Sunnyside Center Cinema played its final film last night representing an end of an era.
The theater was in operation since the late 1940s at a time when there were at least three other movie theaters in the neighborhood as well as the Sunnyside Garden Arena, which was once a popular boxing and wrestling venue.
In the 1960s, there was the Bliss Theater on Greenpoint Avenue, which is where the Jehovah’s Witness Hall is located today. Furthermore there was the Sunnyside Theatre, which was located on Roosevelt Avenue and 51st Street (the building has been demolished) and there was also the 43rd Street Theatre, located across the street from the Sunnyside library.
The closure of Cinema Cinemas represents a new period for Sunnyside as several older buildings are likely to come down to make way for larger residential buildings. Just two months ago, AB Capstone Development sought permits from the Building Department to demolish the former King Boulevard store—and adjacent stores– on Greenpoint Avenue as it plans to develop the site.
Rudy Prashad, the owner of the Center Cinemas, said last night that he was sad to close the theater but he had no choice but to leave.
He said he hopes that John Ciafone, who is developing the site, will stick to his word and discuss reopening the theater when the project is complete.
The sign indicates it's moving into the Main Street Theater space.
24 comments:
When I die, turn me into a condo!
Where are the local pols? What are people supposed to do now - just go shopping?
There's nothing to do in Queens except shop at shitty stores and eat bad food - it really sucks!!!
Thankfully, the Main Street Cinemas site in KGH cannot be transformed into a humongous glass condo tower.
Not to be negative but the last time I was there I saw a cockroach walk across the shoulders of the guy in the seat in front of me.
By "local pols" do you mean Jimmy do nothing Van Bramer? He's as crooked as a winding country road. He feigns being a champion of labor and the common folk but backed Wolkoff in the destruction of 5 Pointz who was using non union labor. Make sure that this rising star doesn't have his sights set on becoming mayor. Then you will bear the full brunt of this self serving back door politician.
No wonder Joe Conley left community board 2. How much did he make off this deal? His departure conveniently coincides with departure of this theater. Well, if it looks and smells like a rat it must be a rat!
We let the shifty politicians contribute to the destruction of the RKO Keith's Flushing theater back in the 1890s and the stone keeps on rolling downhill.
And how long will the Main Street theater be around? It began with VCRs....onto DVDs...bigger and bigger home screens....higher and higher theater ticket prices. Maybe the era of the local movie house is at an end. Soon discs will be gone in favor of pay per view streaming. What does it cost a family of four to see a movie and buy refreshments in a theater? Almost $100! That's a lot of dough. Farewell ye olde movie house.
Maybe Councilman Jimmy can save the day by proposing a gay porn venue to replace the theater.
Let's not go overboard with mourning the loss. It is just another small nondescript theater of no real architectural value. Still I will miss it having attended films there many times. What I will really miss is the sky that will be cluttered by a monster of overdevelopment. Councilman Van Bramer what have you got to say about Sunnyside being put in shadow by a huge new building project?
With what it costs to heat and cool a theater these days most owners cannot afford to keep them open without raising their admission prices to the roof. A sad farewell to a once cozy neighborhood social center. I miss Woolworth's too. But, alas, they have gone with the wind. We can all live in our cyber caves e-mailing each other in sorrow. Every time we lose a place to socialize we become more dehumanized. Soon we will be cross breeding with our laptops. Lap dance, anyone?
Now now people
We can look forward to a new diverse cultural scene with Arab-Chinese-Spanish-Hasidic [fill in the voting block here] - cultural boards that can only agree on stale white bread Disney cultural offerings that has as much depth as a North Korean cultural event - and your local politician as prominent in media as the Kims.
No more dry goods stores. No more blacksmiths. No wheelwrights. No candy stores. No camera stores.
Soon to be gone are hardware stores, shoe stores, shoemakers, neighborhood drug stores, fruit and vegetable stores, bakeries, butchers, record shops, book stores, etc.
Times change. Get used to it.
So the theater is "relocating" all the way to Kew Gardens Hills???
Ok. Let's go. Take the 7 train from Sunnyside, transfer at Roosevelt Ave for the E,F,G, or R to 71 Av, Forest Hills, then transfer to the Q64 bus at Jewel Av and get off at Main Street. Walk 3 blocks east. Whole trip should take about 90 minutes.
Better off, just take the subway to Manhattan! Queens doesn't have much to offer anymore anyway.
It's not the end of the world. If it was successful in that area, it would have made decent money and able to cover it's expenses. But it was not that successful. Guess you'll have to walk a few blocks to UA Kaufman Stadium (Boo hoo...). Or maybe you can go to some of the local venues and talk to each other. Wouldn't that be something.
1) You really have no idea what you are talking about. It covered its expenses just fine. The landlord is kicking them out to build condos.
2) As for "times change", it had nothing to do with becoming obsolete, see point #1.
Why are so many people suffering from poor reading comprehension these days? And why are you folks so miserable that you mock other people who are sad to see it go? GET A LIFE.
Ok. Let's go. Take the 7 train from Sunnyside, transfer at Roosevelt Ave for the E,F,G, or R to 71 Av, Forest Hills, then transfer to the Q64 bus at Jewel Av and get off at Main Street. Walk 3 blocks east. Whole trip should take about 90 minutes.
Better off, just take the subway to Manhattan! Queens doesn't have much to offer anymore anyway.
ITS OK TO SPEND MILLIONS FOR THE CULTURAL VENUES IN FLUSHING PARK? FOR MOST OF QUEENS ITS EASIER TO TAKE A TRAIN TO MANHATTAN.
I am aware that this particular theater owner is making expenses. I was speaking in general. A lot of theaters are lucky to break even.
Since that's not the case here, so why bring that up?
Open up another Irish bar. That's what the area needs another one of. This is not a nabe known for its cultural strength. Near NYU in Greenwich Village...3 theaters remain open because there are customers who use them...The Angelica, Film Forum, etc.
Oops....now the "elite" of Sunnyside are getting bitten on the ass. Guess your LPC landmark status has not helped much.
Ok. Let's go. Take the 7 train from Sunnyside, transfer at Roosevelt Ave for the E,F,G, or R to 71 Av, Forest Hills, then transfer to the Q64 bus at Jewel Av and get off at Main Street. Walk 3 blocks east. Whole trip should take about 90 minutes.
7 to main st and then Q44 to theater?
Shop at shitty stores ?
They are good actually. I go down to Knickerbocker ave and get the exact same sneakers, sweats, sox N stuff as Roosevelt Field for 1/3 the price then top it off with some fresh Pizza at Tonys and odds and ends at the 99cent store
They have everything down there.
Lets not forget the $30 Rolex, $5 light up YoYos @ Main Street in Flushing. Nassua County, Manhattan, Brooklyn SUCKS for shopping on a budget. (all thanks to all these socialist taxes & Obamacare)
At the Main Steet theater they search your bags before you go in. Are they afraid of outside candy being brought in or is it a security procedure.
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