Ridgewood Theater
55-27 Myrtle Avenue | also 772 Cypress Avenue, 1680 Madison Street | Ridgewood | built 1915
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1916
The Levy Brothers open Thomas Lamb's Ridgewood Theater on Myrtle Avenue
Developers Bauer & Stier had planned a tenement for this lot, but in April 1916 they sold it to the Ridgewood Operating Company, a corporate name set up by the Levy Brothers real estate firm. Work on the movie house, designed by Thomas W. Lamb, began by July. It cost $250,000, was built fireproof, was said to follow Lamb's Strand Theater, and held its grand opening on December 23, 1916.
- 1927
William Fox's chain brings Movietone News to the Ridgewood Theater
The Levy Brothers kept ownership, but around 1923 William Fox added the theater to his Fox chain, which counted 500 houses nationwide by 1929. Fox pushed films with sound and in 1927 launched the Movietone News feature, which played at the Ridgewood that December. Fox went bankrupt in 1936, and in 1939 the theater was sold to the Nately Operating Company.
“This new phenomenon was shown at the Ridgewood Theater in December of that year.”
- 2008
The Ridgewood Theater closes after showing movies for more than 90 years
The theater showed movies continuously from its opening in December 1916, through the arrival of sound for the talkies, many changes to its interior and competition from television. When it shut in March 2008, the Landmarks Preservation Commission counted it among the longest-running movie theaters in the country.
- 2010
The city landmarks the Ridgewood Theater's white terra-cotta facade
At the March 24, 2009 hearing, sixteen speakers backed designation, including the owner, and none opposed it; a letter of support came from Thomas Lamb's great-grandson. The Commission designated the front of the building on January 12, 2010, citing the glazed terra-cotta facade with pilasters, heavy shields and the theater's name carved across the top.
“There were sixteen speakers in favor of designation, including the owner of the theater ... There were no speakers opposed to designation.”
Nearby
- 1820 Madison Street2 entries
- 1819 Putnam Avenue3 entries
- 1811 Cornelia Street2 entries
- 1819 Madison Street2 entries
- 1813 Woodbine Street2 entries
- 1822 Madison Street2 entries