Metro Twin
2626 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10025
2626 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10025
16 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 149 comments
Thanks Saps . The link never hyper-link
Here is a direct link, and below is the text of the press release (for when the link goes bad!)
Austin, TX—– Thursday, April 5, 2012—– Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is pleased to unveil its plans for its first location in New York. The five-screen Manhattan-area theater will be owned and operated by Alamo Drafthouse and located on the Upper West Side, occupying the former Metro Theater at 2626 Broadway.
“My often-stated top priority for the Alamo Drafthouse has been to open a venue in New York,” said Alamo founder and CEO Tim League. “When we discovered the availability of the historic Metro theater, we immediately knew we had found the perfect location for our new Manhattan home.”
The venue will feature five screens of new releases, repertory programming and the Alamo’s unique signature programming. Like all Alamo Drafthouse theaters, the Alamo Drafthouse at the Metro will provide food and drink service to your seat and will uphold its famously strict no-talking policy. The new theater is currently scheduled to open in 2013.
Alamo Drafthouse is now accepting applications for managers, kitchen staff, creative programmers, bartenders and waiters for the upcoming Manhattan theater. Employment applications can be downloaded at www.drafthouse.com/about/employment
For developments on Alamo Drafthouse at the Metro, follow us on Twitter @drafthouse and Facebook.com/AlamoDrafthouse.
Here is an article of Alamo coming to NYC http://fantasticfest.com/blog/entry/alamo_drafthouse_goes_to_new_york
I had previously linked them, but today I’ve added to the photo section my half dozen photos of the ornate auditorium when still open, before gutted.
According to the Ny PostAlamo Drafthouse aquirred the leaseof 2-3 business to make it a 5 plex
This is great news!
Now the New York home of the Alamo Drafthouse: http://www.slashfilm.com/alamo-drafthouse-announces-york-city-expansion-2013/
Well, the owner of the Metro has finally found a new tenant though he is not saying who it is. Sadly, it appears that the interior has been gutted for use as retail. The exterior and marquee are protected.
The long vacant Art Deco Metro Theater at 2626 Broadway, between 99th and 100th streets, is set to be reborn as a retail destination, after owner Albert Bialek filed an application with the city’s Department of Buildings in late December 2011 for a $900,000 renovation that will convert the interior of the 79-year-old theater, DNAinfo reported. A retail tenant has already signed on to lease the space, which has been empty for six years, though the identity of the store was not immediately available. ”It’s something that everyone in the neighborhood will love, I think,” Bialek said.
Last year, Bialek, president of real estate consulting firm Albert Bialek Associates, gained control of the Metro, an Upper West Side landmark, from leaseholder John Souto. Souto had a 49-year lease on the property, which had formerly served as a pornography house, art-house movie theatre and two national cinema chains.
Just east of from Broadway on W. 99St between Amsterdam and Columbus where I grew up in the 1940s was the THE PARK WEST Theater, not mentioned on this website. My cousin Richard recalls that YOU GOT A GLASS OR DISH IF YOU WENT THERE and he ALSO BOUGHT DAY OLD PASTRIES ON COLUMBUS AVE BEFORE THE MOVIE [DAY OLD WERE MORE LIKE AWEEK OLD] THE FLOOR WAS STICKY AND IT SMELLED FROM URINE THE PEOPLE JUST WENT ON THE FLOOR.
My younger brother recalls that he remembered going there with either a slingshot or pea shooter and shoot at the characters on the screen. This was the days before TV.
There is some wrong information about this theatre above.
It went from being the Midtown 99th Street porno house to the Metro Cinema in late 1982, a Talbot run repertory house.
It was restored and became the Metro Twin in 1986 while still one of Talbot’s New Yorker theatres, but having already gone mainstream first-run for several years with occasional quirky titles.
In 1987 Cineplex Odeon took over, re-did the lobby in faux marble, and re-opened with similar programming.
In response to the comment by Gerald DeLuca above, I’ve been told that the booth the projectionist is seen in is at the Olympia Theatre a few blocks north of the Midtown. I have the DVD and will have to take a look, but as I recall the projectors are at a downward angle that would be more appropriate for the Olympia which had a steep balcony and the equipment was the brands Loews used in many of their theatres at the time. That film was kind of legendary among projectionists here in New York, and I was always particularly interested because Chuck McCann, who played the projectionist, had been an usher at Radio City as was frequently cited by the staff when I was there.
For those of you following Peter Elson, it is interesting to note that his grandfather was Herbert J. Krapp architect of many of the legitimate Broadway Theaters. See a plaque in the Majestic Theater designating Mr. Krapp as the Architect of Broadway.
New book on Talbot theatres.
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Yesterday I watched Harry Hurwitz’s 1971 movie in a 35mm revival at the Newport Film Festival, The Projectionist. It is a fictional story about a projectionist at what appears to be the Midtown Theatre. We see the exterior and marquee in several shots, and a theatre interior (same place used????) several times. There are also some stunning scenes of an array of lighted marquees on then-glorious 42nd Street. The movie is available on DVD and I have not found any other comments here referring to that film.
What a shame this is gone
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The Metro has a new tenant – Urban Outfitters – and the building itself has a new asking price, $11.5 million, down from a “speculative” $20 million, according to today’s NY Post (http://www.nypost.com/seven/01062009/business/deal_for_1540_bway_147352.htm; see second item down).
The beautiful Art Deco facade stays. The article says the marquee stays. The interior has been destroyed. $15 million means no movies.
Howard—Yes, and Ross said “..Manhattan movie theaters without landmark status, unlike the Metro, were often demolished because the land was more valuable to developers.” He went on to say, he would rather see classic cinemas as movie theaters. The Art Deco facade has landmark protection. So sue me, I’m an optomist if I hope something can be salvaged.
Anyone interested in what? The article makes it clear that the building won’t again be a movie house. It quotes Ross Melnick, co-webmaster of this site.
An headline in today’s (07/09/08) New York Times “A Landmark Theater In Need of Sequal.” Vacant for the last three years, it’s speculated that it might sell for $15 million. Anyone interested? I remember trecking there around late 50’s – early 60s for good old Joan Crawford Warner pix.
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Thanks for sharing that, ken mc. Don’t you love how cavalier the real estate broker remarks that “nothing was saved” regarding the beautiful art deco detailing and statuary that once adorned the interior? One wonders if he’s just oblivious to their intrinsic value or if he managed to stash some of it away for his own collection – as a hunter might mount the head of a steer he’s killed.
Here’s an interesting article from the NY Times dated 11/14/07:
http://tinyurl.com/38chul
I forgot to mention that the Nicolas Cage/Christian Slater action-packed WWII drama WINDTALKERS was shown at the Metro Twin on June 14, 2002.
Here is a list of movies that were shown at the Metro Twin from January 2002 to August 2004.
1/18/02- Snow Dogs
1/25/02- Kung Pow: Enter the Fist
2/8/02- Big Fat Liar
2/8/02- Collateral Damage
March 2002- In The Bedroom
March 2002- Monster’s Ball
3/29/02- Panic Room
4/12/02- Changing Lanes
5/3/02- Spider-Man
5/31/02- The Sum of All Fears
6/21/02- Minority Report
6/28/02- Mr. Deeds
7/17/02- Eight Legged Freaks
7/26/02- Austin Powers In Goldmember
8/7/02- Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
Aug. 2002- My Big Fat Greek Wedding
8/30/02- FearDotCom
9/13/02- Barbershop
11/8/02- 8 Mile
11/22/02- Die Another Day
12/6/02- Analyze That
12/19/02- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
12/25/02- Catch Me If You Can
TBA 2003- Chicago
TBA 2003- Adaptation
3/28/03- Head of State
4/11/03- Anger Management
5/2/03- X2: X-Men United
5/15/03- The Matrix Reloaded
5/30/03- The Italian Job
6/13/03- Hollywood Homicide
6/20/03- The Hulk
7/2/03- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
7/11/03- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
7/25/03- Seabiscuit
7/25/03- Spy Kids 3D: Game Over
Aug 2003- Dirty Pretty Things
Aug 2003- The Secret Lives of Dentists
9/12/03- Matchstick Men
9/12/03- Once Upon A Time In Mexico
10/3/03- Lost In Translation
10/10/03- Kill Bill Vol 1
11/5/03- The Matrix Revolutions
11/14/03- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
11/21/03- Dr. Seuss' The Cat In The Hat
12/12/03- Something’s Gotta Give
12/17/03- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
1/16/04- Along Came Polly
1/16/04- Big Fish
1/23/04- Mystic River
2/13/04- 50 First Dates
2/27/04- The Passion of the Christ
3/5/04- Starsky & Hutch
3/26/04- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3/26/04- The Ladykillers
4/16/04- Kill Bill Vol 2
4/23/04- Man on Fire
5/7/04- Van Helsing
5/14/04- Troy
5/28/04- The Day After Tomorrow
6/4/04- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
6/18/04- The Terminal
6/30/04- Spider-Man 2
7/16/04- A Cinderella Story
7/30/04- The Manchurian Candidate
7/30/04- The Village
8/6/04- Collateral
8/20/04- Garden State
8/20/04- Open Water
The theater was under the management of Clearview Cinemas before it closed on August 26, 2004 and reopened as an independent theater in
December of 2004.
Here is another list of some of the movies that were shown at the Metro Twin since it reopened on December 3, 2004 as an independent
theater.
12/3/04- The Incredibles
12/3/04- The Motorcycle Diaries
6/22/05- Herbie: Fully Loaded
9/30/05- The Greatest Game Ever Palyed
10/28/05- Flightplan
After that, this theater has closed at the end of 2005.
R.I.P. Metro Twin 1933-2005