[EVG photo from November]
The theater that houses City Cinemas Village East on Second Avenue at 12th Street became an official New York City landmark on Feb. 9, 1993.
On the occasion of the anniversary yesterday, Off the Grid — the blog of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation — took a look at the theater's history ...
In the first few decades of the Twentieth Century, this stretch of Second Avenue was referred to as the Jewish Rialto because of the many Yiddish language theaters and businesses connected to Jewish entertainment. In 1925 the developer Louis N. Jaffe hired the theater architect Harrison Wiseman to create the stunning theater at 189 Second Avenue to be devoted to the work of Maurice Schwartz, a Yiddish-speaking actor of such renown that he was often referred to simply as “Mr. Second Avenue.”
And now some random (and dark and rather grainy) photos of the theater's crown jewel — the main auditorium that was restored a few years back...
"The Shape of Water" is currently playing in the big room.
Nice shot of the ceiling, I can never get a good picture in there, def worth seeing in person, and great for a late night movie.
ReplyDeleteAt last someone did something right!
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