use it for cinema premiers and stuff too.
Disney was at one time interested in the old Shore Theater in Coney Island, but that deal fell through a long time ago. I wonder if they would have any itnerest in the Kings. As mentioned they have done wonders for so many theaters already.
I went to local.live and found this building at 96th and Jamaica which CERTAINLY looks like a theater building. But it seems much bigger than a 750 seat theater… So, if this building in the below link is not the Manor Theater, what is it?
I think the Alhambra Theater on Knickerbocker Ave was also a Ward & Glynne Theater, but of course, I don’t know if Ruehl had anything to do with that one too.
The last day of normal operation on the Jamaica El was Sept 11, 1977. However, they did hold fantrips for the last time on both Sept 11th, 1977 (which was the last day for normal service), and Sept 12, 1977 ran a fantrip, which was the last day a passenger train traversed it….
It “has” to be 1977, as the Jamaica Ave el was closed on September 11th, 1977, and there are photos at nycsubway.org using the 168th St Station, which was right at the Valencia, and there is already a “Tabernacle of Prayer” cross on the Valencia.
See here for one example:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?24041
Hehe, yeah, that was a strange movie…. The RKO Bushwick in the 80’s, however, was the perfect setting for that movie… There is a lot of footage in and around the theater for that scene where the human sacrifice is taking place on the stage of the Bushwick theater….. And the exterior! Just as perfect for the mood of that scene….
Perhaps if it was still an abandoned theater….but it has it’s new use now….
But speaking of drug stores, WHAT is it about theaters and drug stores? SO many theaters have become drug stores, just off the top of my head, I couldn’t even count them all. It’s such a high percentage that have become drugstores as opposed to other retain uses…
Hopefully not the dumpster…..
I use that Cypress Ave exit at Vermont from the JR Parkway often. Yes, couldn’t imagine it without a light!!
But I really think they are overdoing the traffic lights in Ridgewood. It’s slowly become like manhattan with lights at every corner, which certainly is not necessary…. I mean really, a light at Harmon and Seneca, and many of the other recent ones are just a but overdone….
Jim, even if the if the express track was ripped up, Myrtle-Bway should have been listed as an express stop, as of course it was an express on the Broadway El with the Jamaica line. Marcy Ave, which currently is an express stop, was originally a local stop. It was supposed to be rebuilt into a formal express stop at Williamsburg Bridge Plaza ( and look like Myrtle-Bway, etc), however, it was never done.
Quote PKoch:
“Should I look for you in the film ? Did you get on-camera as an "on-the-spot extra” ?"
Actually, my shadow is in Malcolm X, standing above in the Mezzanine at Wyckoff Ave in that opening scene, a bunch of us were standing up there…. We were told to move when the director saw us standing up there. Apparently, we in our 1990’s clothes may have been caught in their 1930’s scene….. They didn’t reshoot it though, and instead, we are sort of blurred to a shadow up above….
Interesting add…and just think, my heart almost skipped a beat, as at first glance it looked like “Ridgewood Folly”, but of course, the Folly was for the Folly Theater. There’s something about seeing those two words together that send shivers down my spine at this site, haha.
I don’t know when they installed the light, but probably recently. They went on a traffic light rampage in Ridgewood lately….too many if you ask me!
We probably rubbed shoulders there, as I also watched many many scenes being taped at Seneca Ave in the 80’s. I saw the funeral procession scene filmed, the scene where he eats the pickle, the scene where the mother and sister go to the ice cream parlor, the scene where the sister goes on a date in this guys car (that was pulled by another car, as in real life it apparently didn’t run)….the scene where he lies on the sidewalk after going to the pool hall, and also the scene where they are standing on the el mezzanine stairway when the brother goes to enlist in the military.
Fun stuff, it was good for a few evenings entertainment watching all that.
Here’s a photo I took of the Majestic when I was in Ridgewood last week:
Click here to see photo
And a Street View of Seneca between Harmon and Greene:
Click Here to see photo
I was lucky enough to be right up there on the el watching the taping of Malcolm X there at Myrtle/Wyckoff.
Here and here are recent photo of the Shore I found online….
Good observation. Yes, that area was known as Brooklyn Manor. There was an LIRR station of the old abandoned LIRR Rockaway line on Jamaica Ave near there called “Brooklyn Manor”. It was abandoned in 1962. The theater was almost certainly named for that lost town name.
The sign on the side of the Madison’s building said “Madison Theatre”. It’s a bit hard to read now, as not only is it faded, but as it faded, it mixed with earlier painted versions of “Madison Theatre”, and they sort of began to blend together as one.
As for the El. The original Myrtle El terminated at Myrtle and Wyckoff. There was a seperate steam railroad that ran on the surface in the route of the current el to Metropolitan Ave, and yes, it was called the Lutheran steam line. At some point in the early 1900’s, they connected this steam railroad to the old Myrtle EL. El trains came down from the el and down to the surface, and ran over the former steam railroad on the ground to Metropolitan Ave. In 1914, the Myrtle El north of Broadway was completely rebuilt to handle heavier subway cars, and they extended the el over the old surface tracks, the el we know today.
They used to use the old tower for offices. It wasn’t used as a tower in many decades, perhaps since the express track was removed. It was however used for offices all these years. Those offices have since been moved into the brand new station building they just completed recently, so the tower is a casualty of the new station building….
I think most realize it isn’t a movie theater anymore. It says “Performing Arts” right on the top. The “single screen” refers to it being one auditorium, which it is.
I assume the loss of seats was over the years. 1800 was probably the original count.
1989? 1985 was perhaps the lowpoint of Brooklyn’s history. You wouldn’t recognize Brooklyn from 1989….it’s back in force.
PKoch….they took the Wyckoff Tower down from the el last weekend from what I heard….another end of an era. While I would assume the view to the Madison from the station is enhanced, it must be strange without the tower there.
Brooklyn has come a long way since the 80’s.
I agree with both of you. I guess I was thinking more of Disney using it for some of their shows, perhaps after they leave Broadway, or something like that, and perhaps to use it for cinema premiers and stuff too.
Disney was at one time interested in the old Shore Theater in Coney Island, but that deal fell through a long time ago. I wonder if they would have any itnerest in the Kings. As mentioned they have done wonders for so many theaters already.
I went to local.live and found this building at 96th and Jamaica which CERTAINLY looks like a theater building. But it seems much bigger than a 750 seat theater… So, if this building in the below link is not the Manor Theater, what is it?
Click here for link
Did it close after this unfortunate accident?