It's encore time for the historic Paramount Theatre in Fort Greene.
A Barclays Center affiliate recently partnered with Long Island University Brooklyn to return the 1920s theater — with its ornate moldings, vaulted ceilings, lustrous gold details and painted dome — to being an entertainment venue for the first time in more than half a century.
Paramount, located on the corner of DeKalb and Flatbush avenues, is currently used as a gymnasium for students but will soon host a variety of live entertainment including music, comedy and boxing, according to Barclays Center officials.
Artists such as Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra played the theater's stage in its 1930s and '40s heyday until LIU bought the space in 1960 and used it for basketball games.
The school opened a new gym in 2005 and the Paramount was then primarily used as practice space for the school's baseball, softball, tennis and track teams.
25 comments:
They just reopened the reffurbished Loews Kings for the same reason. Downtown brooklyn may fare a little better ,crimewise.
And the RKO Keith?
This is good news. Beats putting an overpriced condo in its place.
Look at Keiths, Trylon, Triboro, yada yada yada.
Now look at that king's ransom used to prop up the politically connected summer stock Queens Theater - sitting awkwardly in the middle of a park easily accessible only to Clair Shulman's crowd.
Look at the Steinway Mansion where the local talent is only sure that the property will be developed, but the house is well, eh, ummmm...
Who the hell would come out to Queens as a tourist when so much of its taxpayer money is pissed away on stupid projects and the overall impression that people get (for those of us not desensitized to it) is a visual smelly 3rd world nightmare.
Projects like this are great, but the cost has to be paid by the private sector. No tax breaks, no under the table construction deals.
If you spend the money on it and it is a success, you win.
Keep 'Landmark' status and tax breaks out of this.
Hey folks, the Paradise in the Bronx, the St. George in Staten Island and the Paramount and Kings in Brooklyn have all been restored to their former glory and purpose.
Queens is the only borough that hasn't experienced this. In Queens, movie palaces become condos, flea markets and bingo halls.
Would anyone care to ask our electeds why?
Yes, please take notice, all of you political and official blowhards of Queens, how proud these other boroughs can be of their historical architecture. I have learned not to expect much from our elected serpents. I am also offering odds on whether the Keith's ticket lobby and grand foyer gets de-landmarked soon. Will Flushing's champions of "preservation"' like Wellington Chen, vote for delandmarking (if he gets confirmed as an LPC commissioner) for the sake of progress? Will CB7 throw in the towel on the Keith's? And Peter Koo, where are you?
CB7 serves mainly as real estate broker for Chinese developers.
RKO Keith's sat on a wall. Manes and Shulman caused it to fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men could not put this once fine theatre back together again.
Sorry folks, but we did our best since 1981. The Committee to Save the RKO Keith's Theatre , fought like a mother Tiger defending her cubs, to preserve an incredible piece of architecture. We put in the Lion's share of work and got it all landmarked. Then, boo...hiss...enter the villain. Manes was responsible for the abridged designation. In 1986 we resubmitted the theatre for its original full designation. Shulman would not support that. Responding to Shulman's snub, the LPC took no action. After the double whammie that the Shul-Manes administration dealt the Keith's , the vultures circled to pick it clean. Shame on EVERYONE...and you all know who you are...for not fighting as hard as we did. The rotting hulk which sits at the terminus of Main Street is the product of premeditated, organized, political corruption.
Projects like this are great, but the cost has to be paid by the private sector. No tax breaks, no under the table construction deals.
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Well the developers all get tax breaks to build for transient hipsters that look down on the rest of us, third world welfare-state wards, and the ultra-rich that need a few weekends a year in Gotham.
So yeah, why can't public money be used to benefit the public rather than an otherwise unemployable party hack?
"Look at the Steinway Mansion where the local talent is only sure that the property will be developed, but the house is well, eh, ummmm..."
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Any news on the St. Saviour's front? How are the salvaged boards holding up?
When I sat down once with Jimmy Van Bramer, the self-stypled 'expert' on culture (having the QPL on your resume certainly exposes you to 'culture' all-right, the kind you need a doctor to give medication to rid you)
but he went ballistic when I mentioned that we know colleagues in the other borough that are treated with respect, not given agendas to fulfill, and financial support.
First "Taiwanese lightning" burned down a bunch of buildings in Flushing, which was soon to be followed by a "Chinese fire drill" of scrambling to build upon the ruins. Flushing goes down the toilet with the Keith's while Brooklyn sees a renaissance. Thank you CB7 for rubber stamping poorly planned development. Funny, how it was once called Community Planning Board 7. The only planning we see today is the plotting by old timers like Chuck Apelian to get for themselves while screwing the rest of us residents.
That's Brooklyn and this is Queens...a land of boobs and barbarians. There sits the Steinway Mansion which should be recognized as one of our borough's Crown Jewels. Those crooked western Queens pols will see it get F----D over as long as they get their share of loot. Astoria once had the grand Triboro Theater. Donald Manes was its executioner...just like he lopped the head off of the Flushing Keith's. And where is the anemic Queens Historical Society...holding Victorian tea parties? What an embarrassment they are.
The only reason people are coming to Queens in droves is that they know it is a corrupt borough and they can get away with whatever they want. Every Queens politician should be ashamed of themselves for not working to raise the standards of our borough and to protect the investments that the middle class has made for several generations.
Third worlders are coming to Queens for the new ethnic nabes that used to be in Manhattan before it became, more or less, homogenized. There are only shreds of Little Italy left there....no more Germantown near 86th and Lex.
Oops...my bad..I meant mother Bear defending her cubs.
Not quite off the mark Jerry. Tigers do eat their babies, sometimes. It's all political...
Queens politicians are too wrapped up pandering to all of the Third World immigrants. To hell with saving a theater. They are the future voting block of Queens.
Little Italy speaks Chinese. Klein Deutschland speaks Spanish. Just where did all the Italians and Germans disappear to?
People, you get the government that you deserve.
You are too deferential, too distracted, and lack self confidence to stand up to just about anyone.
When someone stands up to these bums, you are too lazy to give them support, and sell them down the river when the pols pat you on the head and give you an ice cream cone for being the polite little boys and girls you all take deep pride in. Besides nothing makes you happier when someone else does the heavy lifting for you.
These people in office simply are taking advantage of you because you let them.
Next question.
I know that "tiger moms" are tough on their children but to think the unthinkable. Ugh, not while I'm eating breakfast.
Snake, you are on the mark...bul's eye! Dumb and lazy voters beget the crooks that they deserve. There is no real hope for Queens unless it's political IQ can be raised.
We have learned that, regarding the Keith's Flushing Theatre, CB7 will be holding a public hearing pertaining to new plans for the site. If interested, contact them to confirm date.
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