Loew's Paradise Theatre
2413 Grand Concourse,
Bronx,
NY
10468
2413 Grand Concourse,
Bronx,
NY
10468
63 people
favorited this theater
Showing 201 - 225 of 671 comments
This is why theaters have insurance! These kinds of claims happen all the time, but are not usually in the press unless someone is connected or very very whiney.
Well, rlvjr, I’d consider buying a ticket to the Paradise (I live mere blocks away) if ticket prices for ground-floor seats ever go below $50.
By the way, here’s an article about the Paradise that appeared in yesterday’s Daily News:
Visitor slaps theater with lawsuit after fall
BY CHRISENA COLEMAN
Tuesday, July 10th 2007
A Bronx man who saw stars at the Paradise Theater after falling down a rickety staircase has slapped the theater and the synagogue that hosted a dinner there with a lawsuit.
Val Karan and his wife, Annette, had gone to the restored grand movie palace on the Grand Concourse for a religious dinner June 7.
The Karans said there was a makeshift stage constructed over seating to create a dining area, the theater was poorly lit, tables were so close it was hard to move and the stairs were constructed from plywood.
“We felt unsafe and many of the elderly people started to leave after the first course, because we feared the stage would collapse,” said Annette Karan. “The chairs were too close and we could barely move … my husband fell down about four steps.”
Annette Karan said he didn’t make a fuss because the rabbi was about to speak, but when they arrived home he was in excruciating pain. He went to the doctor because the pain was unbearable, she said. X-rays showed Karan had suffered a broken leg, with a fracture of his right fibula.
Attorney Al Bernstone, who is representing the Karans in a lawsuit seeking an as-yet undetermined amount in damages, charged that the theater was negligent and should have constructed a stage that was safe.
“This could have been avoided if the staging area was constructed properly,” said Bernstone.
A woman who answered the telephone at the Riverdale Jewish Center said the executive director was not available for comment. Paradise Theater reps were on vacation.
“The theater was not set up to handle the crowd that came out for the occasion,” said Annette Karan. “It was a bad situation from the minute we walked through the door.”
The black-tie Bronx Ball was held at the theater two weeks later, apparently without incident.
MAY I OFFER SOME ADVICE? Sign off of Cinema Treasures right now and do one of two things (1) sign on Ticketmaster and buy a ticket to an upcoming Paradise show, or (2) sign off your P/C and go to the theatre box office.
The theatre is re-opened, renovated and no longer inactive. They have a new “NIGHT IN PARADISE” coming up. The last one was 5 hours and 13 minutes; quite a lot for the money. My wife and I attended even though the 5 hour (300 mile) commute made it inconvenient. If you live in or near the BRONX, what’s your excuse?
Sure, I’d rather go there for “Pirates #3” and a $10.50 admission; but that’s not the current choice.
Has anyone reported about the six hour Mother’s Day Show,that was given on Mother’s Day at the Paradise?
The original concept of the developers was to lease the building to Paramount-Publix circuit and it was to open as the Venetian Theatre. However Paramount had over-expanded their construction programme and had second thoughts about moving into neighborhoods. Loew’s Inc. didn’t have an outlet in the Fordham area and picked up the option. Ground was broken for construction to begin in April 1928 and the name ‘Venetian’ was retained during construction. It was in the summer of 1929 that Loew’s announced the name change to ‘Paradise’.
Loew’s Paradise Theatre opened on 7th September 1929 with the MGM movie “Mysterious Fu Manchu” starring Warner Oland. The famous British organist Harold Ramsay opened the Robert Morton ‘Wonder’ organ.
Greetings From Milwaukee,
First off, for those of you who read this page fully, you have noticed a number of postings by Jim Rankin. Mr. Rankin passed away in January of 2007. He was well known in Milwaukee for his extensive knowledge of Theaters both here and elsewhere.
Secondly, I am very pleased to find that an Eberson theater has been brought back to life and it seems it has been done well. I hope some day to see it and others designed by him.
I spotted on one of the links a photo of the procenium and was wondering if anyone else had a photo of it that might be sharper… no offence intended, dark theaters are not easy to get a good shot in, more so with digital cameras than older slide/film cameras when we could ‘push’ the film. Anyway, if someone would have one, would you be kind enought to send it to me at ? Thanks.
I’m working on an article about atmospheric theaters and noticed that a link on this page also referred to this theater as the Paradise/Venetian. Any further information on this would be greatly appreciated.
And lastly.. I had to be done sometime.. does anyone know the opening date for this theater?
Thanks Everyone!
Tim
Hey Lost. What timing! I found the same site, but clicked one level deeper. Anyway… Guess we should close this topic since this page belongs to the Loew’s Paradise.
Thanks for leading me in the right direction, Warren.
I found this website that identifies the building in question as the former Jamaica Arena. Not a definitive resolution to the building’s identity, but it makes perfect sense.
EdS, the image opened fine today, with reduced size map and controls to one side, vs map wholly filling pannel yesterday.
‘Tonino… If you click the link and then open the window fully, you can close the map that obscures the image by clicking on the small up-arrowhead next to “2D 3D”. You can alos close the “Welcome” pane at left by clicking the “X”. That should offer you a clear view of the image.
EdS, Your ‘aerial image’ opened as a google map with the Van Wyck Expy going thru the middle. ????
EdS, I would asssume that exterior signage must be consistent with naming designation contained in the Landmark Commission Report. For a theater to be worthy of landmark designation, I would guess the name used would be its name when originally opened.
Michael____ the guy from ?Forest Hills? who is associated with the commission, or researches landmark projects would knoe the specifics
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
‘Tonino, you bring up a point that I’ve been mulling over regarding this theater. Is the “Loew’s Paradise Theater” sunburst sign covered by the building’s landmark designation? The name “Loew’s” is now owned by AMC… I thought that signage that included company brands were exempt from landmark protection. Just wondering if the name “Loew’s” will ever be physically removed from the building. I presume that the owners would be able to replace the name on the sign, provided they did so in a manner that was consistent with the original design and met with the LPC’s satisfaction.
I agree with Warren that “Utopia’s Paradise” is a clumsy and ill-advised moniker. It sounds very fly-by-night.
Not to go off-topic here, but this is a well attended page and I’d like to beg the indulgence of all by inquiring about a building on 144th Place just north of Archer Ave in Jamaica, Queens. I noticed it from the window of an LIRR train as I was pulling into Jamaica station and it appeared very much to be a former theater building. My curiosity piqued, I took a drive to the area and discovered that it was a nightclub/performance space currently knows as the Amazura Music Hall. The building itself is old and has a peaked roof very much like those of most old theaters and the facade is ornamented in a way that also suggests it might have been a theater or perhaps ballroom? The address is 91-12 144th Place and all I can find is a build date of 1968 (the structure is certainly much older than that) and info that shows it was converted from a warehouse in the 1990’s.
Does anyone know of this building’s history and/or any possible affiliation with movie or theatrical presentation?
Here’s an aerial image of the building looking west towards the entrance.
The name currently on the building is Loew’s Pardise,the same as it was when built. See photo in the Norwich Bulletin article (below the clock and above the sunburst). I have emailed the reporter to ask where she got the name she included in the caption to the photo.
In the NY Times article of October 22,2005, Lieblich stated that one of the keys to making the project profitable, is renting the 30,000 square feet of commercial space that is part of the theater building to a significant retailer. By LM’s premise, continuation of the name ‘Loew’s Paradise’ seems assured.
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Warren, thanks. I now see “Utopia’s Paradise” under the ticket column. It appears only in hype by Gentile, one of the principals of Utopia Ltd. They appear to be the promoter’s of shows who are tenants in the builder still owned by the developer, Gerald Lieblich, according to the article posted by Lost Memory. (Big thank you LostMemory, ;–)) First Paradise Theater Corp. is the name of Lieblich’s company. The theater will always be known as the Paradise to Bronxites.
Just this kid from Glendale,
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
“[urlhttp://www.evcforum.net/WebPages/UBBCode.html]This website[/url]” w/o = operator for display purposes
This website
Thanks. works here, now. But I know I used those brackets originally. Shouldn’t it work in email too?
lostmemory, thanks. The procedure is straightforward. And should be idiotproof. !!!! But I can’t get it to work in these comments or in trial email. groan. I can’t figure out what is wrong. 100 years from now. (url=www.whatever.net)groan(/url). I’ve been usin real urls
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Patrick Crowley, one rarely gets to praise theater highlights these days. May I suggest that you update the description for the Loew’s Paradise to include information contained in the NYC Landmarks Preservation Report of May 2006.
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
LostMemory, how do you imbed an active URL into descriptive words the way you do?
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Warren, what was the site where you saw several mentions of “UTOPIA"S PARADISE”?
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Lostmemory, thanks for your interest in my query of May 3rd. The Norwich Bulletin’s reference to Gerald Lieblich’s apparent, new tenant wqs the first reliable one between Utopia Studios Ltd/Joseph Gentile. Lieblich is the owner and responsible for the Paradise’s renovation. Gentile falsely claimed those honors recently, and appears to be a high end flim-flam artist. I posed my question on this to learn what, if any, involvement Gentile had in the Paradise’s ownership or renovation.
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
They did get it. That is a pretty cool story.
They got it. We don’t sell tickets to movies…
I took a group of school kids on a tour of the theatre today. They were in awe at the beauty of this gem. Kids being kids, they asked a few classic questions of the tour guide. “How did they find people so tall, to paint the ceiling?” “With all this cool stuff, who would want to watch a dumb movie?” The staff were very hospitable and even let the kids eat lunch there.
Does anyone know what interest, if any, Utopia Studios Ltd or Joseph Gentile played in the restoration or ownership of the Paradise?
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior