The movie screen was originally situated on this wall – you can see arches which probably once featured a ton of sick detailing, big red curtains, and who knows what else. …with the disco ball from its years as a Roller Rink still hanging! At least 25 years old, could this be the oldest disco ball in Greenpoint? The dome still has a ton of great detailing left on it… Here, where the floor levels out, is where you would have passed into the theater.Īnd incredibly, rather than raising the floor to one level, the entire main floor of the Rite-Aid exists on the footprint of the old theater – meaning you have to walk down the original theater ramps to get to the merchandise! Awesome!Īs you’re walking down the ramp, you’ll immediately notice the tremendous black ceiling, featuring a huge white dome in the center. In fact, this could be the weirdest and frankly most amazing Rite Aid you ever visit.Īs you come in the doors, you pass through what would have been the original lobby.Īfter a short distance (where I imagine the ticket booth would have been located), the floor begins to slant downward for about 20 feet as you descend into the theater. Incredibly, despite all the renovations, much of the old theater still remains. It’s been an Eckard Drug for the entire time I’ve known it, only recently being converted into a Rite-Aid. The space was then converted into a roller rink known as Laces for the first half of the ’80’s, and later a Liquidator’s Arena (a huge 99-cent shop). It continued as a theater owned by United Artists into the 1970’s, ultimately closing down in the early ’80’s. Originally known as the Garden Theater, it became the Fox Meserole in the 1920’s showing silent films, and later talkies. In fact, the original farmhouse may have been torn down to accommodate the theater, which is built on former Meserole land – Forgotten-NY speculates that this may explain the inclusion of cattle skulls in the exterior design work. The theater was named after the Meserole family, who were among the first settlers in the area.
#Itheater manhattan full size
Here, a bird’s eye view from above shows its full size – the main entrance is beside the white truck in the upper right corner, which leads to the theater building on Lorimer. Though it looks small from the front, the theater was actually quite large, accommodating 2,000 people on ground level and balcony seating. Later, the Meserole was purchased by Randforce/United Artists and showed first run movies, competing with the nearby RKO Greenpoint (long gone, sadly). Picture courtesy – Check out their siteįor hundreds of amazing Brooklyn pictures A movie theater for most of its life, you can see it below in 1928 when it was known as the Fox Meserole showing silent films (the advertised Baby Mine was made in 1928 – more info here). I've said goodbye to NYC, but that doesn't mean the fun has to end! Follow all my latest scouting posts from the West Coast at: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok.ĭon’t let the squat little Rite Aid storefront on Manhattan Ave in Greenpoint fool you…
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