Paramount Theatre
560 Bay Street,
Staten Island,
NY
10304
560 Bay Street,
Staten Island,
NY
10304
17 people
favorited this theater
Showing 176 - 200 of 241 comments
I am “out there” Vito.
Just email me at
my local source states the owner plans to sell the property to a developer for conversion to apartments.
Last time I was there, which was just as the new owners came in, the talk was of converting much of the space into apartments,which were to be called Paramount. Perhaps some of the tenants in the retail space, formally Steckmans, have more information.
Jean are you out there?
Thanks Garth, I too pass by from time to time and have never seen anything going on. I wonder what the plans are for thr marquee which is in very bad shape.
vito , i live in the area and pass by very often , i have seen no activity at all. i will check with local business owners to see if there are any updates.
Anyone know what is going on there now? last I heard the interior had been gutted.
I remember seeing the double feature here: The Day of the Dolphin and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.
Thank you Warren for that fantastic link. The photo of my beloved Paramount is a recent one, I drive by there all to often and shutter at the sight of the condition it is in now. If you ever come across any pre 1965 photos, I would love to see them.
i will post my findings on the lane’s site.
Thanks Garth, I have a very warm spot in my heart for that theatre, having spent so many wonderful years there. Yes, it did get landmark statis, in fact the name was changed to the Landmark Lane.
I visited during the time it was being converted to a nightclub and they had made a lot of repairs. The orchestra seats were removed for tables and chairs but the balcony (stadium seating) was intact. It has been closed for quite a while now so it may have dereriated again. Please let us know what you find out.
vito i will look into goings on there , it is landmarked is it not? if so the uses are limited…and if not , the nightclub idea is dead (drugs) and the st george, magnificently restored by mrs r, has cornered the market on retro entertainment. i wonder what condition the interior of the lane is in?….
Garth,I may have to go there just to satisfy myself as to where those red seats came from. The guy running that warehouse is mistaken, unless they are the original seats from way back when, those red seats are not from the Paramount.Speaking about the Lane, do you or anyone know what is going on there? I also worked the Lane in the late 50s early 60s. That window you can see near the top of the building, as you drive up New Dorp Lane from Hyland to the
RR station, is the booth window where I spent many hours staring at the crowds lined up past the bank to get in. Mr.Moses weas a good showman, who took great pride in the Lane.
i’m just looking over the flyer the owner gave me , it says among other things “1930 theatre seats”. if that’s what the red seats are they were stored quite well. vito you should visit the place i think you would find it interesting. he also has large photos of a crowd outside the lane and the palace theatre during a large snowstorm.
i just visited the place , the owner said the seats are from the paramount. there were rows of red seats that were in varying condition , they did not look old or worn enough to be original seating. next to these were stacks of single seats , these were mostly blue with some a grayish blue color. i asked about the ticket boxes , he said they are not for sale. there were also not for sale signs on a large reel from the st george and a projector base from the lane.
Jean, I believe Jeffrey is correct in his suspisions. I am positive that the Paramount’s seats were Blue. As a matter of fact when I visited the theatre when Steckman sold it, I sat in one of the BLUE seats in the balcony and looked around thinking “My God what have they done to this place” I was there the day the new and present owners took over and there weren’t any sats in the orchestra at all, only the remaining, 500 or so, seats in the balcony remained. Something is not right with the Advance article and if the guy selling the seats is sure they came from the Paramount, then the only possibility I can think of is that they came from the original seats which were installed back when the theatre first opened. I don’t know what color they were, or where they may have been all those years.So they puzzle continues, where the heck did those red velvet seats come from? hmmmmmmmm
Maybe they were recovered at some point?
A friend of mine said that these seats cannot be the Paramount’s
due to color. I would be very suspicious at this point folks.
It states in the SI Advance article that these red velour seats were fromthe balcony and will be sold in rows. That’s all I know about them. The place is great if you have your hiking boots on! :)
Jean, I am a bit confused, the Paramounts seats were blue not red. Are we sure those are seats from the S.I Paramount? Perhaps he got them from the Liberty or some other S.I or Paramount theatre.
I’ve got to have some of the Paramount Memories brought home.
Garth, et al,
The balcony theatre seats from the Paramount are red velvet and are a more modern style. Not the old typical theatre seat from the 20’s. Mr. Tommy dee is selling them off in rows and I don’t recall the price off hand. His sale during the week is from 8am until 2pm. His United Warehouse is located at 330 Tompkins Avenue, off Greenfield Avenue. He has 8,000 sq. feet of space, and is selling most of his collections including the seats mentioned, ticket boxes from the Liberty and Paramount. As of this writing I do notknow what is available. He has additional items like Post Office walls and bumper cars, antique bottles, 78rpm records.
Be sure to bring bags and be prepared to do some climbing over of some items. Oh yes, and bring some green!
thanks for the info vito. jean , do you know how much they are asking for the seats? i would love to have one….
Hi Jean, it’s been a while.
To answer Garth’s question, I remember working the Paramount on Christmas day 1953, the day “The Robe” opened in CinemaScope. We were closed the day before to install the 46 ft screen and stereo sound. I recall we were the only theatre open in Stapelton at the time. I don’t think the Liberty made it into the 50s, perhaps Jean knows when the Liberty closed, but I am sure it was closed by 1953.
Jeffrey and Jean, it would be wonderful if the marquee were preserved and kept, but have you seen it lately? I doubt it can be saved, but perhaps rebuilt or replaced with something simular to the what they did at the NY Paramount. Certainly, as Jean sugggested, the name of the building should include the name Paramount.
I pass that way all the time. If they DO keep the marquee, they should call it the Paramount Building or Paramount Condos. ( strictly my opinion ) The seats are for sale at the American Warehouse on Staten Island. Located at Greenfield and Tompkins Avenue.
a friend of mine told me there will be new condo’s built here on the old site – and the front will remain the same – as of a movie theatre!