Yes, Bway and I did go where no one has gone before; at least no one from this board. We got a quick peek inside the balcony area, and although Bway’s description is generally very accurate, if you contact us offline, trust me that we can give you a more complete description of what we saw.
Also, if anyone on the board actually remembers the Madison’s interior and layout, please contact myself or Bway offline.
Hey, Panzer, I got a tentative trip to New York planned for early October, and the Madison is high on my hit-list again. If we can round up Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy, maybe we can find truth, justice and the American Way. Wait a minute; that’s Superman. Who cares? We can check it out anyway.
Just for chuckles I looked up the Liberty Department Stores on the map. It’s about a half-block inside of Queens. The Queens County line goes NW on Wyckoff to Palmetto, then NE for a short block, then back NW on St. Nicholas.
Just found a link to an old article about when the Busy Bee opened in 1988 – View link
One of the quotes from the article is ‘the restoration of the theater’s fanciful Baroque facade removes a blight from Myrtle Avenue’. Blight? What was the reporter thinking?
I got a feeling there’s no longer anything of interest beyond the door, but I’ll ask if I can look anyway.
It’s funny; I thought about asking the guy up near the front of the store (the manager?) if I could take a few shots inside the Liberty, but I didn’t feel good. Maybe I should have asked anyway. Maybe he wasn’t even the manager; just another cashier. But I will ask if I go back in October.
Maybe someone on the board who remembers the Madison when it was still a theater could meet me at the store and look around with me.
I have a tentative trip to the City planned for October, and I’ll ask if I can take a few photos inside the Liberty Department Stores. Other than being a little bigger inside than it looks from the outside, I couldn’t visualize it as ever having been anything but a bargain department store. Maybe someone who remembers it when it was still a theater can connect the dots.
I just visited the old Madison yesterday, now the Liberty Department Store. It’s bigger inside than it looks from the outside, and if I hadn’t read the postings here, I would have never guessed it had once been a theater. I asked the cashier who waited on me if she knew it used to be a theater, and she smiled and said “No”, and something to the effect of “You must have lived in this neighborhood a long time.”
I took a couple of pictures. I’ll post ‘em in a few days when I get all of them downloaded and edited.
I’m from Syracuse, but a few of my co-workers are from Brooklyn and they remember the Madison. They say it was a beautiful theater back in the day. They thought it closed right after the blackout (1977?) and the riots.
I turned ‘em on to brooklynpix.com and now they’re all excited to get back there again as soon as the weather gets a little nicer. I try to get down to the city 2 or 3 times a year, and I spend almost as much time in Brooklyn as I do in Manhattan.
Being a lover of old theaters, I’m going to check out the remains of the Madison when I visit New York this summer, and get a few exterior shots. It’s sad, but theaters like that belong to a time gone by, and it’ll never be economically feasible to revive them.
Yes, Bway and I did go where no one has gone before; at least no one from this board. We got a quick peek inside the balcony area, and although Bway’s description is generally very accurate, if you contact us offline, trust me that we can give you a more complete description of what we saw.
Also, if anyone on the board actually remembers the Madison’s interior and layout, please contact myself or Bway offline.
My e-mail is
Peter.K
Please contact me offline ASAP at
Hey, Panzer, I got a tentative trip to New York planned for early October, and the Madison is high on my hit-list again. If we can round up Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy, maybe we can find truth, justice and the American Way. Wait a minute; that’s Superman. Who cares? We can check it out anyway.
Just for chuckles I looked up the Liberty Department Stores on the map. It’s about a half-block inside of Queens. The Queens County line goes NW on Wyckoff to Palmetto, then NE for a short block, then back NW on St. Nicholas.
Just found a link to an old article about when the Busy Bee opened in 1988 – View link
One of the quotes from the article is ‘the restoration of the theater’s fanciful Baroque facade removes a blight from Myrtle Avenue’. Blight? What was the reporter thinking?
I got a feeling there’s no longer anything of interest beyond the door, but I’ll ask if I can look anyway.
It’s funny; I thought about asking the guy up near the front of the store (the manager?) if I could take a few shots inside the Liberty, but I didn’t feel good. Maybe I should have asked anyway. Maybe he wasn’t even the manager; just another cashier. But I will ask if I go back in October.
Maybe someone on the board who remembers the Madison when it was still a theater could meet me at the store and look around with me.
I have a tentative trip to the City planned for October, and I’ll ask if I can take a few photos inside the Liberty Department Stores. Other than being a little bigger inside than it looks from the outside, I couldn’t visualize it as ever having been anything but a bargain department store. Maybe someone who remembers it when it was still a theater can connect the dots.
Here’s links to the 2 shots I took Monday.
View link
View link
I just visited the old Madison yesterday, now the Liberty Department Store. It’s bigger inside than it looks from the outside, and if I hadn’t read the postings here, I would have never guessed it had once been a theater. I asked the cashier who waited on me if she knew it used to be a theater, and she smiled and said “No”, and something to the effect of “You must have lived in this neighborhood a long time.”
I took a couple of pictures. I’ll post ‘em in a few days when I get all of them downloaded and edited.
I’m from Syracuse, but a few of my co-workers are from Brooklyn and they remember the Madison. They say it was a beautiful theater back in the day. They thought it closed right after the blackout (1977?) and the riots.
I turned ‘em on to brooklynpix.com and now they’re all excited to get back there again as soon as the weather gets a little nicer. I try to get down to the city 2 or 3 times a year, and I spend almost as much time in Brooklyn as I do in Manhattan.
Being a lover of old theaters, I’m going to check out the remains of the Madison when I visit New York this summer, and get a few exterior shots. It’s sad, but theaters like that belong to a time gone by, and it’ll never be economically feasible to revive them.