Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

Well, let's keep the old movie theater theme going this week... Take a look at East Village Farms on Avenue A between Seventh Street and Sixth Street...and you'll likely be able tell that it used to be a movie theater...



According to the always-reliable Cinema Treasures:

Located on an ever-busy stretch of Avenue A, in the heart of the East Village, this theater is easy to miss. Opened as the Avenue A Theatre in 1926, it was operated by RKO, followed by Loew's, and was closed in 1959.

Today, it's merely a receptacle for retail space on the former orchestra level of the remains of the original auditorium, which have been converted into a health-oriented grocery store called the East Village Farm. The theater's lobby was also converted into retail space, but has been empty for several years.

Like other theaters in this area, the theater's auditorium runs parallel to the street, with a narrow entrance on Avenue A. Much of the theatre's exterior has survived, including its emergency staircase. The decorations in the auditorium are thought to survive, above the false ceiling of the ground floor store.


One of the Cinema Treasures commenters got a peak inside at the mysterious upstairs...perhaps this is where the never-ending supply of sea salt chips are stored...






And here's what the Hollywood looked like circa 1949:



Photos via Cinema Treasures commenters.
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12 comments:

  1. Mykola DementiukSeptember 30, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    You made another notation of it earlier, a few months ago, (winter?) you didn't know what it was then.

    When I was about six or seven we snuck into the burned out shell of the movie theater. I was scared and frightened by the destroyed darkness and fled out of there. I remember fleeing home on 7th Street with the big boys laughing behind me.

    Mick

    www.mykoladementiuk.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. MelanieSeptember 30, 2009 at 9:07 AM

    Looks really cool in it's day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Media glutSeptember 30, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    Thanks. I've been wondering about this old theater for years. Nice to finally have a peek inside.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Laura Goggin PhotographySeptember 30, 2009 at 10:36 AM

    Wow, I've always wanted to see the inside of this place. Sometimes, that fire escape door is open and I've been tempted...cool.

    ReplyDelete
  5. geoff mattersSeptember 30, 2009 at 1:00 PM

    So jealous, I've always wanted to peek in here... shared goggla's temptation when seeing the door open, tried to plan how I would climb up from the pizza shop's doorway over the sunglass vendor to reach it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. BorisSeptember 30, 2009 at 6:47 PM

    Here's a really cool one on Canal between Essex and Ludlow. I keep hoping someone will rescue it from chinese warehouse status and use it for some sort of performance purpose.

    Here, you can see the side of the building, with a mural that as it turns out, depicts films being projected.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/wotba/2495866480/

    The building is Loew's Canal Theatre, built in 1927 with a 2200 capacity, currently being used as a chinese loading dock.

    The entrance to the theater however, is now an electronics store, as seen here:

    http://www.walkingoffthebigapple.com/2008/05/walking-off-lower-east-side-mural-movie.html

    Here is an awesome aerial view (zoom in for a better look):

    http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qskkz48v0bks&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1766426#JnE9eXAuMTYrbHVkbG93K3N0cmVldCU3ZXNzdC4wJTdlcGcuMSZiYj00MC43MTYyMzU3MDI3MDAzJTdlLTczLjk4ODc4NTkyMjg2MTQlN2U0MC43MTI5MjQ1NDkwOTMxJTdlLTczLjk5MjU0OTA0NzAyNzM=

    Here is a photo of the old marquee:

    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/137-3779_IMG.jpg

    When Cat on a Hot Tin Roof premiered, it played at the theater! (Scroll down to "Manhattan"):

    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/Maggie.jpg

    And here is a before (in the 1940's) and after:

    http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/davidbellel/loewscanal.jpg

    This is what the insides look like (reportedly much of this splendor remains today!):
    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/126-2669_IMG.jpg
    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/126-2625_IMG.jpg
    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/126-2628_IMG.jpg
    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/126-2629_IMG.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  7. ~evilsugar25October 1, 2009 at 10:45 PM

    this is awesome! i just bought my iced coffee and egg-and-cheese-on-a-roll here this morning. i had always thought it was probably a theater... it's amazing to see the detail left inside. i don't understand where the "unrented lobby" is supposed to be though. i can hardly believe that this is all this space is being used for.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ScottOctober 1, 2009 at 10:53 PM

    Thanks for the post. That first photo you have up here of that building is the exact view I had from my bedroom for 9 years. I always wanted to know what was on the inside – impressive!

    Anyone have any photos of the deli that was there before East Village farm?

    ReplyDelete
  9. ~evilsugar25October 1, 2009 at 11:20 PM

    hey boris - great post. thanks for all the linkage. i just bookmarked "walking off the big apple" for future exploration.

    unfortunately, all the pix on photobucket of the interior in the last section are now gone (404)... any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  10. EV GrieveOctober 2, 2009 at 4:30 AM

    Indeed, thanks Boris...

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2012 at 8:45 AM

    The first crime was turning these beautiful theatres into grocery stores and worse, or just letting them rot until the inevitable demolition. Such theatres should be restored and returned to operation as cinemas and performance spaces.

    - East Villager

    ReplyDelete
  12. patty dSeptember 10, 2013 at 5:20 PM

    I remember when this theater was a pioneer supermarket in the 1960's...a good friend of my family owned it back then...i do believe one of the offices was used as the store office..dont remember what came directly after that, but i do remember another pioneer market in the 1970's owned by a former employer of mine....sorry to see the theater being torn down...hope the new addition has room for more low and moderate income housing which the east village/lower east side desperately needs...was born and raised in this neighborhood and I honestly do not like the large buildings being errected...spoils the image of the neighborhood

    ReplyDelete

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