Kings Theatre

1027 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11226

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BobbyS
BobbyS on February 27, 2012 at 10:56 pm

I’m with you Tinseltoes….I hope this isn’t a “pie in the sky”. You would think by now more would have been started. A few workers showing up once in a while sounds like they are just washing it down. Maybe they are waiting for the financing to come through before they send in a team. And it will take quite a full-time team won’t it?

rlinders
rlinders on February 27, 2012 at 8:18 pm

I went today to Flatbush Avenue. No sign of workers, no indication of work. Went to the store next door and they told me that once in while some workers come, but not very often.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on February 27, 2012 at 1:33 pm

Your best bet is calling the office. When the Oriental was under construction in Chicago I arranged a tour through the management office. I had to sign a waiver and wear a hard hat. But they took me up on the scaffolding, and we walked across the auditorium right under the dome. It was pretty neat.

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on February 27, 2012 at 1:17 pm

Have to agree—in the nineties, when the New Amsterdam was being renovated, I had the same desire and tried,but was denied by construction workers. Totally understandable. This is a “hardhat” area with serious safety concerns and risks.

I finally got my reward, three days after the place opened in 1997 for “King David,” later the “Lion King” and “Mary Poppins.”

So, you have something to look forward to!!!!!

Matt Lambros
Matt Lambros on February 27, 2012 at 9:19 am

I’d say that’s highly unlikely.

rlinders
rlinders on February 27, 2012 at 8:41 am

Thanks for the quick response. I have someone from Europe here who would love to see the inside and possibly take a picture. Do you think a construction worker would let us in just for a moment?

Matt Lambros
Matt Lambros on February 26, 2012 at 11:18 pm

Not at the moment. The Kings is currently being restored before reopening in early 2015.

rlinders
rlinders on February 26, 2012 at 11:04 pm

Does anyone know if it is possible to go inside the theater?

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on February 1, 2012 at 2:49 pm

I may be naive, but I would disagree about opposition from the Kings.
The Paramount belongs to LIU and, in theory, could be restored and brought back to life by them. They wouldn’t need the Kings cooperation unless LIU was looking for city funds to restore the theater. BAM also might not object as this area is increasingly a performing arts center and more venues create more business for everyone (just look at Times Square). I believe a restored Brooklyn Paramount must be in Brooklyn’s future and my hope is that it could be accomplished without city subsidies. I am fairly confident that LIU would not be permitted to gut the theater as there would be lots of protests. My guess is that they are not just going to let it sit there. I believe they will ultimately decide to restore it.

BobbyS
BobbyS on February 1, 2012 at 10:39 am

I walked on the shiny floor of the Paramount a few years ago when it was being used as a basketball court. Looking up was dazzling to be sure and it wouldn’t be hard to bring the theater back to life. The lobby also was grand. You are right about the developers of the Kings opposing any thought about doing that. I am sure they have plenty of “clout” in Brooklyn and certainly not in their interest..

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on January 31, 2012 at 2:30 pm

Back in 1972, when I graduated for JHS 226 in Ozone Park, our auditorium was also not big enough and so we held our graduation at Loew’s Valencia (a sister theater to the Loew’s Kings)! I was mesmerized by its beauty and saw several films there like The Ten Commandments and The Omega Man. I remember sometimes just staring at the ceiling watching the clouds roll by. It was the only Wonder Theater that I ever attended and so I was especially interested in the movement to save the one remaining Wonder Theater that was in danger. Ironically, the one theater that was abandoned for over 30 years, will likely be the one that outshines them all when it is restored and reopened to the public.

PragmaticGuy
PragmaticGuy on January 31, 2012 at 2:23 pm

Back in 1972 when I graduated Canarsie HS our auditorium wasn’t big enough to hold the students and their parents and the graduation ceremony was held at the Kings. It was the only time I was ever in that theater but I remember thinking to myself that it was like the Radio City of Brooklyn.

gd14lawn
gd14lawn on January 10, 2012 at 10:25 pm

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Barbra Streisand did not usher here, although she did atthen the theater as a patron. From her website:

The Loew’s Kings Theater in Brooklyn APRIL 6, 2011, 3:54 am I was happy to hear recently that the Loew’s Kings Theater in Brooklyn, New York will be undergoing renovations for a reopening in 2014 . It was one of those beautiful old movie palaces of the past. I was 13 years old when I first started spending many a wonderful afternoon there, partly because it had double features, air conditioning and great ice cream cones.

I’d like to set the record straight on one point. Some articles have said that I was an usher there. That wasn’t the case … I was just a kid, a paying customer, a movie lover. Just for the record, a few years later, I did usher in Manhattan’s theater district, which was wonderful, because I got to see the plays for free. . http://www.barbrastreisand.com/us/truth-alert/loews-kings-theater-brooklyn

BobbyS
BobbyS on January 10, 2012 at 10:20 pm

It always amazes me that New York has those palaces still standing and Chicago lags behind. We do have three downtown, but our Uptown Theatre is still in limbo with no direction it seems. This is our Loew’s Kings! But unlike the King’s, not much going on at Broadway & Lawrence ave.

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on January 10, 2012 at 12:19 pm

Hi ZiegfeldMan! I grew up in South Ozone Park and going the Valencia was always a special treat but it happened rarely because Jamaica was so dicey back then. That said I have amazing memories of it and always will. It is also why I have a special attachment to the Kings. As a sister theater to the other 4 Wonder theaters (all of which have either been restored or in good hands) it was important to me that the Kings be saved. As for the Alden, I only remember seeing one movie there; Creepshow with Adrienne Barbaeu! :–) The theater was already split, but I was in the section that still showed the proscenium arch and I remember being awed back then. My understanding is that most of that theater might still be intact behind retail walls. One day I’d like to go back to the Valencia though I think it would bother me to see it as a church though I am very happy that it is still around.

spectrum
spectrum on January 10, 2012 at 11:12 am

Ace Theatrical Group, which is renovating the Kings has a blurb about the project at http://www.acetheatricalgroup.com/projects.php.

Their report says now it is expected to open in 2015. They are also doing the renovation of the Saenger in New Orleans and earlier renovated the Majestic in San Antonio.

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on January 7, 2012 at 12:23 pm

I was down there Summer before last just to reacquaint myself. Nothing was going on, but I walked around and used my imagination. it is a vibrant, historic multi-ethnic neighborhood. The Kings will be the centerpiece, and by the way, I grew up in Howard beach and used to go shopping for"back to school" clothes in Jamaica. I was a frequent visitor to the Valencia and the Alden across the street.

I made the trek to the Paradise in the Bronx in October, the day of that freak snow storm and loved it. Now a performing arts center with a 70’s ‘Soul" concert that the crowd, including me, really, got into, dancing in the aisles. The place, especially the lobby and murals are gorgeous.

BobbyS
BobbyS on January 7, 2012 at 11:43 am

These two above comments make me want to pack now!!! Is someone filming the day to day work do you think? It would make quite a DVD passed out to opening night crowd.

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on January 7, 2012 at 8:41 am

I want to go too! :–) Though I never attended the Kings whie it was an active theater, I did attend its sister theater The Valencia where I saw films like the Ten Commandments and The Omega Man. My Junior High School graduation was also there. So when I found out that the Kings was in such dire straights I attended not one, but 2 tours of the abandoned theater while the EDC was looking for developers to restore it and I was mesmerized by its beauty. In prior comments I detailed y experiences on those tours but I always had faith that the city would come through and they have. This will be Brooklyn’s pride and joy and a Jewel for the entire city. Hopefully, this will also lead to the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Paramount in the fast developing downtown area. Then Brooklyn will have, not one, but two, stunning theaters. There is room for both.

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on January 7, 2012 at 7:00 am

Hi Bobby:

I can hardly wait either. I thoroughly agree with DJM78 (Hello to you to sir, and thank you for your service as one of NY’s Finest.) In (about) 1986, I toured the Kings with a local Flatbush Historical Society and was in awe. What this was and what is could be again. That’s 25 years ago.

I aways had the same feeling about the “infamous” 42nd Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Through the stops and starts, look what it and Times Square have become. I always tell younger peop[e (I’m 61) , if you want to know what it was, sit and watch a double feature of “Midnight Cowboy” and “Taxi Driver.” To me the New Amsterdam is the most beautiful theatre I have ever seen, and I know what that was—there is a marvelous “coffee table” book about that theatre that shows all the “before and after” pictures.

The Kings will be wonderful. Somewhere above, somebody mentioned that the original Morton organ is being returned from private hands.

Bobby, you and I will probably not be invited for opening night, that’s for the VIP’s. But I guarantee you that we will be there for opening week. We’ll have a celebratory drink together.

Happy New Year to all,

The Ziegfeldman (Gary)

BobbyS
BobbyS on January 6, 2012 at 10:08 pm

I wonder if the Kings is on schedule to re-open in 2014? Only two years away and I can hardly wait!!!

EcRocker
EcRocker on November 16, 2011 at 1:43 am

Glad to see this project is getting off the ground. It’s only to bad NYU who has a ton of money demolished the Academy of Music on 14th st and built a dormatory

BobbyS
BobbyS on November 15, 2011 at 11:36 am

Tinseltoes, you’re the tops! Thanks

BobbyS
BobbyS on September 14, 2011 at 9:44 am

Thanks! Kings was a better choice..

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on September 14, 2011 at 6:31 am

It is probably a reference to Samuel J. Tilden, once a governor of New York and a presidential aspirant. Fort Tilden State Park and a number of other institutions in Brooklyn and Queens are named for him.