Residents raise ruckus over displacement of theater synagogue and diner for luxury tower

NY Post

More than 3,500 residents have signed a petition to save the beloved Ohr Natan Synagogue — housed in an Art Deco-style building with an iconic clock tower — and the Trylon Theater & Tower Diner in Rego Park, according to a change.org petition.

The project was hotly debated at a Community Board 6 meeting Wednesday evening.

“This is one of the most cultural, social, significant, historical, and architectural sites of the community,” the petition proclaims. “The redevelopment plan would not only demolish historic buildings, but uproot a synagogue providing religious & humanitarian services, and likely pose an economic hardship on all the small businesses in the area.”

During the public hearing period at Wednesday night’s meeting, many locals voiced their opposition to the plan.

“This proposed change is not just disturbing, it is devastating,” Queens resident Carol Hagarty said in written testimony to the board.

“No accommodations are in place to preserve whatever is of historic, architectural, or social value on the block!” said Hagarty, who has lived in the area for over 40 years.

Another public commenter, Joanne Davis, wrote: “Build apartment buildings elsewhere. Raze ugly square buildings. Do not destroy this beautiful building.”

Dance troupe misses out on city's arts and culture recovery

 

QNS

 

As New York City moves toward its COVID reopening May 19, the renaissance comes too late for a dance company in Astoria.

The board of the Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre announced Thursday that it is dissolving the organization, closing its Astoria-based dance center and the dance company due to “the ongoing difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic,” effective immediately.

“On behalf of the board, we’re saddened to announce the dissolution of the organization and the closure of the RIOULT Dance Center,” former Chairman of the Board Hope Greenfield said. “We had expected many great things for the future of the company, especially with our new center in Astoria, but the pandemic has sadly brought an end to our plans.”

For nearly three decades, the Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre was part of the city’s dance community performing 12 of its New York seasons at the Joyce Theater in Manhattan. The dance company also performed at theaters and festivals across the country including: New York City Fall for Dance; Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors; Central Park SummerStage; the American Dance Festival in Raleigh, N.C.; the Annenberg Center; and Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California.

International venues included the Cannes International Festival, Maison de la Danse in Lyon, France, the Tamaulipas International Festival in Mexico as well as venues in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Japan.

The RIOULT Dance Center opened in October 2018 in Astoria and quickly became a safe and welcoming space for dancers from all across the New York City area to take classes, rehearse and create, as well as function as a home for the dance company. The school was dedicated to community-based arts programming, providing an educational resource for western Queens.

“I am sorry that my dream of establishing a home for the company and school that celebrates the diversity and richness of dance has come to this unfortunate end, and has necessitated the closure of the dance company,” Founder Pascal Rioult said. “I am grateful for the dedication of my Board, my staff, my dancers, my teachers, and the artists who made the center a vibrant place. I am proud of the reputation RIOULT Dance NY has garnered over 27 years. My entire life has been dedicated to dance and even though this chapter is closing, my choreographic career has not come to an end.”

 

MEGA developer wants rezoning permit for apartment buildings with movie theater and affordable housing components in Astoria

Cityland


The proposed zoning actions seek not only to facilitate the development but also bring block’s current uses in conformance. On December 4, 2019, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Mega LLC and the Pancyprian Association of American to rezone and redevelop an entire block in Astoria, Queens. The applicants proposed two eight-story buildings connected at the ground floor level with a green space between the buildings. The development includes affordable housing components and the creation of a new theater for the Pancyprian Association.  Nora Martins from Akerman LLP and Emanuel Kokinakis from Mega LLC presented the application.


The rezoning will occur on Block 769 in Queens which is bounded by Ditmars Avenue to the north, 23rd Avenue to the South, 46th Street to the east and 45th Street to the west. The proposed development site is home to two one-story manufacturing buildings located respectively at 22-60 46th Street and 22-61 45th Street in Astoria. One building is vacant and the other is used by a contracting business for parking. On the same block but north of the proposed development site is Pistilli Grand Manor’s parking garage and just north of the garage is Pistilli Grand Mannor itself. Pistilli Grand Manor is a six-story residential condo building that was once home to the Steinway Piano Factory. To the south and east of the site, but still on the block, are one to two family residential homes and Joes Garage Bar, a one-story restaurant. Just a bit further south of the block and development site is the Grand Central Parkway.

The proposed development is a two-section, mixed-use building setback from the property line. The design features a six-story base with two setback floors above. There will be a shared residential landscaped green-roof courtyard between the buildings. The development includes 88 residential units, 28 of which dedicated to affordable housing. The residential tenants will have access to valet parking (70 spaces), a fitness center, resident lounge, play room, party room and an office center. The applicants have 7,060 square feet of commercial space planned for 45th street, adjacent to Joe’s Garage Bar. The 250-seat/ 11,000 square foot theater would be controlled and operated by the Pancyprian Association, but will be made available to other community based groups. Anticipated uses include youth orchestras and choirs, art exhibitions, book talks and panel discussions.

Seeking to save NYC theaters

From Crains:

In a city with 8.6 million residents packed within 303 square miles, aging movie theaters have become a preservation battleground that often pits developers looking to make a profit against elected officials eager to maintain quality of life and residents seeking communal and cultural gathering spaces. After notable failures in recent years such as the American Theater in the Bronx, which is now a Marshalls, and successes such as the Kings Theatre in Flatbush, now a live-performance venue, communities are hoping to find a road map for success with long-empty theaters such as the Metro, RKO Keith in Flushing and the Hamilton in Harlem, among several others.

"There's a desperate need for any space geared toward the community—something for young people and seniors," said Assemblyman Ron Kim, who is eyeing the RKO Keith in his Queens district. Demolition and plans for a large glass condo tower have apparently stalled, and Kim hopes a coming downturn in the Flushing condo market could give the site new life. "There's no place to meet and interact."

Once upon a time New York City did not have multiplexes—it had movie palaces, dazzling buildings that screened movies, hosted vaudeville and became social anchors for their communities. The first was the Regent, built in 1913 by Thomas Lamb at 116th Street and what is now Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. (Today it is home to the First Corinthian Baptist Church.) Nearly every neighborhood soon had its own palace with an average of 1,800 seats and lavish decorations.

But the rise of television in the 1950s, New York's fiscal crisis in the 1970s and the crime surge in the crack era all played a role in the decline of these movie theaters. Then the subsequent real estate boom made the land beneath them increasingly valuable. Large-screen home entertainment centers and movie streaming on smartphones didn't help. Coupled with the high cost of modernizing theaters for digital projection, the economics of these old picture houses simply didn't work anymore.

More than two dozen movie palaces built between 1910 and 1932 have been closed or razed. Of those still standing, some were transformed into retail stores or gyms; others were reimagined. Frequently they became churches. Even the Ziegfeld Theatre, one of the last single-screen theaters in the country when it opened in 1969, closed in 2016 after converting to digital projection. It is now Ziegfeld Ballroom, an event space.

The movie houses that remain pose challenges to communities and developers alike. While nostalgic locals campaign to turn the projection lights back on, that's typically not a realistic solution.

New theater coming to giant Sunnyside building

From Sunnyside Post:

Sunnyside will be without a movie theater no more, as Regal Cinemas has signed on to take up part of an ongoing development on Queens Boulevard.

The movie theater chain will be occupying the first two floors of the commercial tower currently under construction at 38-01 Queens Blvd.

Of the 145,000 square-feet planned for the building, developed by Curbcut Urban Partners and dubbed “The Sunnyside”, the Regal Entertainment Group will take up 38,000 square-feet of it to bring a theater to the area, according to Benjamin Malinsky, vice president of Curbcut.

The entertainment group will provide a theater to a neighborhood that hasn’t seen one since the shuttering of Sunnyside Center Cinemas in 2015, which opened in the late 1940s.

Flushing may get a movie theater

From the Queens Tribune:

A new development in Downtown Flushing at 133-15 39th Ave. will include a movie theater as part of its retail section, marking the first time in 30 years that Flushing will have a movie theater, reports say.

The mixed-used project, called Tangram, is being led by development companies F&T Group and SCG America. Construction is under way at the site, which will include 1.2 million square feet of office, residential and hotel space, including a 225,000-square-foot, two-story retail podium, the development companies announced on Dec. 1. The movie theater would be a part of this retail space.

The theater is anticipated to be 34,000 square feet with six to eight screens and seating for 500 to 800, according to a report from Commercial Observer. It will be the first movie theater in Flushing since the historic RKO Keith’s theater closed down in 1986.

Commercial Observer also reported that SCG Retail, the company handling the retail aspect of the project, is looking into an “experiential” theater that could include luxury dining.

Jackson Theater a goner

From the Queens Gazette:

The end is near for the historic Jackson Theater. The property, located at 40-31 82nd St. in Jackson Heights, is currently owned by Sona Realty Corp. and is under contract with Sun Equity Partners. According to David Alani of Inline Realty, which is brokering the deal, Sun Equity Partners plans to demolish the 80-years-plus theater and rebuild and lease the space.

Jackson Heights Food Court closed

From DNA Info:

The Jackson Heights Food Court, which re-opened in the fall after the city closed it for health code violations, mysteriously shuttered its doors again last week, according to customers.

The restaurant and market opened in 2012 in the site of a former movie theater at 73-07 37th Ave. inside Diversity Plaza.

The food court first closed in October after inspectors discovered it was operating without city or state permits, officials said.

Officials later found the presence of mice and other vermin inside the market.

New Keith's plan gets CB7 ok

From the Times Ledger:

The long-delayed plans for RKO Keith’s Theater in Flushing have been approved by Community Board 7 after years of the property passing through the hands of multiple developers.

Board members unanimously passed a motion at the monthly board meeting Monday night approving developer JK Equities’ revised plan for the historic theater at 135-35 Northern Blvd. in Flushing. The company’s reworked blueprint increased the building’s height and reduced the number of rental units and parking spaces.

Chuck Apelian, CB 7’s first vice chairman and chairman of the land use committee, said the board has previously asked for a movie theater to be built in downtown Flushing, but to no avail. “We don’t have any development plans in front of us,” Apelian said. “I don’t have anybody standing here with the money to build the theater. The way it’s gone, it went from developer to developer to developer at this point. I can’t change that.”

He was momentarily interrupted by Jerry Rotondi, a member of the Committee to Save the RKO Keith’s Theater in Flushing, who insisted that plans were presented to save the theater.

Historic preservationists were staunchly opposed to the plan. In a statement, the Committee to Save the RKO Keith’s criticized former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman for not supporting the theater.

“We could have had a restored showcase theater,” said Cheshire Frager, a member of the committee.

Michael Donnelly, a New York City District Council of Carpenters representative, said the developer has not made a commitment to quality construction jobs.

“These units will now be marketed to wealthier individuals and contribute to the gentrification of the neighborhood,” Donnelly said. “The absence of a commitment in the development of high-quality construction jobs for the members of the community further enforces this impression.”

Apelian introduced a separate resolution that would consider converting the planned 16,000-square-foot space from a senior center into community facility space.

Forest Hills theater plans to succeed

From DNA Info:

A Forest Hills movie theater, which has been struggling to keep its doors open, is one step closer to avoiding closure after two major studios have licensed additional first-run films to the cinema, the owner said.

Nicolaou, 57, whose family has owned the theater since the mid-1960s, said the venue has been struggling primarily because it was not receiving first-run films since 2008, when it screened "Sex and the City."

Last year, the movie theater lost about $200,000, Nicolaou said.

But earlier this year, the theater, which originally opened in 1927, got another chance when Warner Bros. decided to license "American Sniper," a war drama directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller, to the Cinemart.

Local residents launched a campaign asking their neighbors to support the theater by buying tickets and attending the screenings at the Cinemart.

Nicolaou said the campaign worked and thousands of people showed up.

Another grand Brooklyn theater being restored

From DNA Info:

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.

Success at the Cinemart

From the Daily News:

Movie lovers came out in force to support a historic Queens theater on the brink of collapse.

The Cinemart in Forest Hills hosted sell-out crowds for several showings of “American Sniper” and other films on the bill, said owner Nicolas Nicolaou.

The response was strong enough to postpone any short-term plans to close the financially struggling movie house, he said.

“The community wants to send a message that this theater has something special for them and the character that comes with being here for 90 years,” he said.

The public momentum spread to nearby eateries along Metropolitan Ave., including Eddie’s Sweet Shop, which had a brisk business all weekend, he said.

Nicolaou plans to meet with movie executives in Los Angeles and show them the theater should be a venue for first-run films.

The question is: will they keep coming?

Sunnyside Theater rides off into sunset

From Sunnyside Post:

Sunnyside Center Cinema played its final film last night representing an end of an era.

The theater was in operation since the late 1940s at a time when there were at least three other movie theaters in the neighborhood as well as the Sunnyside Garden Arena, which was once a popular boxing and wrestling venue.

In the 1960s, there was the Bliss Theater on Greenpoint Avenue, which is where the Jehovah’s Witness Hall is located today. Furthermore there was the Sunnyside Theatre, which was located on Roosevelt Avenue and 51st Street (the building has been demolished) and there was also the 43rd Street Theatre, located across the street from the Sunnyside library.

The closure of Cinema Cinemas represents a new period for Sunnyside as several older buildings are likely to come down to make way for larger residential buildings. Just two months ago, AB Capstone Development sought permits from the Building Department to demolish the former King Boulevard store—and adjacent stores– on Greenpoint Avenue as it plans to develop the site.

Rudy Prashad, the owner of the Center Cinemas, said last night that he was sad to close the theater but he had no choice but to leave.

He said he hopes that John Ciafone, who is developing the site, will stick to his word and discuss reopening the theater when the project is complete.

The sign indicates it's moving into the Main Street Theater space.

Sunnyside wants to keep its theater

From the Sunnyside Post:

Nearly 175 Sunnyside residents—many accompanied by children—turned out for a rally Sunday afternoon in an attempt to save Sunnyside Center Cinemas from the wrecking ball.

Many residents who attended the rally, which took place outside the Queens Blvd.-theater, had been going to Center Cinemas for the past 40 years. They turned out in hope that it would not be demolished and some sort of agreement could be struck between the landlord/developer and the owner of the theater.

The cinema’s last day in operation is scheduled for Jan. 4 , and most believe that if John Ciafone, the landlord, and Rudy Prashad, the owner of the theater, can’t work out a deal by then the theater will be demolished to make way for a seven-story building.

“I grew up with this theater,” said Lisa Deller, a Sunnyside resident, who was at the rally. “I’ve been coming here for 40 years—since I moved to Sunnyside when I was 2 years old.”

Meanwhile, John Siscaretti, 51, who started the online petition to save the theater, went to the Center Cinemas when he was a young child. “My first movie here was Jungle Book,” he said.

The two organizers of the rally—Ty Sullivan and Pastor Jon Stork—made it clear from the get-go that the rally was not an anti-landlord event. However, both wanted to send Ciafone a clear message: Sunnyside is a tight-knit community and that it deserves to know what is going on.

Sullivan and Stork said they invited Ciafone to attend the rally and speak. They assured him that he would be made to feel welcome. He did not attend.

In related news, I got my hands on the renderings for what will replace it...

Petition started to extend lease of Sunnyside Theater

From Sunnyside Post:

A petition has formed and a rally is being planned as local residents try to save Sunnyside Center Cinemas from the wrecking ball.

An online petition started Wednesday that has already garnered more than 240 signatures. Meanwhile, Ty Sullivan and Jon Stork, two local activists, are already planning to hold a rally outside the theater that is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 21 (details to come).

The petition—called “Save the Sunnyside Theater”– is addressed to the property owner/developer John Ciafone. It reads, in part, “Save the movie theater from demolition and have a new lease extended.”

Meanwhile, Sullivan is reaching out to the media and various community groups as he plans the rally. He is designing posters, fliers and launching a social-media campaign to generate community interest.

This activism comes at a time when Ciafone has just offered the owner of the theater Rudy Prashad a six month extension to his lease. After the six months, he would operate on a month-to month basis.

Prashad, however, seeks a longer lease claiming that he has organized movers and contractors to remove all the seats from the theater as required. Furthermore he has already told his staff about the upcoming closure.

Ciafone was nonchalant about the “Save the theater” petition. “I could get a petition going with just as many signatures from people wanting affordable housing,” he said.

Broadway Stages kicking out Sunnyside Center Cinemas

From the Sunnyside Post:

Sunnyside Center Cinemas will be closing its doors on January 4 after screening movies in the neighborhood for decades, the theater’s owner said Sunday.

Theater owner, Rudy Prashad, said he was informed last week that the property owner Broadway Stages was not renewing his lease. His lease ends December 31 but he has been given to Jan. 10 to clear out of the building.

Prashad said that he had been going back and forth with the property manager for months as he wondered what was happening to his lease.

Prashad said that he would like to thank the residents of Sunnyside for their patronage over the years and plans on showing a free movie before he leaves.

With Center Cinemas gone, Broadway Stages is now trying to lease the air rights to a developer to build residential apartments above the ground-floor retail space.

The owner plans to keep the retail space while leasing 52,000 square feet of air rights to a developer. The developer would have to pay a ground lease of $750,000 per year for those rights.

Broadway Stages plans to keep PJ Horgan’s as an on-going tenant, said Evan Daniel, a broker for Modern Spaces, which has the real estate listing. Daniel said that PJ Horgan’s is the only business with an existing lease and is well regarded by the community.

An environmentally friendly Kew Gardens Cinema

From DNA Info:

Kew Gardens Cinemas may be eight decades old, but the theater is at the forefront of the latest environmental trend.

The art deco indie flick venue, at 81-05 Lefferts Blvd., near Austin Street, is currently installing several solar panels on its rooftop.

The solar panels will cover about 6,000 square feet of the building's roof, owner Harvey Elgart said in an email Friday.

Energy produced by the panels will be used to power lights and movie projectors at the six-screen theater, according to its representative. It was not clear how many of the projectors would be powered by the panels.

Former Astoria theater sells for $32M

From the Queens Courier:

A corner retail building near the heart of Astoria’s Steinway Street commercial strip has been sold for $32 million.

Realty service Massey Knakal, which handled the transaction, announced the sale Friday of 2856-2860 Steinway St., which occupies the entire block front of 30th Avenue between Steinway and 38th streets in the burgeoning neighborhood.


The building houses a trio of long-term leases for New York Sports Club, JP Morgan Chase Bank and Duane Reade in more than 37,000 square feet. The sale breaks down to $627 per square foot.

The transaction indicates that investors are coming over from Manhattan and looking for new opportunities elsewhere, according to Massey Knakal chair Bob Knakal.

Hey, remember when that was actually a theater?

Guess who bought the Sunnyside Theatre?

From the Sunnyside Post:

...Center Cinemas’ lease comes to an end December 31 and Rudy Prichard, the owner of the movie theater, has yet to hear whether his lease will be renewed. He is not hopeful.

As for PJ Horgan’s, its lease ends June 2018. The owner of the bar could not be reached for comment.

The former bank building, on paper, is owned by 42-25 Queens Boulevard Realty Corp.

However, according to several sources, Gina Argento, the president of Broadway Stages, the Brooklyn-based TV and movie production company, is the owner.

Argento could not be reached for comment.
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Just click the link above and you'll see it's true.

I suppose we'll see a John Ciafone banner hanging off the side of whatever is built here.

Something's going on at the Keith's (but we're not sure what)

The Flushing Phantom sent these pics in of the RKO Keith's Theater on Northern Blvd.

DOB issued a permit for work in the landmarked foyer, but there's still a stop work order on the property. There's also a permit applied for on 4/4/14 but when you try to view the info, you get this message: "THIS JOB IS IN HUB SELF-SERVICE AND CANNOT BE VIEWED UNTIL ACCEPTED."

Hmmm...