Bellerose Theater
245-14 Jericho Turnpike,
Floral Park,
NY
11001
245-14 Jericho Turnpike,
Floral Park,
NY
11001
10 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 178 comments
The karate supply store either hasn’t opened or is strictly a wholesale operation. The owner recently completed a re-pointing project on the terra-cotta front and side of the building. The original terrazo lobby floor is now covered with hardwood planking. Some kind of brick warehouse has been built into the stage area of the building with an overhead door on 246 St. The concession stand in the Bellerose was small, located unter the staircase that led to the projection room (1st landing) and finally to the upstairs lounge/restrooms (no balcony unlike the neighboring Queens & Floral theaters) A water fountain next to the concession stand had an interesting aquatic-deco theme over it (vitrolite?) While the the theater walls had canvas' of painted wildlife scenes (mostly deer I believe) The last movie to play there that I recall was the original “Back to the Future” at $1.50 .
At the moment I am currently rehearsing for a community theatre’s production of “Annie”, to be held in a school auditorium right there in Bellerose. I often get off the N 24 bus directly across the street from the still unopened karate store, and just take a look at the facade. You guessed it! I wish I could buy the building so that I can renovate it back into a theatre, and then donate to the community theatre group!
The theatre had a small candy stand, nothing special.
Gerald:
Evelyn Mulwray sends her best.
JakeGittes, weren’t you the character played by Jack Nicholson in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown?
Worked as a fill-in here for the steady manager. Fellas name was “Rudy”. Admission during time I worked was 79 cents. Patrons would steal the toilet paper. Bathroom was constantly being trashed. Century kept it going. You’d fill half the house on a Tueday night with a snowfall. Don’t remember a concession stand but at 79 cents admission, clientele probably wouldn’t pay more than 3 cents for a Coke. Cashier told me she wanted a new job before 1981 ‘cause she wouldn’t be able to deal with all the pennies.I’ll chime in on the location – Theatre was in Nassau County on Jericho Tpke. Jamaica Ave in Queens becomes Jericho Tpke on the opposite side of the Queens/Nassau border.
The karate store still has not opened up. Looks like the place really is cursed.
You are right. Some houses on 262nd street near 86th avenue have 2 addresses. One for queens and one for nassau.
RCDTJ-
Actually the Floral Park problem is much worse: The City/County line runs diagonally from southwest to northeast, cutting right through residential blocks, plots, and homes!
Re the projectionists, that kind of accommodation between locals was common – sometimes mandated from above!
E.g., when the Sperry plant in Lake Success was built (1941), IBEW Local 3 had insisted on representing the electricians; notwithstanding the fact that Nassau County was Local 25 territory. Local 3’s weight carried the day; and it remained unchanged until the plant was shut down a few years ago.
As for the Floral, I don’t know; even though I started my five year Century “career” there!
It was always a problem with this theater location as far as the projection union was concerned. Even though it may technically be Nassau county, the city union covered it. I grew up and still live in Floral Park. We have the same problem. Floral Park is split between Queens and Nassau. Luckily, the Floral was definitely in Nassau (er, or was it)…… Just kidding
To all of you guys hung up on the location of the Bellerose Theater, be advised that there are actually THREE (3) communities named “Bellerose:”
“Bellerose-Queens” – All of the area NORTH of Jamaica Ave/Jericho Tnpk, from Gettysburg Street to Little Neck Pkwy;
“Village of Bellerose” (Incorporated) – SOUTH of Jamaica Ave/Jericho Tnpk (i.e., Nassau County), and EAST of Colonial Road;
“Bellerose Terrace” – An unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Hempstead, SOUTH of Jamaica Ave/Jericho Tnpk (i.e., Nassau County), and WEST of Colonial Road.
As one who grew up in Bellerose, I can assure you that the theater is actually located in Bellerose Terrace (Nassau County). As for the street name, irrespective of how individual merchants wished to list their locations, the north (Queens County) side was customarily called “Jamaica Avenue,” and the south (Nassau County) side was customarily called “Jericho Turnpike.”
BTW, “Jericho Turnpike” is, in fact, the older name! As a toll road in the mid-1800’s, the name existed all the way to Jamaica. Later on, still as a toll road, the section to (what is now) Queens Village was paved with wood planks, and became know as the “Jamaica Plank Road.” The term “Jericho Turnpike” disappeared around the year 1898, when Nassau County was split from Queens with the creation of present-day New York City.
I saw the “Martial Arts” sign way back in April, and the store looked like it was about to open, but apparently, to this day it never did open.
The building has been cursed since it closed. It sat for about 10 years before the marquee came down from being hit so many times. It became a carpet store around 1999 but never opened after they did a big renovation. It is now a martial arts supply store which still has not opened since the awnings were put on. Dont think it will ever be used.
I show the Bellerose Theatre opening in 1931. It became a Century theatre approx 1950. There is no listing for the Bellerose Theatre after 1985.
Actually, I do believe that it’s Jericho Turnpike on one side of the street, and Jamaica Ave on the other side, as one side of the street is Queens, and the other is Nassau. The signs are even double signed on this stretch. I do believe that the Bellerose theater is on the Nassau side of the street, but the buildings on the other side are indeed in Queens.
Bellerose is as confusing as that whole “Ridgewood, Queens” and Ridgewood, Brooklyn scenario.
As a former resident of Bellerose I can state that Bellerose spans the Queens-Nassau border. The easy way to tell which county you are in is to use Little Neck Pkwy as the dividing line. West of this Pkwy is Jamaica avenue and East is Jericho Tpke. It is confusing to non residents of the area.
This was a true neighborhood theatre.
I don’t know if the theater is in Nassau or Queens, but I am a union projectionist for Local 306 which covers all of the five boroughs ( not nassau). The Bellerose theater was one of our theaters to cover.
There are a couple of interesting references to the Bellerose in the Creedmoor Civic News —
http://www.creedmoorcivic.org/news/Mar99.htm
http://www.creedmoorcivic.org/news/May00.htm
I was on Jericho Turnpike this evening, and it is clearly in Nassau COunty. However, the signs do say Jamaica Ave. Actually, for a few blocks, the signs are actually “double-signed” with both “Jammaica” and “Jericho”. They are about 90% Jamaica Ave signs (on both sides), and the remainder “Jericho” signs, many times right nect to, or under the Jamaica Ave signs. The truth is, that the Bellerose is/was physically in Nassau County, so the address above is wrong saying that it is Queens. It’s just “Bellerose”, NY. The “Queens” should be dropped. However, the “jamaica” address appears to be correct.
Also, just for the record, the Bellerose is no longer a carpet store, it is now a “Martial Arts & Supply Center”.
So much for truth in advertising.
I lived in Bellerose from 1949-67, and phoned the theatre all the time. It was a straight dial until area codes were instituted about ‘63. After that a recording would tell you to dial 516. Nassau county. And I remember the street signs — Jericho southside, Jamaica northside. We were not confused.
Computer stupidity be damned. A pox on advertising. The Bellerose is in Nassau County, on Jericho Turnpike. Say goodnight, Gracie.
The Bellerose is physically in Nassau County, not Queens, since it is on the south side of the street. The Nassau-Queens line runs down the middle of the street in front of the theater. There is no question that the theater is in Nassau, and not Queens. However, I still can’t confirm what they call Jamaica/Jericho in front of the theater. Running “Jamaica Ave” only gives you odd numbers, as someone said above. Running Jericho gives you the even numbers on the other side of the street, so it appears that address should say “Jericho”, not “Jamaica”. A simple way to solve this is to see what the “Carpet Store’s” address is, since it now occupies the building. What’s the name of the Carpet Store?
i always thought that the bellerose in is nassau its showtimes werelisted in nassau collum in the ny papers
Now I’m really confused. Are you saying that because somebody’s mapmaking software gets it wrong, then what happens in the real world is only ‘technically’ correct? Rather an odd way of looking at it.
Go to bellerosebusiness.org and look at some of the Jamaica/Jericho addresses in the 245-xx range. Odd numbers are on Jamaica Ave with a 718 area code, and even numbers are on Jericho Tpke with a 516 area code. No one to my knowledge is confused by this.
So outside the technical world of computer maps, out here where the rubber meets the road, out here on planet Earth, The Bellerose Theatre is on Jericho Tpke in Nassau County.
Bellerose is the name of contiguous towns in Queens and Nassau. Roughly from Cross Island Pkwy east to Commonwealth Blvd and beyond, the county line runs down the middle of the street, with the eastbound lanes in Nassau and the westbound in Queens. The north side of the street is Jamaica Ave and the south side is Jericho Tpke. The Bellerose is/was in Nassau County, on Jericho Turnpike.