Not at all! I hope Chang Lee doesn’t. I lightened the image a tad before posting, the original is quite dark…the work lights must not have been enough illumination.
Photobucket shrinks images so this is not the size I wanted it for viewing here, I tried over and over to get it larger in appearance. Anyone who would like to see the slightly larger image can email me here:
it’s a free email account at yahoo so who cares how many spammers take note of it, they just get emptied from the junk folder.
Hey everyone I scheduled an appointment at the Avery Library to view Lamb’s drawings/designs of this theatre. I was told that I am allowed to bring a digital camera to use without the flash, but I can also purchase copies. Not sure what the drawings will be of, they might just be engineering specs or blueprints, but if there is anything spectacular and marvelous I will let you know and of course share images. I hope I will be able to get some high quality stuff.
:) LOL You’re welcome Ed! I was going to superimpose Chang Lee’s name at the bottom just to cover the credit part but who knows, that might even be considered illegally altering the image, no matter if it gives credit to the original photographer. Plus it would have detracted from the image, so I left it as is. I am wondering who those people are standing in the doorway and in the ticket lobby.
I SO want in there to take some photos! I hope it is still in the shape it is in the Lee pic, and has not been further damaged.
Chang Lee is one of the photographers for the NY Times. When the lobby was opened for viewing some time back he was sent to the site to photograph it for the Times. A thumbnail-sized cropped version of this image was used for one of the stories about the RKO linked to from this page. Why bother posting or publishing an image at all if it is too small to view or enjoy? I ordered a copy ($$$ yikes!) and here it is. I am sure it is a violation of copyrights to post it in any way but like I said I was gonna burst. :–(
Please remember it is Chang Lee’s and the NY Times' photo, not mine. Nononononono pleeeez don’t have me hauled off to jail for posting it, I don’t wannna go to Rykers! Sob
I know this is a HUGE NO-NO I am committing by posting this image. I ordered it from the New York TImes, it is a larger uncropped version of Chang Lee’s photo of the foyer. I just HAD to share it with everyone here or I was gonna BURST:
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.
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
Ed you are right about asbestos removal and demolition…I lived on Roosevelt Island and before the big Central Nurses Residence there was demolished, all the asbestos had to be removed so that the destruction of the building (parts of it were dynamited) would not release asbestos dust into the air and become a public health hazard. Asbestos removal crews tore through every wall, floor and ceiling where there was plumbing…I assume the asbestos was wrapped around the pipes.
The actual demolition of the building did not happen until years after the asbestos removal. In 1992 I got to sneak in and take pictures of the ruined interior, which I would LOVE to do in the case of the RKO but I have no idea how to get in.
Special thanks should go to this theater for saving and reusing the two marquee signs from the now-lost Beekman theater (Upper East Side, NYC). The site mentions a “Beekman Room” and there is an image of a screen with the distinctive signage to either side. The Beekman name will live on through this, which is fortunate.
Hi BrooklynJim! I took the tour a couple of months prior to September 11, 2001, and have not heard if Lorraine is still permitted to conduct those tours behind the scenes at Penn Station. Who knows what new security rules might be in place. It was very interesting, though, especially one part of the tour during which the group visits the HVAC room and views an ornate track sign that remains from the original station, but is now jammed behind an AC duct. Seeing the original pink marble tiles of the waiting room where they appear through worn spots in the fake floor is also a blast! Oops, perhaps that is the wrong word post 9/11. If I find my pic of that Penn Station track sign I will scan it and post it, though there are probably hundreds of pics of it online, and may be one at the Forgotten NYC web site.
Ed, yes now I see what you mean, that wall and those beautiful structures over the entrance would have to be removed in order for the lobby to be visible from the sidewalk. That glass curtain idea is malarkey, they probably just made that up to appease the community. I am surprised the building has not fallen prey to arson or inexplicable explosions. Wish I could make myself invisible and sneak in with a camera, I’m not skeered of big abandoned rickety places…when I was young living on Roosevelt Island I used to explore all the ruined buildings there, it was hugely exciting! My biggest fear was of getting caught and arrested, which I think would be much scarier than tiptoeing across half-collapsed floors.
Jeffrey1955, regarding the disposable city: I have a book called “A Source Book In Theatrical History,” (by A. M. Nagler) and in it there is a small entry that details the same thing: building disposable structures, building for obsolescence…it is called “A Theater for Eighty Thousand,” and it was built in ancient Rome. Excerpt:
“Before Pompey built the first permanent theater in Rome (55 B.C.), Roman theater structures were very ephemeral affairs: they were erected for definite occasions and torn down after having served their purpose…The playhouse built by the aedile M. Aemilius Scaurus in 58 B.C. may be cited as an example of a temporary theater. The Elder Pliny gives an amazing report on the oriental splendor of the stage-house wall (scenae frons):
‘During his aedileship, and just for the temporary use of a few days, Scaurus wrought the greatest work ever achieved by the hands of man, even when intended for permanence: I refer to his theater. The building had three stories, supported on three hundred and sixty columns, and this also in a city which had not given one of its leading citizens permission to erect six pillars of Hymettian marble without some criticism. The lower level was marble; the second, glass â€" sort of a luxury which since then has been quite unheard of; and the uppermost was made of gilded wood. The lowermost columns…were thirty-eight feet high, and placed between them…were three thousand bronze statues. The theater could accommodate eighty thousand spectators, even though the Theater of Pompeius, built after the city had been greatly enlarged and its population had increased in vast numbers, was considered large enough when seating only forty thousand.’"
Even back then, before Rome had ‘officially’ become an empire, large glorious buildings were being created at great cost and then swept away after their usefulness had come to an end. The situation was different from that of the RKO Keith’s, but there are similarities. Maybe in 2000 years someone will read what we’ve written about our lost movie palaces and be amazed at our “throwaway” culture.
Hi BrooklynJim, Penn Station’s loss is something NYC and the world are still reeling from whether we admit it or not. MSG is a hideous joke pulled on us by developers and the Pennsylvania Railroad. I think The Meadowlands was built atop the landfill where the ruins of the station were dumped? Or at least that was one rumor. I have a copy of Lorraine Diehl’s “The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station,” signed by her. Did you ever take her Penn Station tour?
IDEA: OOOH how about running this ad on Craigslist (or someplace similar):
“Looking for a restaurant I visited years ago, in Greenwich Village I think…I remember most that it had a large, very grand fountain in it. Anyone have any idea what I’m talking about? I had a very enjoyabe time there and would like to take some out-of-town friends there for dinner. Any information appreciated. Thanks!”
Hi EdSolero, in the Times picture it looks as though the entrance lobby is tunnel-like, leading into the foyer some distance from the sidewalk. What is directly behind the streetfront facade of the Keith’s? All those windows and shopfronts that are sealed up look almost like a separate structure between the sidewalk and the foyer. Perhaps this fronting building can be demolished while leaving the inner wall shown in the Times photo intact. I have never been to the Keith’s but am obsessing it! I love architecture, and I draw architectural renderings as a hobby so I love to stare at architecture photos and analyze what leads where or how structures fit together. What has happened to the RKO Keith’s is a shame and the theatre’s loss is a national tragedy, but as stated earlier in this post, our culture is all about making the quick buck and moving on to the next quick buck, regardless of what is standing in the way, including landmarks. There are hordes of entrepreneurs who would think nothing of demolishing Grand Central Station and replacing it with a glass office tower. Sometimes I envy those types of people, I bet they sleep soundly at night, conscience-free and unfettered by thoughts of the past glories of lost gorgeous buildings.
I would still love to know where that fountain wound up…if indeed it wound up anywhere, it’s possible Huang smashed it to peices with the bulldozer.
Wow I wonder if this was originally a palatial atmospheric venue. The building is quite large and that roof looks like it may have accommodated a domed ceiling beneath it. Unfortunately the interior is completely changed, as I shop at Key Food almost daily (no evidence of a theatre) and the gym, as I recall it, retained absolutlely no trace of any former glory.
I have searched endlessly online for images of original blueprints, floorplans and artists' renderings of many of these lost movie palaces. I found a few, but there seems to be a dearth of them in general. I assume the hiers of Thomas Lamb and the other theatre designers hold title to their work. In a vault somewhere there are probably rolled-up blueprints, drawings, and paintings of all our wonderful lost theatres.
Ed, by that New York Times photo, can you tell where Chang Lee was photographing from? Was he at the top of one of the lobby’s staircases? From the vantage point it looks like the image was taken from somewhere above the main level.
I would love to get inside and take some photos. One of the links above leading to a story about the redevelopment included a TEENY TINY picture of the entrance to the lobby from the interior, showing two people standing in the doorway talking. Above them are three ornate Moorish wiindows or balconies (one still has draperies in it) and the damaged dark blue ceiling. This picture is credited to Chang Lee at the New York TImes. What a great image that would be if only it was available full size instead of thumbnail size! I emailed the NY Times store for information about purchasing a print but have not heard back from them. That photo has the pathos of all lost glorious civilizations. Since the lobby is officially landmarked, I wonder if that gives the public the right to view it regardless of who owns the property.
EXCELLENT! Definitely a dream come true. I have had many a daydream about buying and renovating theatres. If possible please post pictures of the interior as it is now and then after renovations. :) Good Luck and congratulations!
I think this is the former Hollywood Twin Cinemas. Today it is a tourist center where the city tours buses pull up. The facade is painted in the colors of Burger King. Lovely. Sorry but I think this is an eyesore:
Saw “Blazing Saddles,” “Dawn of the Dead,” and “Jaws” here back in the 1970s. The last thing I saw here was “The Cable Guy” in 1996 or 97. From the 80s, I remember rowdy audiences and stuff being thrown through the projection beam to create shadows on the screen.
Not at all! I hope Chang Lee doesn’t. I lightened the image a tad before posting, the original is quite dark…the work lights must not have been enough illumination.
Photobucket shrinks images so this is not the size I wanted it for viewing here, I tried over and over to get it larger in appearance. Anyone who would like to see the slightly larger image can email me here:
it’s a free email account at yahoo so who cares how many spammers take note of it, they just get emptied from the junk folder.
Hey everyone I scheduled an appointment at the Avery Library to view Lamb’s drawings/designs of this theatre. I was told that I am allowed to bring a digital camera to use without the flash, but I can also purchase copies. Not sure what the drawings will be of, they might just be engineering specs or blueprints, but if there is anything spectacular and marvelous I will let you know and of course share images. I hope I will be able to get some high quality stuff.
Sincerely,
Mr. Anonymous :)
Rikers Island? What is Rikers Island??
:) LOL You’re welcome Ed! I was going to superimpose Chang Lee’s name at the bottom just to cover the credit part but who knows, that might even be considered illegally altering the image, no matter if it gives credit to the original photographer. Plus it would have detracted from the image, so I left it as is. I am wondering who those people are standing in the doorway and in the ticket lobby.
I SO want in there to take some photos! I hope it is still in the shape it is in the Lee pic, and has not been further damaged.
:) You’re very welcome!
Oops sorry I mean Rikers. Or is it Rykers…ARGH sob weep whine snivel
Chang Lee is one of the photographers for the NY Times. When the lobby was opened for viewing some time back he was sent to the site to photograph it for the Times. A thumbnail-sized cropped version of this image was used for one of the stories about the RKO linked to from this page. Why bother posting or publishing an image at all if it is too small to view or enjoy? I ordered a copy ($$$ yikes!) and here it is. I am sure it is a violation of copyrights to post it in any way but like I said I was gonna burst. :–(
Please remember it is Chang Lee’s and the NY Times' photo, not mine. Nononononono pleeeez don’t have me hauled off to jail for posting it, I don’t wannna go to Rykers! Sob
I know this is a HUGE NO-NO I am committing by posting this image. I ordered it from the New York TImes, it is a larger uncropped version of Chang Lee’s photo of the foyer. I just HAD to share it with everyone here or I was gonna BURST:
View link
Please don’t turn me in to the authorities! :(
Saw “Scoop” in the Beekman One a couple of weeks back. The theater is still as bland and unremarkable as it always was.
Thanks, Tom! :)
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.
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
Ed you are right about asbestos removal and demolition…I lived on Roosevelt Island and before the big Central Nurses Residence there was demolished, all the asbestos had to be removed so that the destruction of the building (parts of it were dynamited) would not release asbestos dust into the air and become a public health hazard. Asbestos removal crews tore through every wall, floor and ceiling where there was plumbing…I assume the asbestos was wrapped around the pipes.
The actual demolition of the building did not happen until years after the asbestos removal. In 1992 I got to sneak in and take pictures of the ruined interior, which I would LOVE to do in the case of the RKO but I have no idea how to get in.
Special thanks should go to this theater for saving and reusing the two marquee signs from the now-lost Beekman theater (Upper East Side, NYC). The site mentions a “Beekman Room” and there is an image of a screen with the distinctive signage to either side. The Beekman name will live on through this, which is fortunate.
Hi BrooklynJim! I took the tour a couple of months prior to September 11, 2001, and have not heard if Lorraine is still permitted to conduct those tours behind the scenes at Penn Station. Who knows what new security rules might be in place. It was very interesting, though, especially one part of the tour during which the group visits the HVAC room and views an ornate track sign that remains from the original station, but is now jammed behind an AC duct. Seeing the original pink marble tiles of the waiting room where they appear through worn spots in the fake floor is also a blast! Oops, perhaps that is the wrong word post 9/11. If I find my pic of that Penn Station track sign I will scan it and post it, though there are probably hundreds of pics of it online, and may be one at the Forgotten NYC web site.
Ed, yes now I see what you mean, that wall and those beautiful structures over the entrance would have to be removed in order for the lobby to be visible from the sidewalk. That glass curtain idea is malarkey, they probably just made that up to appease the community. I am surprised the building has not fallen prey to arson or inexplicable explosions. Wish I could make myself invisible and sneak in with a camera, I’m not skeered of big abandoned rickety places…when I was young living on Roosevelt Island I used to explore all the ruined buildings there, it was hugely exciting! My biggest fear was of getting caught and arrested, which I think would be much scarier than tiptoeing across half-collapsed floors.
Jeffrey1955, regarding the disposable city: I have a book called “A Source Book In Theatrical History,” (by A. M. Nagler) and in it there is a small entry that details the same thing: building disposable structures, building for obsolescence…it is called “A Theater for Eighty Thousand,” and it was built in ancient Rome. Excerpt:
“Before Pompey built the first permanent theater in Rome (55 B.C.), Roman theater structures were very ephemeral affairs: they were erected for definite occasions and torn down after having served their purpose…The playhouse built by the aedile M. Aemilius Scaurus in 58 B.C. may be cited as an example of a temporary theater. The Elder Pliny gives an amazing report on the oriental splendor of the stage-house wall (scenae frons):
‘During his aedileship, and just for the temporary use of a few days, Scaurus wrought the greatest work ever achieved by the hands of man, even when intended for permanence: I refer to his theater. The building had three stories, supported on three hundred and sixty columns, and this also in a city which had not given one of its leading citizens permission to erect six pillars of Hymettian marble without some criticism. The lower level was marble; the second, glass â€" sort of a luxury which since then has been quite unheard of; and the uppermost was made of gilded wood. The lowermost columns…were thirty-eight feet high, and placed between them…were three thousand bronze statues. The theater could accommodate eighty thousand spectators, even though the Theater of Pompeius, built after the city had been greatly enlarged and its population had increased in vast numbers, was considered large enough when seating only forty thousand.’"
Even back then, before Rome had ‘officially’ become an empire, large glorious buildings were being created at great cost and then swept away after their usefulness had come to an end. The situation was different from that of the RKO Keith’s, but there are similarities. Maybe in 2000 years someone will read what we’ve written about our lost movie palaces and be amazed at our “throwaway” culture.
Hi BrooklynJim, Penn Station’s loss is something NYC and the world are still reeling from whether we admit it or not. MSG is a hideous joke pulled on us by developers and the Pennsylvania Railroad. I think The Meadowlands was built atop the landfill where the ruins of the station were dumped? Or at least that was one rumor. I have a copy of Lorraine Diehl’s “The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station,” signed by her. Did you ever take her Penn Station tour?
IDEA: OOOH how about running this ad on Craigslist (or someplace similar):
“Looking for a restaurant I visited years ago, in Greenwich Village I think…I remember most that it had a large, very grand fountain in it. Anyone have any idea what I’m talking about? I had a very enjoyabe time there and would like to take some out-of-town friends there for dinner. Any information appreciated. Thanks!”
Worth a shot? Has anyone already tried this?
Hi EdSolero, in the Times picture it looks as though the entrance lobby is tunnel-like, leading into the foyer some distance from the sidewalk. What is directly behind the streetfront facade of the Keith’s? All those windows and shopfronts that are sealed up look almost like a separate structure between the sidewalk and the foyer. Perhaps this fronting building can be demolished while leaving the inner wall shown in the Times photo intact. I have never been to the Keith’s but am obsessing it! I love architecture, and I draw architectural renderings as a hobby so I love to stare at architecture photos and analyze what leads where or how structures fit together. What has happened to the RKO Keith’s is a shame and the theatre’s loss is a national tragedy, but as stated earlier in this post, our culture is all about making the quick buck and moving on to the next quick buck, regardless of what is standing in the way, including landmarks. There are hordes of entrepreneurs who would think nothing of demolishing Grand Central Station and replacing it with a glass office tower. Sometimes I envy those types of people, I bet they sleep soundly at night, conscience-free and unfettered by thoughts of the past glories of lost gorgeous buildings.
I would still love to know where that fountain wound up…if indeed it wound up anywhere, it’s possible Huang smashed it to peices with the bulldozer.
Wow I wonder if this was originally a palatial atmospheric venue. The building is quite large and that roof looks like it may have accommodated a domed ceiling beneath it. Unfortunately the interior is completely changed, as I shop at Key Food almost daily (no evidence of a theatre) and the gym, as I recall it, retained absolutlely no trace of any former glory.
I have searched endlessly online for images of original blueprints, floorplans and artists' renderings of many of these lost movie palaces. I found a few, but there seems to be a dearth of them in general. I assume the hiers of Thomas Lamb and the other theatre designers hold title to their work. In a vault somewhere there are probably rolled-up blueprints, drawings, and paintings of all our wonderful lost theatres.
Ed, by that New York Times photo, can you tell where Chang Lee was photographing from? Was he at the top of one of the lobby’s staircases? From the vantage point it looks like the image was taken from somewhere above the main level.
I would love to get inside and take some photos. One of the links above leading to a story about the redevelopment included a TEENY TINY picture of the entrance to the lobby from the interior, showing two people standing in the doorway talking. Above them are three ornate Moorish wiindows or balconies (one still has draperies in it) and the damaged dark blue ceiling. This picture is credited to Chang Lee at the New York TImes. What a great image that would be if only it was available full size instead of thumbnail size! I emailed the NY Times store for information about purchasing a print but have not heard back from them. That photo has the pathos of all lost glorious civilizations. Since the lobby is officially landmarked, I wonder if that gives the public the right to view it regardless of who owns the property.
This is 154 West 55th Street today:
View link
It is a few doors up from the Ziegfeld’s butt.
EXCELLENT! Definitely a dream come true. I have had many a daydream about buying and renovating theatres. If possible please post pictures of the interior as it is now and then after renovations. :) Good Luck and congratulations!
I think this is the former Hollywood Twin Cinemas. Today it is a tourist center where the city tours buses pull up. The facade is painted in the colors of Burger King. Lovely. Sorry but I think this is an eyesore:
View link
Saw “Blazing Saddles,” “Dawn of the Dead,” and “Jaws” here back in the 1970s. The last thing I saw here was “The Cable Guy” in 1996 or 97. From the 80s, I remember rowdy audiences and stuff being thrown through the projection beam to create shadows on the screen.
This is what this address looks like now…it ws indeed a chapel for a number of years:
View link