Mecca Theatre
445 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10009
445 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10009
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The address for the entrance to the Mecca Theatre was 445 East 14th Street, which was on the north side of 14th Street just west of Avenue A. The address currently given in the Overview is for the block long side of the Mecca premises on Avenue A between E. 14th and E. 15th Streets, which can be seen in the NYC Tax Photo displayed here
Rosemarie who just passed away played there as a child then known as Baby Rose Marie in the late 20’s.
I teach at a nearby public school (built in 1913) where my students have unearthed a lot of very old artifacts from under closet floorboards, including a Mecca Theatre ticket with an ad on the back for Summer & Austein Confectionary Store at 193 Avenue B (“candy in boxes—our specialty”). We also found ticket stubs from the Bijou nearby. You can see our old ticket on our Instagram account, @closetarchaeology.
I could not fine any information on it
thank you Al , I didn’t think the program was that old
“The Understanding Heart” is the newest title, opening in NY in early May 1927, so 1927 is a good guess. The other two titles opened in late 1926.
I have a old program from the mecca theatre nyc there are days listed of the shows but not the year with the following shows june14 “The Cheerful Fraud” Reginald Denny, June 15&16"the understanding heart" Joan Crawford, June 18 “the Texas Streak” hoot Gibson would anyone know when these played
14th Street Theatre was at 107 W 14th St. Originally Theatre Francais (1866) then Lyceum but perhaps most known as Civic Reportory Theatre (1926). Demolished 1938. Berenice Abbott took a photo just beforehand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Street_Theatre
There was a New 14th Street Theater located at 235-237 E 14th Street. It was built in 1915 and operated by the SWS chain, which also ran the Sunshine Theater and the American Movies Theater.
The American Motion Picture Directory;1914-1915 edition lists a Royal Theatre at 235 Avenue A.
In 1922, the theater at 235 Avenue A was known as the East Side Beauty Theater.
There was a small movie theater at 235 Avenue A as early as 1908. According to the Trow’s Business Directory, it was run by one I. Decristofore in 1908 and one Joseph Totora in 1909 (probably Italian nickelodeon operators). The Graves' Motion Picture Theater Directory of 1918 lists the house under the name Fingers (?) Theater.
Like many independent theater owners, Charles Steiner lost control over most of ‘his’ theaters in the mid 1930s as a result of the Depression and unfair competition from Hollywood-owned theaters.
Purchased by MetLife, for the aforementioned building of Stuyvesant Town, in 1943, the theatre’s address was 227-241 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009 (?).
Since the address, and indeed, the section of Avenue A upon which it rested, no longer exists, it will not map properly and I can’t be certain of the zip code.