Endangered Spaces

Once a theater of staggering beauty, the long-shuttered RKO Keith’s in Flushing may soon be demolished.

RKO Keith’s

135-35 Northern Boulevard, Queens

Endangered Spaces is celebrating beloved neighborhood institutions that are fighting to stay open in an era of relentless change. Tell us a space we should feature, and send us your memories, at [email protected].

By Corey Kilgannon

It never really mattered what movie was playing at the 3,000-seat RKO Keith’s Theater in Flushing, Queens. The main attraction was always the theater itself.

“It was enormous, a true movie palace,” recalled Jim Driscoll, 74, a lifelong Flushing resident. “They had a blue ceiling with special lights that looked like twinkling stars.”

Wendy Antos-Baker, 70, who lives in Whitestone, Queens, said that “it had a very, very ornate, lobby — it was almost ostentatious, unlike any theater you’d see today.”

Even though it closed in 1986 and has been deteriorating ever since, many devotees have fought to preserve the RKO Keith’s, even as it was flipped among developers seeking to demolish it and transform it into residential or commercial property.

The latest attempt — by Xinyuan Real Estate, a Beijing-based developer — seems to be underway and the RKO Keith’s days finally may be numbered.

“Every developer that came before us was playing games, looking to flip it, or slap up some building real fast,” said Eugene T. Kelty Jr., the chairman of the local community board. “Everyone took their profit and moved on. This is the only one who really wants to develop it.”

The movie palace, Mr. Kelty said, was lovely, with an organ near the stage for pre-film entertainment.

But, he added, its time has passed.

“It was a beautiful theater, I’ll give you that, but people want to go back in time and bring it back, which is a nice wish, but it’s just not happening,’’ Mr. Kelty said. “Too much of it is already destroyed.’’

Still, Richard Thornhill, a local preservationist, said that even in its decimated state, the theater can still be restored with help from photographs and by using the still-intact plans of its original designer, the renowned theater architect Thomas W. Lamb.

Mr. Thornhill has helped collect about 4,400 signatures on a petition to convince the developer to build around the theater and enable a renovation that would put Queens on footing with other boroughs that have restored historic theaters, including Kings Theater in Brooklyn, Paradise Theater in the Bronx and St. George Theatre on Staten Island.

“Everything in the Keith’s theater was beautiful — the candy stand in the lobby, even the bathrooms. They had an organ player, and they’d always run two movies, an A movie and then a B movie. It’s a shame that these big theaters are really all gone now.”

— Jim Driscoll, 74

The RKO Keith’s opened in 1928, and served partly as a vaudeville house for performers, including the Marx Brothers, Mae West, Bob Hope and Judy Garland.

Several generations saw their first film at the RKO Keith’s and attended local beauty contests and high school graduations there.

“We didn’t have television yet, so going to this magnificent movie house was a big deal,” said Claire K. Shulman, 93, who was the Queens borough president from 1986 until 2002. Her last visit was to see the 1979 sci-fi horror film “Alien” in a mezzanine where the air was thick with marijuana smoke.

In its final years, the RKO Keith’s became a multiplex, and after it closed, much of the interior was gutted or damaged by vandalism, flooding and fires.

Boarded and bricked up, scarred with graffiti, it has languished as downtown Flushing has shifted from a largely white, middle-class neighborhood to one of the city’s largest Chinatowns.

In 2016, Xinyuan bought the theater for $66 million with plans to turn it into a 16-story modern glass tower, with commercial space on lower floors and condominiums above.

A Xinyuan spokesman said that plan would be modified “to meet the market demand as well as government requirements,” but gave no further details.

Xinyuan has gotten required approval from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission because the theater’s ticket lobby and foyer are protected as city landmarks.

Ms. Antos-Baker remembers studying the lobby one evening in 1977 after she walked out of “Star Wars” and waited for her friends who had remained inside watching the movie.

“I know most people loved ‘Star Wars,’’’ she said, “but I had a better time just looking at the lobby.”

Endangered Spaces of New York

NEW YORK CITY is known around the world for the big stuff — iconic guidebook attractions like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. But New Yorkers know that the city’s essence lies in the smaller, neighborhood places that make up its unique fabric.

If not well known, they are certainly well loved: the local dive bar or diner; the quirky Laundromat; the tiny shoe repair shop. And while the city is always in transition, the change these days seems relentless. Beloved spots are succumbing to high rents and are often replaced by chain businesses.

Here then is a celebration of places that are closing (or just hanging on).

More Endangered Spaces

Terraza 7

“I wanted it to be a laboratory.”

Chameleon Comics & Cards

“These kind of comic shops are shutting down left and right.”

Tea & Sympathy

“It’s been a comfort station for the neighborhood.”

Produced by Meghan Louttit, Eden Weingart, Gabriel Gianordoli and Diego Ribadeneira

Illustrations by Julia Wertz

Corey Kilgannon is a Metro reporter covering news and human interest stories. His writes the Character Study column in the Sunday Metropolitan section. He was also part of the team that won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. @coreykilgannon • Facebook

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