Tuesday, September 29, 2009
At Le Gamin: à tout à l'heure!
Thanks to everyone who left a comment or sent me an e-mail about Le Gamin Cafe on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. Apparently the place is being renovated and will reopen in a few weeks with a new theme. (Dumb question: Does a French-style cafe really need a theme?) Eater has other details. (Image via Eater too.)
P.S. Apologies for that headline. Trying to pad my Google search results in France.
Previously.
Monday, September 28, 2009
When 72 Avenue B was a luxurious 1,750-seat theater
You'll recognize Fifth Street and Avenue B here...
But until 1957, it was a Loew's theater...
According to Cinema Treasures:
As Cinema Treasures commenter Warren G. Harris noted:
Top photo via.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Former landmark countercultural theater now for rent on Avenue B
But until 1957, it was a Loew's theater...
According to Cinema Treasures:
Loew's Avenue B is part of one of the great rags-to-riches stories of showbiz history. Movie mogul Marcus Loew erected it on the very site of the tenement building where he was born. Needless to say, his birthplace was demolished to make way for the luxurious 1,750-seat theatre, which was designed by Thomas W. Lamb and first opened on January 8, 1913, with vaudeville as its main attraction and movies thrown in just as fillers..
The Avenue B was the top Loew's house on the Lower East Side until the mid-1920s, when the circuit took over the Commodore on Second Avenue, which was a much busier area for entertainment and shopping. The Avenue B was reduced to playing movies at the end of their Loew's circuit run, and remained so until its closure around 1957-58
As Cinema Treasures commenter Warren G. Harris noted:
The theatre cost $800,000 to build. In his opening night speech, Marcus Loew said "This is the most pretentious of the houses on our string, because my better judgment was over-balanced by my sentimentalism and my longing to do something better here than I ever did before." According to corporate histories, the Avenue B was never successful, but Loew's kept it running for decades as a memorial to its founder, who was born on the spot.
Top photo via.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Former landmark countercultural theater now for rent on Avenue B
Now and then: Bowery and First Street
Bowery at East First Street looking south toward Houston
Late 1970s...
Today...
Top photo reprinted with permission from Randall's Lost New York City Collection
Late 1970s...
Today...
Top photo reprinted with permission from Randall's Lost New York City Collection
Labels:
1970s New York,
Bowery,
East Village,
First Street,
now and then
Au revoir, Le Gamin?
A reader notes that Le Gamin Cafe on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is now closed.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The unbearable lightness of being on the M103
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The Giants win the pennant!
In East River Park earlier this summer. One of the many photos that I never did anything with... The kids asked to have their photo taken. They said the Giants were the best.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Still more Howl!
There's some Howl! left this month. Check out the East Village Howler for more.
Rumormongering: Copper Building film festival
A fairly credible source told me that some EV thrillseekers have been showing films on the white sheets that covered parts of the under-construction Copper Building on 13th Street and Avenue B. Not sure on all the logistics about how this happened exactly, but when pressed, I was assured that this happened several times over the summer. Would have liked to have known then, so I could have joined them...
Meanwhile. Progress! Those sheets are coming down at the Copper.
Previously.
Meanwhile. Progress! Those sheets are coming down at the Copper.
Previously.
Labels:
Avenue B,
East Village,
rumormongering,
the Copper Building
Posts that I never got around to posting: New 16-foot Subway sub looks like rolled linoleum for some reason
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