Monday, January 19, 2009

Ridgewood Theatre may be landmarked


Photo by unlockthevault on Flickr.

From the Times Ledger:

Ridgewood’s embattled historic movie house may get a reprieve from the wrecking ball as the city Landmarks Preservation Commission will soon decide whether to consider the 92−year−old theater for landmark status, a Landmarks official said.

No date has been set yet, but a discussion of the theater was expected to be on the calendar for a meeting in the near future, the official said.

News of the pending decision buoyed Forest Hills resident Michael Perlman, an avid preservationist who founded the Friends of the Ridgewood Theatre and advocated for its preservation last year.

“I was feeling elated,” he said. “Official landmark status would be the crown to a landmark in the eyes of the majority [of neighbors]. It would ensure a rare survivor’s longevity for future generations to cherish.”


City eyes Ridgewood Theatre landmark

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I detect a pattern here. Focus on a neighborhood near the train. Designate an historic district of a block or two and a couple of individual landmarks. Sit back while the press writes breathlessly about what an up-and-coming neighborhood it is. When a steady stream of hipsters starts to invade, then upzone it for luxury condos. Is that in Ridgewood's future?

Anonymous said...

I think this is also to give Perlman a boost. Give him one building, build him up as a leader, and wah-la!

Dr Kroesler II

Anonymous said...

What part of the Theatre is land marked??The exterior and interior?
Can it still become a Duane Reade?
IS it going to operated as a theatre?
If it's the exterior, well that's nice but if the interior houses a junk store, drug store supermarket etc... is it really an important landmark.

Anonymous said...

The only way this place could operate as a theater is to show porn, so bring on the Duane Reade.

Anonymous said...

The only way this place could operate as a theater is to show porn, so bring on the Duane Reade.

Anonymous said...

This will be thrown into our face - "how ya going to pay for it"

Anonymous said...

When a steady stream of hipsters starts to invade, then upzone it for luxury condos. Is that in Ridgewood's future?
-------

What are you guys smoking? Queens' rep is so tattered with Vibrant! Diverse! crap that unless you bulldoze a community like Hunters Point and start from scratch, no hipsters are going to move here.

This is NOT Brooklyn and its NOT Hoboken.

Anonymous said...

You mean no yuppies will want to move there. The hipsters like the old vibe; the yuppies not so much.

Anonymous said...

I detect a pattern here.

-----

How is a paranoid persecution complex working for you as a lifestyle? Because from here, it looks like you're rocking it.

Anonymous said...

Here I thought it was just sarcasm.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Michael Perlman!

Anonymous said...

How is a paranoid persecution complex working for you as a lifestyle? Because from here, it looks like you're rocking it.


i truly laughed out loud!

Anonymous said...

Why would you laugh when time and again we have seen this happen to neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens:

Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, LIC, Astoria, the only reason it won't work in Jamaica is because they waited too long and the market crashed.

Anonymous said...

Why would you laugh when time and again we have seen this happen to neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens:

Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, LIC, Astoria, the only reason it won't work in Jamaica is because they waited too long and the market crashed.


I wasn't laughing at the landmarking and possible gentrifying of the neighborhood, however, it would be nice to have a decent bar along jamaica ave. i just think the orignal posters phrasing was funny.
i do however feel that the hipsterfication of a neighborhood isnt all that bad. prices may go up but hipsters dont generally pull drive bys or club old ladies over the head for a purse and they won't go on a crazy crap building spree. They are more of a renovating kind of people. yeah they wear strange fitting clothing and have "ironic" facial hair, ride bicycles everywhere, and have a strange facination with PBR but they are generally harmless.

Yuppies on the other hand suck the soul out of a neighborhood. they inhabit the new crappy housing and attract chain stores that will kill local businesses. once they procreate and get a foothold, the place is done for. Look at park slope. Yuppies should be stopped at all costs.

hipsters ok, yuppies no way.

Anonymous said...

The problem is that the hipsters pave the way for the yuppies.

Anonymous said...

The problem is that the hipsters pave the way for the yuppies.



I agree.
if we could somehow, attract the hipsters but repel the yuppies, that would be an accomplishment.
Nobel prize winning stuff I think.

Anonymous said...

I think the economy has managed to do that. The arts community in NYC tends to thrive during bust years and get chased out during boom years.

Anonymous said...

Let's not whoop it up and
jump for joy just yet, all of you gullible "preservationists"
out there.

I'm reading the fine print
between the LPC's lines.

"NO DATE HAS BEEN SET YET,
BUT A DISCUSSION..." (no action just a discussion...ha, ha, ha) "... OF THE THEATER WAS EXPECTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE".

And JUST HOW NEAR in the future
is that "discussion" going to take place ?

C-mon....it sounds like Tierney & Co. is pulling some hopeful dumb ass's chain once again!

Anonymous said...

RECENT PRESS COVERAGE & PETITION

"Queens Residents Push For Landmarking of Ridgewood Theatre," (Interview with Michael Perlman, Chair of Friends of Ridgewood Theatre), NY 1 News, Jan 23, 2009:
http://www.ny1.com/Default.aspx?ArID=92744

"Ridgewood Theatre May Be Landmarked: LPC To Hold Hearings In Near Future," Times NewsWeekly, Jan 15, 2009: http://www.timesnewsweekly.com/news/2009/0115/Local_News/013.html

"City Eyes Ridgewood Theatre Landmark," Ridgewood Ledger, Jan 15, 2009: http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2009/01/15/ridgewood_ledger/news/ridgewood_ledger_newsqocgcpj01142009.txt

**Please sign the petition to Landmark the historic Ridgewood Theatre, post a comment, and forward link to all of your contacts. Your help is crucial & much appeciated: http://www.petitiononline.com/RTheatre/petition.html