Nova Theatre
3589 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10031
3589 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10031
8 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Harris Theatrical Enterprises
Architects: George Frederick Pelham
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Bunny Theatre, Dorset Theatre, Tapia Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Opened in around December 1913 as the Bunny Theatre. The name ‘Bunny’ has over the years been incorrectly attributed to early film star John Bunny, but this is not the case. The Bunny Theatre was built for Carl E. Schultze, an artist and creator of the popular ‘Foxy Grandpa’ comic strip, which he signed with his pen name ‘Bunny’ and a drawing of a rabbit. Across the top of the façade, a stone inscription read the name ‘Bunny’, and on each side of the name was a rabbit head. By 1930, there was also a 702-seat Bunny Roof Theatre operating here. Schultze died in 1939, and by 1941 it had been renamed Dorset Theatre when it was operated by Harris Theatrical Enterprises. It retained the Dorset Theatre name until at least 1958. It was later renamed Tapia Theatre.
The Tapia Theatre was purchased in 1978 by Adriana & Ramon Nova and was renamed Nova Theatre following a refurbishment. In 1983 it was being operated by Lesser Theatre Services. The Nova’s would later pass it over to their son Jesus Nova and the theatre was triplexed. Although the Bunny Theatre’s sign is gone, remnants of the original exterior and interior remained. The very top of the building’s façade remained as originally built.
Sadly, the Nova Theatre closed in late-August 2002 and was gutted. Jesus Nova went on to operate the Coliseum Theatre (former RKO Coliseum Theatre, now demolished) at W. 181st Street & Broadway. A 99 cent store has opened in the former Bunny Theatre building. In the Summer of 2009, the decorative façade was taken down.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick, Cezar Del Valle
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Recent comments (view all 98 comments)
@ Al Alvarez: The Nova topped out as a three-screen theater; your theories may be right.
On another note, have been doing some research on Upper Manhattan theaters and stumbled upon a February 19, 1979 issue of New York Magazine. They wrote a one-page article on what was then NYC’s longest-standing movie theaters, one of which was the Nova. They mentioned the Nova family taking over the (former Tapia) theater the previous year (1978) and spending eight months and thousands of dollars refurbishing it. Should the overview be updated?
As of July 2019, the 99-cent store that has occupied the former Nova Theater’s space has closed. This entire side of 147th/Broadway has been extensively leveled and re-developed at the behest of Columbia University (which owns the real estate), with the former theater space being the only remnant of what once were a collection of low-rise buildings.
Wonder if the space will get a new tenant or face the wrecking ball?
Please update, theatre closed July 18, 2002
@ridethectrain Having lived in the neighborhood the same summer it was closed, I recall the Nova closing in late August 2002, just before Labor Day. “XXX” (released 8/9/2002) was one of the last movies that premiered there.
The lobby photos I’d uploaded are from July 2002 however.
How was this theater divided into 3 screens
I was suppose to had went to see Boyz N The Hood at the Bunny back in 1991 I was in a cab with my girlfriend at the time and we had a argument and we never made it to the theater we ended up watching it on a VHS tape.
A picture operating as Teatro Tapia - an homage to the venerable Puerto Rican venue of the same name - from 1972 is in phots.
On May 7, 1984, a showing of “Breaking” turned into a disaster when an argument involving two men turned into a shooting. One of the two men pulled out a gun and shot a 29-year-old man and his 5-year-old son. The gunman ran out of the theater.
another alleged shooting taking place with no proof that it actually took place.
I lived in Harlem back in that neighborhood and went to the Nova theater regularly. I’ve never heard a story like that. And I saw Breaking back in those days. I can’t recall ever hearing a story like that: a man and his 5 year old son getting shot in the theater, that type of situation was very rare back then. People still had honor. You could actually have a fight and don’t have to worry about somebody coming back to shoot you, we had a different mentality then.