Ridgewood Theatre

The thing is you can’t take that chance. There are theaters all over the city where the owners may have “meant well”, but then in the end, the theater wound up being gutted or destroyed anyway. It has to be “on paper” that it can’t be destroyed. We can’t allow that to happen to the Ridgewood. Just look at the Trylon Theater in Queens, the owners said they would perserve features, and the next thing you know they were ripping up the mosaics.
The same can’t happen to the Ridgewood. And judging by the recent photos Ken Roe posted above, there is much architectual features still intact in the theater, even though it had been multiplexed.

P.S. For the Request For Evaluation forms, we should have as much historical information as possible with accompanying photos. They should include a vintage photo, and varying shots of the facade at present, including close-ups of the intricate details.

The intention of the team looking to take over the theater is not to destroy it, but to save it from becoming something other than a CVS. Lord knows we don’t need another one of those. The intention is to keep it what it is….but with lots of bonuses for the community and the surrounding areas.

Forest Hills Ledger (Times Ledger) April 6, 2006: www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16440505&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=551069&rfi=6

Excerpt about Ridgewood Theatre: Residents in western Queens communities and preservationists are hoping to save two historic borough movie palaces, one of which is being converted into an educational center (Trylon Theater), while the other will soon face competition from a newly constructed multiplex.

Borough residents and theater preservationists are also unsure of the fate of the 90-year-old Ridgewood Theater, located at 55-27 Myrtle Ave. in Ridgewood, which will soon face competition from an eight-screen Regal Cinemas at the Shops at Atlas Park, a large office/retail complex set to open in late April on Cooper Avenue between 80th and 83rd streets in Glendale. Although some residents said they hope to get the historic theater landmarked, others complained on Cinema Treasures, an online movie theater forum, that the Ridgewood had sticky floors, creaky seats and rodents.

Gary Giordano, district manager of Community Board 5, which serves Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village, said he would like to see the area retain a historic neighborhood movie theater. He said the Ridgewood might just need a little sprucing up.

But Karen Colizzi Noonan, president of the Chicago-based Theatre Historical Society of America, said saving the theater is a responsibility shared by the theater’s owners and the community. “If the community values that piece of property and doesn’t want to lose it, they need to make a commitment to support it,” she said.

While the fate of the Ridgewood Theater, which has survived two world wars, the Great Depression and the invention of television, video and DVDs, is yet to be decided, the Trylon joins the ranks of several historic Queens sites that have been denied landmark status or torn down to make way for new developments. These include the 159-year-old St. Savior’s Church in Maspeth, the Middle Village German eatery Niederstein’s and Glendale catering hall Durow’s.

“I think the borough is losing a lot of its history because Landmarks is not stepping in,” Councilman Dennis Gallagher (R- Middle Village) said. “The commission is too slow and out of touch with the outer boroughs. If you want something landmarked in Manhattan, it takes a second to get done.”

Thanks, guys. I had never thought of the Madison as more community-oriented than the Ridgewood, but it makes sense, now that you mention it. The greatest “community” aspect of the Ridgewood Theater I can recall was the guest appearance of Batman and Robin there in summer 1966 for the debut of the Adam West – Burt Ward “Batman” film.

B'way- that’s just the way I remember it. I didn’t go to the Oasis until it’s final days before it became a roller rink. The Madison always had a sense of grandeur to it with the open lobby and marble stairs leading to the second floor loge and balcony seating. I think being part of the RKO chain they invested more in keeping the place up. The Ridgewood was all business you walked in the refreshment was there sat down and watched your movie. If my memory serves me correctly there wasn’t door separating the refrehment stand from the downstairs seating, just a half wall. I was never in the Ridgewood after they changed to a multiplex. By then I preferred the Arion and Cinemart in Forest hills.

SteveD….haha, no I don’t think the Ridgewood ever had non-sticky floors!! I remember that even as a kid when I used to go there with my mother, and it was still one theater yet. Ironically, out of the three neighborhood theaters I attended with my parents as a small child; the Ridgewood, the Madison, and the Oasis, the Ridgewood was always the dirtiest and most run down. The irony being that out of all those theaters in Ridgewood, the Ridgewood Theater is the one that survived! I remember the Oasis Theater on Fresh Pond Rd being the cleanest of the three. That was always my mother’s theater of choice, when she we take me to a movie (usually Disney movies). The Madison was sort of “in the middle”, not necessarily clean, but not as run down or dirty as the Ridgewood was either.
However, unfortunately bot the Madison and the Oasis closed before I became a teenager, so while I had great times as a teenager in the Oasis Roller Rink it became, the Ridgewood Theater is really where most of my happy memories are (many mentioned far above in this long thread of comments)…..sticky floors and all. The Ridgewood perhaps wouldn’t be “The Ridgewood” if not for it’s sticky floor, haha. I like Peter though can’t comment on it’s current interior condition either though, as I was last in the building to see “Problem Child” with John Ritter, and that I believe was summer, 1991 when that movie was out.

Peter, yes, it does appear that the Ridgewood is sort of “Three buildings in one”. The Lobby, the Theater itself, and the stage area with the water tank on it. I believe, like the Madison, the Ridgewood was also originally a legit theater, with a stage.

Lost, here’s a link to a view of the former Ritz Theater on Myrtle Ave at 71st Ave. It is currently a Blockbuster Video Store (another ironic event here in a Ridgewood Theater….) Before Blockbuster, it was “Roman Furniture”. The building was completely redone and resufaced in the late 70’s or early 80’s when Roman Furniture moved in. Before Roman Furniture, it was a different furniture store, and it still had the marquee out front. The marquee lasted until at least the mid 70’s, I remember it well, and remember watching them remove it when I was at the A&P store across the street with my mother.
Notice how it is a much smaller building than the Ridgewood or Madison Theater buildings of course, but it is still quite a bit bigger than the neighboring stores (at least one floor higher too). The former theater building towers over the adjoining buildings, and also runs street-to-street. I will also post this link and comments in the Ritz Theater section of the site.

Here’s the link to the aerial view of the former Ritz Theater. The RItz is the building with the blue awning in front – Blockbuster Blue:

West on top:
View link

Another angle, with north on top:
View link

Was there anytime when the Ridgewood Movie Theatre floor wasn’t sticky?

Thanks for the great view of the old neighborhood. I remember as a kid walking on Cypress on a hot July afternoon and feeling the drops from the Ridgewood Air conditioner. We never ventured down the alley on Cypress it was always very scary. I remember the Doo Wop singers used to go down there because of the acoustics at night. Wow, Carl’s is still there, what about Joe’s?

Here’s an aerial view of the Ridgewood Theater. Notice how the lobby area is in line with all the other store buildings on Myrtle Ave, and how the main part of the theater is actually way behind that, at the intersection of Cypress Ave and Madison St:

View link

Yes, Bway, we posted simultaneously again !

If that’s not proof of fan devotion to the Ridgewood Theater, then I don’t know what is !

Peter, we did it again.

Lost Memory, I agree. This could be a golden opportunity for the Ridgewood to restablish themselves. Apparently it is the old continuously operating theater in New York, if not the country. They could clean the place up (and I don’t really know if it’s still as bad inside as it once was, meaning rats and stuff). But anyway, either way, it surely could use an upgrade either way.
The discounts or free popcorn would get people through the door once again to see all the improvements, and reform their movie going habits.
There is definitely room to keep the theater afloat, even with the new multiplex, but the Ridgewood management can’t chose the status quo, they will have to work at it to make it work, and it can succeed.
Perhaps they can even go to showing a foreign films in one or two of the theaters to attract the Polish and Hispanic current residents of Ridgewood in, and keep normal films in the the other four.

Steve, I remember when the theater was still one theater and they would show the movies in succession. The credits would play, and people would start coming in for the next showing while people would be leaving for the session ending.
I believe most people who sat in the balcony (which was the smoking section if I am not mistaken, would use the left stairway in the back of the old auditorium (which would now be the stairway to theater 1, the leftmost balcony), and would leave through the stairway in the lobby, which is now the stairway to theaters 4 and 5 (the middle and right balcony theaters).