Loew's 72nd Street East

1230 3rd Avenue,
New York, NY 10021

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Showing 26 - 50 of 104 comments

bazookadave
bazookadave on December 22, 2010 at 5:18 pm

OOPS sorry yes I meant the Paris. Hey that’s right the theater at 85th is still there! Probably next in line for the chopping block.

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on December 22, 2010 at 5:15 pm

I think you mean The Paris, not the Plaza… is the UA East (1 Av-85 St) still open?

bazookadave
bazookadave on December 22, 2010 at 3:59 pm

Walked by here today and took some pictures:

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So many memories of standing on lines there along that wall with the graffii on it, waiting to see movies…among them The Stepford Wives in 1976, and later Legal Eagles, Rain Man and Fatal Attraction. Are there any single screens left in NYC besides The Plaza?

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on December 9, 2010 at 11:40 pm

Not that it matters to any of us, but as I think about it more, I’m wondering if the condominium owners realize what will be in store for them once a supermarket opens in their building.

First, a supermarket has mice and roaches virtually built into the place, they get delivered with the first shipment of produce. While the theatre has been there, if a blue-haired resident on the 33rd floor has has been traumatized by an unfortunate encounter a roach the size of a Buick in her butlers pantry, the building manager was immediately dispatched to the theatre to inspect my extermination reports and snoop around the place with flashlights looking for actual vermin or evidence thereof, which they never found at least while I worked there.

Second, a supermarket requires a lot of rooftop refrigeration equipment to oprerate their coolers and freezers in the store. The theatre has one small cooling tower on the roof, as far away from the apt. tower as we could get it, yet if the drive belt on our cooling tower started to wear and the unit rattled a little more than usual I would get a barrage of phone calls from surly apartment residents demanding that I shut off my air conditioning until it was repaired.

Also, There is also the matter of deliveries to the market in the overnight hours, seven days a week.

I predict that after a while the residents will regret the day they agreed to install a supermarket, and look back on the halcyon days of the little old Loews Tower East longingly. “Alas,” they will say, “I fear we have erred. Our quest for big bucks per square-foot was misguided.” But it will be too late, too late for them, too late for us. The Loews is gone. Time marches on. And you can never go back. (I’m getting sappy now, I better stop).

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on December 9, 2010 at 5:18 pm

If that’s the case, then Gristede’s has to be using basement space under the stores along with the street level. It was always my understanding that the basement under the stores was mechanical space for the condominium building, there is a garage under there somewhere, too. If they just use the street level stores and divide the theatre horizontally and use both levels it will not be much of a supermarket.

br91975
br91975 on December 9, 2010 at 3:28 pm

Today is the last day unfortunately, Howard. I had the privilege of speaking with Christine, another 72nd Street East employee, last night. She told me that the final showing of Fair Game is at 7 pm tonight. AMC-hired crews will then come in and remove any reuseable equipment; I imagine anything left behind will be taken out in the coming days and/or weeks, before interior demolition work begins.

As for the next tenant, I wish it wasn’t but my guess from Tuesday was correct: it will be a supermarket and, from Christine’s understanding, a Gristede’s. (And, to correct myself, Victoria’s Secret is still open – as are Super Runners and Bath & Body Works – so the first retail domino to fall will be the 72nd Street East.)

HowardBHaas
HowardBHaas on December 9, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Saturday, I watched “Fair Game” Exiting, everybody received comp passes because heat wasn’t working properly. AMC doesn’t light up the auditorium well enough for me to photo with my camera, which is a shame since pretty white & red decor of side walls deserves photographing!

I have a few photos and/or videos of upstairs & downstairs lobby areas and stairway with metalwork. I also have a few photos from 2005. I expect to send those photos & videos to THSA for safekeeping. Today seems to be the last day forever, judging from above comments. I will miss the Tower East!

br91975
br91975 on December 8, 2010 at 3:11 pm

Those are the ones, Dave. Victoria’s Secret is already closed, the 72nd Street East is next, and Bath & Body Works and Super Runners soon thereafter.

KJB2012
KJB2012 on December 8, 2010 at 2:29 pm

Dave is right. The “bean counters” have destoryed the entertainment industry. By taking the “Show” out of Showbiz, they have made a night out at the cinema about as exciting at spending Saturday night at Wal-Mart.
Of course at Wal-Mart you can grab lots of free samples. At the cinema you have pay big money for that. lol
It’s no wonder AMC is closing so many houses. Their management is better suited to run a super market than a theatre.
But lets be fair AMC is not alone.
Oh well maybe Chinese company will move it and re-invent the biz.

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on December 8, 2010 at 2:23 pm

What are the other retail tenants there now? Is it still Bath & Body Works (on the 72 St corner), a yuppie sneaker shop and Vicki’s place (next door to Loews)?

RobertR
RobertR on December 8, 2010 at 1:59 pm

Very sad indeed I always liked seeing movies here.

br91975
br91975 on December 7, 2010 at 9:29 am

I was speaking with a theatre employee last night and he told me the leases of all of the building’s retail tenants are either being bought out or not being renewed. My best guess is that a supermarket will be moving in.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on December 2, 2010 at 3:49 pm

On a side note, since Mikeoaklandpark has mentioned Frank Theatres, I noted the other day that they have quietly taken over the Sunrise Cinemas chain of theaters in Florida.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on December 2, 2010 at 1:29 pm

I just knew AMC would pull this crap. I hate this chain but not as much as I hate the Frank Theater chain who is the chain from hell. I was only in this theater once on a visit back to NYC and saw Jodi Foster in The Accused. I did always think the theater shuld have remained named the Tower East. MAybe Cinema City’s will take over sicne they operate the Paris and it is a single screen theater.

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on November 28, 2010 at 10:25 am

I think the lease is up for renewal. I seem to recall back around 2000 there was great uncertainty surrounding the question of renewing the lease or letting the place go. At the 11th hour Loews signed on for another term of 10 years.

To me it makes little sense to close this theatre, since due to zoning restrictions they can’t build a new 35-plex across the street, even if the property was available. Zoning was changed in the early 1980s to say no new theatres may be built and existing theatres may not add any square-footage in the area bounded by 57th St to 79th St., 1st Ave to 5th Ave. So, in light of the restrictions, I would think they would want to maintain their presence in the area.

The theatre will make money but they can’t just play just any rubbish there like they can on 86th St. It requires a mix of more upscale general release films and foreign product. It also requires a film booker to actually know his theatres, histories and the demographics of the area where they are located. A booker of a place with 25 or 30 screens can use the booking theory of “throw enough sh*t against a wall and some of it will stick”.

The large national circuits are owned by private equity investment firms as well as many of the regional chains and have purged all the theatre people from their ranks. The financial people are running the show these days, micro-managing everything from the home office. History, tradition and common sense have been thrown in the trash. Nothing matters but the bottom line.

JackCoursey
JackCoursey on November 27, 2010 at 11:34 pm

I hold no ill will towards AMC for they could have closed the entire single screen inventory they procured from Loews right off the bat but opted not to. Most of the movie going public have little regard for these boutique venues and suffer not at their demise.

HowardBHaas
HowardBHaas on November 27, 2010 at 11:09 am

City Cinemas or Regal, would be good.

BW photos are mentioned above. Years ago, I tried to photo auditorium but couldn’t due to lighting. Perhaps somebody could take a 30 second video of the auditorium (before the film starts) with their camera? Just shoot it quickly in the auditorium, without bothering the theater’s staff and capture the pretty colors of the walls & the screen.

SethLewis
SethLewis on November 27, 2010 at 10:34 am

This was bound to happen…Single screen theatres aren’t in AMC’s DNA…Even though I haven’t lived in the area for many many years, I remember this screen vividly from my youth as per my previous post. You would have to believe that the Upper East Side can support a properly booked large single screen theatre with a mix of mainstream and arthouse programming…let’s hope Regal or City step in

JackCoursey
JackCoursey on November 27, 2010 at 10:23 am

Does anyone have any interior shots of the theatre to share? I doubt that I will be back in Manhattan before its closure and would love to know what it look like during its original incarnation.

HowardBHaas
HowardBHaas on November 27, 2010 at 8:03 am

Ugh! I hope another movie operator takesover. It is a very nice movie house.

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on November 26, 2010 at 5:35 pm

I regret to announce that the Walmart of the theatre business from Kansas City has decided the last day of operations for the Loews Tower East 72nd St will be Thursday December 9, 2010, as per CT member astrocks. Unknown at this time if the place will be offered to another tenant for use as a theatre or gutted for retail use.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on August 11, 2010 at 7:47 pm

Thanks for the photos Jack.

JackCoursey
JackCoursey on June 20, 2010 at 10:21 pm

A couple of 2009 photos of the exterior of the 72nd Street:
Photo 1
Photo 2

jbailey212
jbailey212 on April 28, 2010 at 12:31 am

Thanks, AlAlvarez! and for the link as well…interesting glancing through old copies of the Voice.