Tribune Theatre

OK, Tinseltoes. You can email it to me at: .

Thanks.

This is crazy! I’m not a movie buff like the rest of you folks and am only trying to determine the movie theater I went to as a child. I’m discovering more than I ever wanted to know, except what I’m actually looking for.

The Original Tribune Theater at 170 Nassau Street closed in 1959 and moved down Frankfort Street closer to William Street due to an expired lease and increased rent. Since it was no longer in the Tribune or Sun buildings and those names were copyrighted, the new theater had a different name. Perhaps after one of the studios – RKO, Century or Paramount. However, it was still referred to as the Tribune Theater.

Meanwhile in 1961 the old theater reopened as City Hall Cinema. Then of course the entire area was demolished in 1966.

Perhaps one of you followers with the proper resources can help me discover the name of this new short lived theater. I know that West Side Story which was released on 10/18/61 played there. Can one of you please check your publications of newspaper movie ads with listings and times for that time period and look for a theater downtown and specifically on Frankfort Street.

Thanks.

Thanks AlAlvarez, but the one I’m looking for was definately in the City Hall area. Perhaps on Frankfort, Spruce, Beekman, Gold or William Streets.

This clearly proves that the Tribune Theater was renamed the City Hall Cinema and has thrown a huge monkey wrench into my search for the theater nearby that I went to as a kid.

I would greatlu appreciate if any of you folks with your vast historical theater listings can look for a Majestic Theater in this area.

This unknown theater has some significance to me. My older sister took me there to see a Dracula movie when I was just 7 or 8 years old. I’m not sure which one because the theater seems to have screened more reruns than new features. Talk about shock therapy. I have never much cared for horror movies ever since. I need to determine exactly where it was and see a photo of it to purge the demons. lol.

Flynn, thanks so much for adding that terrific picture. It really shows where the old Tribune Theatre fit in to what is now an open plaza. And seeing a small portion of the old BMT elevated City Hall terminal was very much a plus.

When I first discovered the City Hall Theatre page on this site, I was surprised to learn that one movie house could serve what, even at that time, was already a 9 to 5 community. I was realy shocked that TWO theaters, situated nearly within the shadow of each other, could exist – and apparently prosper -in this neighborhood. I wonder how the attendance patterns functioned here. Was it a habit for downtown workers to quit at five, have a drink and/or a quick meal and then take in a 6 or 7 o'clock showing – or did most patrons – perhaps including the Fulton Fish Market crowd – view the presentations earlier in the day? (I doubt that there was much of a crown for the late evening showings – but who knows?)

It would really be great to hear the thoughts and observations of those who actually saw movies in the City Hall area in that bygone time.

I added a 1933 photo of where the Tribune would be just before it opened.

I also grew up on the lower east side of New York. There’s a mystery about this theater that I can’t seem to solve. Pace University purchased the Tribune building in the early 1960s and the Tribune Theater appears to have closed and reopened as the City Hall Cinema around the corner on Frankfort Street. It had a short life as several blocks in that area including the Tribune building were razed in 1966 to make way for the Pace Civic Center, Bache building and Southbridge Towers. This new theater is the one I remember going to, but can’t find any information or pictures relating to it.

Here is an ad for the Tribune which shows it operating as the City Hall Cinema briefly during the summer of 1965.

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