Loew's 46th Street Theatre

4515 New Utrecht Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11219

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Showing 151 - 175 of 280 comments

EcRocker
EcRocker on February 13, 2006 at 12:04 pm

Hey Bwy I just cought up on the Ridgewood site last night. Interesting reading about that and the Madison. I am not trying to stir up a hornets nest either but both you and PKoch are so right when saying there is only so much you can say about the almost long gone 46th street. I run a Nascar forum on Delphi and believe me we have topics about everything.

Ok here is a revilation. When I was there and saw the Dead playing it was the first time I ever found out what pot smelled like and also participated in the festivities. Yes this was at the 46th street.

Erd don’t take this the wrong way but sometimes going off topic can be a way to get to know the others who post here. For example I post on the NY Academy of Music page. Hust by dumb luck or what ever you may want to call it I started talking to a woman on there who asked me if I knew her dad. Low and behold because of this it turns out that yes I knew her dad back in the 70’s. Going off topic has put me back in touch with someone from my past that I had no idea how to contact. All this thanks to CT.

ERD
ERD on February 13, 2006 at 8:48 am

Loew’s 46th Street had a fairly large stage and high fly. (As mentioned in a former post, I performed on it as one of the acts of a Saturday morning talent show sponsored by the Dodger’s Knot Hole Gang)The theatre needed a lot of renovations even by the mid fifties.
I vaguely remember at that time there was a woman manager who was very proud of the theatre.

Bway
Bway on February 13, 2006 at 5:56 am

I understand when the conversation goes off in very far directions (The Ridgewood theater’s section has done that, and now it takes forever for the theater to load because there are so many comments).
It did keep the theater quite active and alove though.
Perhaps maybe there should be a section on this site for general coneversation (theater/movie/etc related), but perhaps not directly related to the theater itself. Such as if someone finds a photo of a building that looks like a theater, and wants to ask questions about it, neighborhood memories around a theater, or conversation such as had progressed above. It doesn’t bother me in the theater sections, but perhaps it would be more productive in it’s own section of the site under a “general discussion”. Most of the people here have formed a internet freindship, started from theater conversation, but sometimes you have a little more to say, that may not necessarily pertain to the actual plaster and bricks of a particular theater.

ERD
ERD on February 13, 2006 at 5:44 am

I am expressing my own personal opinion- Comments should be directly related to the theatre. Some of the comments completely go off into another direction. I also wold be interested in knowing what Mr. Crowley or Mr.Melnick feel, and if they have any suggested guidelines.

Bway
Bway on February 13, 2006 at 5:32 am

PKoch has been a tremendously valuable member here at CT, and I enjoy his comments. The truth is, how much can anyone say about the bricks and walls of the “Loews 46th St” [or place any other theater name there]. After a while it’s said that, done that. These sort of comments keep the theaters alive. A theater is more than just bricks and plaster, it’s also all the memories that were in these buildings, and many of the memories are the movies or performances that were within their walls. Talking about them is just as much on topic to the theater as a conversation about the procenium arch is.

PKoch
PKoch on February 13, 2006 at 5:27 am

I, too, take pride in being a member of Cinema Treasures, have contributed much to it, and consider myself to be intelligent and courteous.

I merely answered East Coast Rocker’s question about the origin of the name Bananafish Gardens.

I will leave it to the management to decide, and act upon, what it considers to be irrelevant.

What more did you want to say about Loew’s 46th Street Theatre in Nrooklyn, NY ?

ERD
ERD on February 13, 2006 at 5:20 am

I take pride in being a member of Cinema Treasures and find most of the other contributing members are intelligent and courteous. Posting irrelevant comments is selfish misleading, and wastes space; Calling it “thread drift” still doesn’t change the situation.

PKoch
PKoch on February 13, 2006 at 4:42 am

I remember the name, Bananafish Gardens, from 1973 or so. It made perfect sense to me, and I knew exactly where it came from, because the previous Fall of 1972, I had studied the J.D. Salinger short story, “A Perfect Day For Bananafish”, the first of J.D. Salinger’s “Nine Stories”, in senior English class.

The story culminates in the suicide of Seymour Glass in a Florida Gold Coast hotel while honeymooning with his vain, shallow wife. Bananafish are a metaphor for innocent children being corrupted by the obligatory shallow materialistic garbage of adult life, a theme also to be found in Salinger’s novel, “The Catcher In The Rye”.

ERD
ERD on February 12, 2006 at 7:27 am

The area surrounding Loew’s 46th Street and Loew’s Boro Park was very nice through the mid 1950’s- then families began moving out to the suburbs, etc. As the Hasidic community moved into the area,and the older generation died off, the physical appearance of Brough Park began changing as well- part of this was the closing of The 46th Street and Boro Park.

irajoel1
irajoel1 on February 12, 2006 at 6:17 am

I grew up in Boro Park, and the Loew’s 46th street and the boro park theatre were my neighborhood movie palaces. A few years back me and my friend who also grew up there went into the furniture show that now occupies the theatre and had a good look around making believe we were looking for furniture. A lot remained including the upstairs lounge and men’s room and the lobby. Of course it all looked smaller than I remember it. I moved to Manhattan in 1967 but now I’m back in Brooklyn. The photos of the theatre and the neighborhood surrounding it were heartbreaking. The area was never beautiful but now it really looks horrible. My father owned a luncheonette on 43th and New Utrecht ave.

EcRocker
EcRocker on February 11, 2006 at 2:04 pm

Hey Rat I always knew it as Low Eeez… :P

Theaterat
Theaterat on February 11, 2006 at 8:12 am

It is also NOT pronounced as LOW-EEES.

EcRocker
EcRocker on February 11, 2006 at 6:32 am

Hey ERD just like any other forums there is a thing that is called “Thread Drift”. It happens and there is not much can really do or say about it. If you are refering to the Don Kirshner post it does relate to the 46th Street because about 8 shows were taped there. And some times you have to post something so others will be reminded that this thread is still active.`

Long live the Lowes 46th St

(Bananafish Garden)Where ever that name came from. They even renamed a local park that was called Satilitte Park to Bananafish Park.

ERD
ERD on February 10, 2006 at 7:23 pm

As this page gets longer, like others on “Cinema Treasures,” people should not take advantage and waste space with information that has nothing to do with the theatre.

YMike
YMike on January 20, 2006 at 9:12 am

I am pretty sure I watched Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert at 1 AM after Saturday Night Live ended. It could have been on channel 5 but it was on after SNL was over.

YMike
YMike on January 20, 2006 at 9:12 am

I am pretty sure I watched Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert at 1 AM after Saturday Night Live ended. It could have been on channel 5 but it was on after SNL was over.

YMike
YMike on January 20, 2006 at 9:11 am

I am pretty sure I watched Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert at 1 AM after Saturday Night Live ended. It could have been on channel 5 but it was on after SNL was over.

Theaterat
Theaterat on January 20, 2006 at 8:45 am

P Koch…. One of THE WORST of my life! We had absolutely nothing in common and we both knew it.Then, to make matters even worse, I got a flat tire on the front of my 64 Pontiac convertible! It was absolutely hell to get that tire off, not to mention the fact that I had my dress pants, shirt and jacket on. Definately should have gone to the show! It was only a short subway ride away. And we could have gone to Millers restauranr { remember that? } after the show.Guess I can laugh about it some 30 years later, but a fun night it definately was not.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on January 20, 2006 at 7:48 am

Just to make sure we stay on topic (not!) I have to dig around my box of old magazines and such, where I believe I have a couple of local 1970’s TV Guides – inlcuding, I think, the 1975 or 76 Fall Preview issue. Unfortunately, that will necessitate me negotiating with my ex-wife to get at them!

PKoch
PKoch on January 20, 2006 at 5:20 am

It’s already settled in my mind, Theaterat. On the way to lunch yesterday, I discussed this with a friend from work, who commented that the TV network that distributes the program is not necessarily the one that broadcasts it.

I suppose fascimiles of the broadcast logs of the TV stations in question, rather than the TV Guide of those days, would be needed to settle the issue.

Thanks for helping to get this page back on topic.

How was your date that night ?

Theaterat
Theaterat on January 20, 2006 at 5:16 am

Hope all the above entries settle the Don Kershner Rock Concert AND the In Concert controversey. I DO remember some kind of rock concert show that aired on FRIDAY nights in the year of 1973, but I`m not gonna go nuts trying to remember the name or network.Also remember at about this same time a group called Mother Earth with a singer called Tracy Nelson played a show at the 46th.st.A friend who had a few extra tickets wanted me to go, but I had a date that night.

PKoch
PKoch on January 19, 2006 at 6:49 am

No, in NYC and vicinity, Saturday Night Live remained on NBC in its 11:30 PM Saturday to 1 AM Sunday time slot from its fall 1975 premiere to the present. Kirshner ran in the same time slot on WNEW Channel 5 from mid-September 1973 to at least January 1977.

YMike
YMike on January 19, 2006 at 6:44 am

I thought Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert was on WNBC TV. I believe it followed Saturday Night Live in the late 1970’s.

PKoch
PKoch on January 19, 2006 at 6:29 am

EdSolero and Theaterat, thanks for sharing your movie and TV memories !

I remember Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert on WNEW Channel 5 as recently as January 1977. IF ABC Channel 7 had two rock TV shows on in a row, “In Concert” on Friday night and Kirshner on Saturday night, I would have remembered it.

The last two “In Concert” shows I remember were late April or early May 1975 : Keith Richards with Rod Stewart and the Faces, including Tetsu, their then-new bass player, and Alice Cooper’s “Welcome To My Nightmare”.