dfc
commented about
Metro Twinon
Jul 28, 2024 at 8:10 am
Martin Scorsese and a few others have formed a non-profit with the intent of reopening the long-closed Metro theater on Broadway at 99 Street as an ‘art house’ type movie theater. It looks like a risky move, and wonder if that will work even on the Upper West Side in 2024? The target market of Manahttan is an upscale borough where I’m sure everyone owns a large HDTV. It’s not like the pre-Home Video days when Manhattanites would flock to the many art house and revival movie theaters that existed back then.
I wish this group luck but the building is in terrible shape and requires expensive renovations and repairs.
The entire Hylan Plaza shopping center was torn down in 2017 and is being replaced with a modern shopping center called ‘The Boulevard’ which will include an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
I watched a documentary about this theater last night. Interesting to say the least. I’ve never been to Los Angeles. Is the theater in a bad section of the city? Some of the later images of the theater show exterior bars.
Hate to complain but $93 Million? A new high-tech Boeing 737 goes for $89 Million. Exorbitant amount and I still have my doubts about the financial viability of the restored Kings. Something’s not right here.
That whole Pathmark/KMart shopping center is a mess. Stores are vacant for years with no explanation. Friends who patronize this theater all say that the place is in poor shape. And yet the theater stays open.
A few years ago the rumor was that the Hylan would take the large space that Toys-R-Us had vacated. But Toys-R-Us reopened their store after years of vacancy. So no one really knows whats going on with that entire shopping center property.
I walked by the Lane Theater this morning and it looks like Uncle Vinny’s has closed. The Uncle Vinny’s name is off the marquee and all the coming performances posters have been taken down. Must have been a sudden decision because they were advertising April and May comedy acts last week. No ‘For Rent’ signs yet.
Martin Scorsese and a few others have formed a non-profit with the intent of reopening the long-closed Metro theater on Broadway at 99 Street as an ‘art house’ type movie theater. It looks like a risky move, and wonder if that will work even on the Upper West Side in 2024? The target market of Manahttan is an upscale borough where I’m sure everyone owns a large HDTV. It’s not like the pre-Home Video days when Manhattanites would flock to the many art house and revival movie theaters that existed back then.
I wish this group luck but the building is in terrible shape and requires expensive renovations and repairs.
NYTimes story - http://u.pc.cd/It5ctalK
Apparently located at 3997 Amboy Road, at Nelson Avenue. Presently the site of the ‘Village Maria’ restaurant/pizzeria.
Google image 09/2022 - https://maps.app.goo.gl/1WqM53TxpjYtv7NWA
I always loved the ‘ice’ on the lettering to denote that the theater was air-conditioned. A big deal in 1930.
That’s my old neighborhood. Not the best, not the worst. Kensington area was dreary and a bit run down but safe until the late 1980s.
A 5-story office building is going up on this site.
https://newyorkyimby.com/2020/09/permits-filed-for-1010-mcdonald-avenue-in-mapleton-brooklyn.html
Apparently some kind of stalled renovation is currently going on at this location.
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=520358078&passdocnumber=01
Amazing photo showing the just completed BMT Culver elevated line along Gravesend Avenue.
The entire Hylan Plaza shopping center was torn down in 2017 and is being replaced with a modern shopping center called ‘The Boulevard’ which will include an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
http://www.theboulevardstatenisland.com/
I watched a documentary about this theater last night. Interesting to say the least. I’ve never been to Los Angeles. Is the theater in a bad section of the city? Some of the later images of the theater show exterior bars.
Loews Pitkin building recently sold for $53M. http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2018/2/7/revamped-loews-pitkin-movie-theater-brownsville-treasure
Saw ‘Close Encounters’ at the Ziegfeld in 1978. Still have the movie program somewhere. Fantastic theater compared to the dumps we had in Brooklyn.
Latest thing on the Lane is the “New Dorp Lane Merchants Group”. An LDC is being formed to address local issues like the muni-meters.
Most of this area was flooded out by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Hate to complain but $93 Million? A new high-tech Boeing 737 goes for $89 Million. Exorbitant amount and I still have my doubts about the financial viability of the restored Kings. Something’s not right here.
Photo probably taken in 1966, Stagecoach was released in 1966.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061024/combined
Minor point but the Parkville should be classified as “Demolished”, not “Closed”.
The current commerical structure was built in 1959 as noted on the C of O:
http://a810-cofo.nyc.gov/cofo/B/000/166000/B000166162.PDF
The old PBS documentary of the Loews Kings “Memoirs of a movie palace” is available for viewing only, not borrowing, at the:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza New York, NY 10023-7498 (917) 275-6975
More info: https://catalog.nypl.org/record=b17209776~S1
I like the ‘FIGHT PAY TV" (Cable Television) on the marquee. Looks like cable won that battle. Funny.
That whole Pathmark/KMart shopping center is a mess. Stores are vacant for years with no explanation. Friends who patronize this theater all say that the place is in poor shape. And yet the theater stays open.
A few years ago the rumor was that the Hylan would take the large space that Toys-R-Us had vacated. But Toys-R-Us reopened their store after years of vacancy. So no one really knows whats going on with that entire shopping center property.
I just updated the street view to show the correct corner (northwest). The theater was located where the red building is now.
The situation on the Lane has improved a little. Slightly fewer vacancies. But I think the Lane Theater will once again be vacant for a long time.
The right half of this building is now a Subway sandwich shop. The appilance store relocated to New Dorp Plaza South about a year ago.
Raysson, thank you for your very informative posts! Didn’t realize official and unofficial segregation in theaters lasted into the late 1960s.
When were segregated theaters outlawed in North Carolina?
I walked by the Lane Theater this morning and it looks like Uncle Vinny’s has closed. The Uncle Vinny’s name is off the marquee and all the coming performances posters have been taken down. Must have been a sudden decision because they were advertising April and May comedy acts last week. No ‘For Rent’ signs yet.