Loew's Canal Theatre
31 Canal Street,
New York,
NY
10002
31 Canal Street,
New York,
NY
10002
24 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 148 of 148 comments
Muray that theater is the Music Palace and was recently demolished to make way for a hotel. It was at the corner of Bowery and Hester. Info is at /theaters/8362/
I am a native born New Yorker and passed the movie house on The Bowery for many years that showed Chinese films exclusively—it was not near Canal Street.It bothers me to this date that no one knows about this theatre.
A point of clarification regarding the status of the Lower East Side Historic District. Community Board 3’s approval is just an early step toward designation. It is now in the hands of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Unitl they designate it (and the City Council approves it), the theater is unprotected. Emails in support of designation can be sent to .gov
The Theater is now part of a new Lower East Side Historic District voted in last month by the local Community Board.
This is from the LA Times, dated 9/11/32:
UNION WAR BLAMED IN BOMBINGS
Two Theaters Damaged by Blasts â€" Official Points to Leniency on Picketing
Picketing “for no good reason†which has been “virtually sanctioned†by local judges, was given tonight by William F.X. Geoghan, District Attorney of King’s County, as the underlying cause of the two theater bombings which occurred early today in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The statement was made in connection with the bombing of the Forty-sixth-street Theater, New Utrecht Avenue, Brooklyn, and the Canal Theater, 31 Canal Street, New York, both operated by the Loew’s chain.
The bombings, which took place at a time when the theaters were empty, were believed by police investigators to be a direct result of the union war being waged by members of the Moving Pictures Operators’ Union No. 36, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and the Empire State Moving Picture Operators’ Union, an independent organization recognized by the state. It is believed that the attack was not aimed particularly at the Loew’s chain but that the two theaters were merely selected as a convenient battleground.
There was a Chinese theater called the Rosemary right near the Manhattan Bridge, I believe.
The ABC store has closed as of June and the building now appears to be completely vacant. With all of the construction of new condos/apartments in the neighborhood – I fear the worst.
Thanks for the info! A 2200 seat theater is nothing to sneeze at, sos you are right, it must be quite large.
And from the great photos Warren posted of the interior auditorium, it is/was quite impressive. I wish we could dig up some current photos of the inside.
Warren, I realize now that when you wrote this…
“Unless the ABC store has been expanded since my last visit several years ago, it occupies only the entrance lobby. You would not be able to see the auditorium from there. It had been sealed off by a brick wall at the rear of the store”
…you were no doubt correct. What I saw when I got past the electronics counter and walked to the stairs that led to “Royal Music” (which occupied what presumably had been the balcony) was apparently just the lobby filled with metal shelves containing air conditioners and boom boxes, etc., so I never got to see the actual theater. That would explain why on my way out as I descended the stairs you could still see the stain glass “EXIT” signs. What I misinterpreted as the theater was the place between the EXIT signs and the exit — which means the theater proper must be gigantic.
You will be happy that you might be wrong on one point, however — apparently there is a not-for-profit organization in Chinatown looking for a performance space, and would be happy to consider the Canal if the current owners would cooperate.
Charles
Muray, the closest I could find on the site is this one, which was on Canal:
/theaters/10372/
Here’s an aerial view of the intersection of Hester and Bowery. ALl four of the old buildings are still there, but I don’t know which one the theater was in:
Click here for link
There was an old movie house in Chinatown Ny located on the Bowery I think on the corner of Hester Street and they showed Chinese films exclusively up until a few years ago. Perhaps Warren might know about this place and if it is still around
When “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof” opened this was advertised as part of the Island Circuit
View link
— it occupies only the entrance lobby
That’s just the retain operation. Behind that the theater is used as warehouse for its wholesale trade.
It’s easy to see if ask to visit the hi-end audio component store, which is as fancy as the rest of the place is shabby, and is upstair in the back in what may have been the balcony.
www.royalmusicinema.com is the website of the audio store.
I was inside ABC United Trading Corp tonight — and I took a few photographs (hastily and at funny angles, but feel free to ask me for copies). The place sells all sorts of electronics and household devices (microwaves, boomboxes, toasters). Despite it’s card (“Wholesale distributors and exporters”) ABC United Trading Corp was eager to sell a $59 GE microwave to this bicyclist (they let me bring the bike inside).
Upstairs is a very neatly appointed high-end home entertainment, home audio equipment place www.royalmusicinema.com Been there for 8 years, I was told.
There are certainly are no seats, no balcony etc. that I could see. There are unpainted cinderblock walls next to perfect terracotta elegant toilets and mirrors and exit signs. A lot of the ceiling looks perfect dingy, but not damaged.
In short, there are many untouched bits, not from a preservationist urge as much as a lack of an urge for destruction. If the upstairs is any basis to judge, the building is structurally okay, despite the damp feel and parts of the lower-floor ceiling that look like plaster is missing.
I live near the “Canal.” The front is an electronics store run by an elderly lady. The auditorium is an active warehouse with fork-lifts running out of a side entrance. It’s funny, sometimes you can see roosters (probably fighters) hanging out near the back of the auditorium on the Ludlow side, near the alley.
You gotta love this town!
-Kev
Oh, just the store — I only got glimpses of the rest. Possibly what’s left to see is less than the glimpses suggest.
Loew’s Canal is real spooky inside (I visited in July 2004). A mostly elderly staff are at the counter, behind which are a few shelves sparsely filled with radios and other electronics. Exactly what they sell and to who is a bit mysterious (I was obviously not a serious customer, and the did not give me a product and price list); but there is a fair amount of activity going on (deliveries, telephones, staff wandering about).
But it’s WELL worth a trip. A lot of the original (terra cotta) is still on the walls, with splintered wood beams showing through. The ceiling has arches — hints of a very dignified and ornate past. There is the smell of death and the dampness of a neglect roof: one way or the other, I can’t imagine the place lasting in that dream state forever.
Thanks Warren. I figured as much, as the street in front of the “Major” certainly doesn’t look like the quiet street in front of the Canal theater in the photo above. Any other information on the “Major” anyone has would be greatly appreciated since it’s not yet listed on this site.
I tried searching the net for some more info on the “Major”, and it brought me actually back to this site and another post by you on March 19th under the “Pix” Theater!
/theaters/6496/
Maybe someone should make a listing for the “Major” on this site, using this little bit of info we have. Eventually, maybe others can add a little more info if they know anything as we go along. At least we now know it was also called the “Cinema Giglio” also at one time, and that it seated about 599, and it’s address is 277 Canal St. I don’t know if that’s enough to make an entry on this site, but I guess it’s a start. I don’t want to “steal” your information and take credit for it, so if you want to do the honors….
It’s interesting to go into that store it is now because, much of the ceiling plasterwork is still there. I didn’t even kow it was a theater when I first went in the store, but once inside it was screaming “theater”, that’s how I discovered it. I already sort of picked up on it in the former lobby area. I guess the owners of the store were wondering why I was constantly looking at the ceiling instead of their merchandise! Alot of the ornamentation still exists in both the lobby and what was the small auditorium. When I went back outside, sure enough, there was a marquee too (which I totally didn’t notice), that’s how I really knew I was just in a theater.
I think I was in this theater some months ago, maybe you guys can help. If I was, it has been converted to retail space. If not, it is another theater on Canal Street (unlisted here) that I was in.
It looks like it may be a different one that I was in, but maybe someone can shed some light on the one I was in, if this isn’t it. I don’t think it is the same theater as the “Canal St Theater” because from the photo in this listing, the area in front of it doesn’t look like the “chaos” of Chinatown. The street looks way to quiet.
The theater I was in was on Canal St, in the “Chinatown section”. It’s in the really congested area somewhere west of Centre St, but I don’t know the exact cross street. It’s on the same block as Burger King and McDonalds on the north side of the street. It’s about mid block, and you enter into the “junk store” it is now through what used to be the lobby. You then enter what was the auditorium. It was not a large theater, but all the plasterwork still exists on the ceiling. Does anyone know anything about this theater?
Is this place really intact inside?
The Canal Theatre opened in New York City on September 8, 1927. Designed in the popular Spanish baroque style, it was one of the first movie palaces to feature the “Atmospheric†style in its auditorium. Theatre seated almost 2,400 and featured a Wurlitzer organ. In 1957, the curtain came down on the Canal’s last show and theatre closed.
Some of the orig plaster is still intact though grimy instead of gildy they are nice to you if you need to look round- the ceiling has vents/grillwork
When I was last at the theater, the theater proper was used as storage space for a hardware store. The architect was Thomas Lamb