For anyone who is interested there is a stand up comedy night on March 19th at Fuzzy’s in Bellrose to raise money for the RKO Keiths. Tickets are $20.00 in advance and thirty at the door. Here is the link:
This is Mr. Tracy’s note for the meeting to save our beloved theater:
Please join him if you can:
With this renewed sense of enrgy and enthusiasm, a meeting is scheduled for Friends of The RKO Keith’s Flusshing:
Saturday March 7th, 2009
12:00 noon – 2:00 pm
St John Vianney Parish Hall
140-10 34th Ave, Flushing –
Parking Lot on Corner of 35th Avenue and Union Street
There is a $100 donation which I am paying (gladly) – if anyone would like to chip in, feel free. No pressure to do so.
A few things we hope to cover during the meeting:
1- Status of the theater and a brief history of where it is today
2- History of The Committee to Save The RKO Keith’s Flushing, Inc.
3- Purpose of the committee, “friends of The RKO Keith’s"
4- Formulate game plan for future endeavors to save the Keith’s: Fundraising, Marketing. Non-profit status, Community Awareness, Preservation Group awareness &
Involvement, Media awareness and involvement.
5- Formation of sub-committees to carry out our mission of saving the RKO Keith’s.
I hope that we can have at least 100 supporters there. Please forward this to everyone you know. I realize many are involved other groups – churches, associations, non-profits, etc. – I would ask you to spread this information to those groups as well if for no other reason than to make them aware.
I am meeting the morning before with some of the key people involved from the beginning to give me a better sense of what we’re up against. This is by far, no small task. But I believe it is not impossible.
I will also add this event to the Facebook group page and the new MySpace page. Please forward this to all as well:
I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday the 7th. Please confirm your attendance so we can have enough chairs. Feel free to email me with questions or suggestions for additional things to cover during the meeting. I will be flying in on Wednesday the 5th, so I will be available and in town that afternoon.
If you cannot make the meeting, but would like to help in some way, please email me at
Eveybody this is great news. Why are we sitting on our butts? We should be emailing The Boro President, John Liu, and The Queens Historical Society. It’s time to campaign to come on strong. Get up and do something this is another chance!!!!!!!!!!!
I remember going here as a child a couple of times and only because my parents were extremely young and would like to go to later showings and this always had a late viewing. As a child I loved the mural on the top of the building and would look for it when ever we were on the high way. I went to Francis Lewis High School just across the street and some times if it was open late afternoon would catch a show. Then go to Pizza Express next to it. Sadly in the mid to late 90’s when I was in school this place was a DUMP! It was not a surprise to me that this was knocked down and I did feel sad the first time I saw it was missing but that’s because everytime I turn around something from my past is being demolished. The last movie I saw there was The Sixth Sense with my mom. One thing I do remember is how Easy it was when I was a kid to sneak into the theatres my dad would take my brother and I and we would se like 3 or 4 movies for the day on our original tickets and no one ever said anything.
Hey everyone I did go to this movie theatre when it was a flea market and it was really dirty but if I recall correctly the marquee was still up at that point. The place looked really dirty and it was a make shift flea market. So sad.
One last thing I forgot to mention about the Quartet, from the time I was little I was always afraid of that Brady Bunch style sair case. As another commenter on here wrote the place was spooky, as I got older I would go to the bathroom as fast as I could because the upsatirs had an eerie silence to it and towards the end the downstairs would look like a ghost town there was no one ever working behind the counters either.
I grew up on Crocheron ave. Just up the road from the Quartet movie theatre. I saw so many movies there in the 80’s and 90’s. We loved this place because we could go there by ourselves. I do remember Eddie and I remember the first movie I saw after the Quartet closed was Titanic at the Bayside theater and there Eddie was taking our tickets at the door. I loved that area we always had Chinese food after the movie at Kam Ying. We also would go to Murray’s to get my girl scout uniforms. I loved Flushing so much in those days. The best part about the Quartet is that when we were in Junior High School we would all chip in and buy one ticket then the rest of us would ride our bikes around to the back door and and the person inside would open the side door and sneak the rest of us in. Those were the days. We also would sneak in from one theatre to the next. One time these teens that were working there caught my little brother sneaking in and they brought him upsatirs to some office and they had him in a chair with a lamp on him making him cry and called my parents to come pick him up. At the time he was so scared but looking back it’s really funny. The Highlight of my movie time at the Quartet was seeing E.T., the lines were wrapped around the block. I saw it twice. The only movie I ever saw in the movies twice. When ever I drive down to that area I am saddened by the disgusting look of the area. When I was a kid you had the Pizza Place, Kam Ying, Murray’s and good old Cookie King where my mom always bought cookies for the holiday’s. Let’s not forget Bridie’s Pub that became T.J. McCarthy’s my high school drinking hole. Ooh those were the days.
Hi I was just on Boymelgreen’s website and you can click on thier rendering of what the intended RKO Plaza will look like. It also has pictures of what they intend the lobby to look like.
I am only 30 years old but had the pleasure of my dad taking me to the Keiths in the 80’s to see many movies. I loved to go there just to look around there was so much to see, I was in awe of this place. I was only about 9 when they closed it down but I was so sad. I have followed this story for many years and I find this to be a travesty. I believe it’s never too late to vie for a cause you truly care about. There has to be some way we can save this theater. As long as a wrecking ball hasn’t gone through this place we can save it and see it restored to it’s old glory!
Paulsp click on the link an doante $20.00 it’s a start!
For anyone who is interested there is a stand up comedy night on March 19th at Fuzzy’s in Bellrose to raise money for the RKO Keiths. Tickets are $20.00 in advance and thirty at the door. Here is the link:
View link
This is Mr. Tracy’s note for the meeting to save our beloved theater:
Please join him if you can:
With this renewed sense of enrgy and enthusiasm, a meeting is scheduled for Friends of The RKO Keith’s Flusshing:
Saturday March 7th, 2009
12:00 noon – 2:00 pm
St John Vianney Parish Hall
140-10 34th Ave, Flushing –
Parking Lot on Corner of 35th Avenue and Union Street
There is a $100 donation which I am paying (gladly) – if anyone would like to chip in, feel free. No pressure to do so.
A few things we hope to cover during the meeting:
1- Status of the theater and a brief history of where it is today
2- History of The Committee to Save The RKO Keith’s Flushing, Inc.
3- Purpose of the committee, “friends of The RKO Keith’s"
4- Formulate game plan for future endeavors to save the Keith’s: Fundraising, Marketing. Non-profit status, Community Awareness, Preservation Group awareness &
Involvement, Media awareness and involvement.
5- Formation of sub-committees to carry out our mission of saving the RKO Keith’s.
I hope that we can have at least 100 supporters there. Please forward this to everyone you know. I realize many are involved other groups – churches, associations, non-profits, etc. – I would ask you to spread this information to those groups as well if for no other reason than to make them aware.
I am meeting the morning before with some of the key people involved from the beginning to give me a better sense of what we’re up against. This is by far, no small task. But I believe it is not impossible.
I will also add this event to the Facebook group page and the new MySpace page. Please forward this to all as well:
Our new MYSpace page – http://www.MySpace.com/rkokeithstheater
The Facebook Group Page for The RKO Keith’s: View link
Go to /theaters/834/ for info on The RKO Keith’s and its supporters.
Please! Everyone sign this petition:
View link
I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday the 7th. Please confirm your attendance so we can have enough chairs. Feel free to email me with questions or suggestions for additional things to cover during the meeting. I will be flying in on Wednesday the 5th, so I will be available and in town that afternoon.
If you cannot make the meeting, but would like to help in some way, please email me at
See you there,
Ed Tracey
Eveybody this is great news. Why are we sitting on our butts? We should be emailing The Boro President, John Liu, and The Queens Historical Society. It’s time to campaign to come on strong. Get up and do something this is another chance!!!!!!!!!!!
I remember going here as a child a couple of times and only because my parents were extremely young and would like to go to later showings and this always had a late viewing. As a child I loved the mural on the top of the building and would look for it when ever we were on the high way. I went to Francis Lewis High School just across the street and some times if it was open late afternoon would catch a show. Then go to Pizza Express next to it. Sadly in the mid to late 90’s when I was in school this place was a DUMP! It was not a surprise to me that this was knocked down and I did feel sad the first time I saw it was missing but that’s because everytime I turn around something from my past is being demolished. The last movie I saw there was The Sixth Sense with my mom. One thing I do remember is how Easy it was when I was a kid to sneak into the theatres my dad would take my brother and I and we would se like 3 or 4 movies for the day on our original tickets and no one ever said anything.
Hey everyone I did go to this movie theatre when it was a flea market and it was really dirty but if I recall correctly the marquee was still up at that point. The place looked really dirty and it was a make shift flea market. So sad.
One last thing I forgot to mention about the Quartet, from the time I was little I was always afraid of that Brady Bunch style sair case. As another commenter on here wrote the place was spooky, as I got older I would go to the bathroom as fast as I could because the upsatirs had an eerie silence to it and towards the end the downstairs would look like a ghost town there was no one ever working behind the counters either.
I grew up on Crocheron ave. Just up the road from the Quartet movie theatre. I saw so many movies there in the 80’s and 90’s. We loved this place because we could go there by ourselves. I do remember Eddie and I remember the first movie I saw after the Quartet closed was Titanic at the Bayside theater and there Eddie was taking our tickets at the door. I loved that area we always had Chinese food after the movie at Kam Ying. We also would go to Murray’s to get my girl scout uniforms. I loved Flushing so much in those days. The best part about the Quartet is that when we were in Junior High School we would all chip in and buy one ticket then the rest of us would ride our bikes around to the back door and and the person inside would open the side door and sneak the rest of us in. Those were the days. We also would sneak in from one theatre to the next. One time these teens that were working there caught my little brother sneaking in and they brought him upsatirs to some office and they had him in a chair with a lamp on him making him cry and called my parents to come pick him up. At the time he was so scared but looking back it’s really funny. The Highlight of my movie time at the Quartet was seeing E.T., the lines were wrapped around the block. I saw it twice. The only movie I ever saw in the movies twice. When ever I drive down to that area I am saddened by the disgusting look of the area. When I was a kid you had the Pizza Place, Kam Ying, Murray’s and good old Cookie King where my mom always bought cookies for the holiday’s. Let’s not forget Bridie’s Pub that became T.J. McCarthy’s my high school drinking hole. Ooh those were the days.
Hi I was just on Boymelgreen’s website and you can click on thier rendering of what the intended RKO Plaza will look like. It also has pictures of what they intend the lobby to look like.
I am only 30 years old but had the pleasure of my dad taking me to the Keiths in the 80’s to see many movies. I loved to go there just to look around there was so much to see, I was in awe of this place. I was only about 9 when they closed it down but I was so sad. I have followed this story for many years and I find this to be a travesty. I believe it’s never too late to vie for a cause you truly care about. There has to be some way we can save this theater. As long as a wrecking ball hasn’t gone through this place we can save it and see it restored to it’s old glory!