There does not appear to be much out there about the Gotham Theatre in Hamilton Heights but we did find an old photo from 1949 that shows what the building looked like before most of the windows were altered. A more sculptural pediment at the 138th and Broadway wing has now been replaced by a simple triangular version and most of the massive casement windows have been covered up with paneling or smaller windows. Some of the decorative elements such as the corinthean columns and the embossed cornice mouldings have been spared and one can still see the engraved name of the theater upon closer inspection. Today, the north wing by 139th Street is still vacant so maybe a proper business could come in one day and restore a bit of what was lost.
Photo via the digital collection at the Museum of the City of New York
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7825
ReplyDeleteSo the theater was named the Delmar by the 1930s but still not much else written about it.
ReplyDeleteMore about the Gotham, which is of course not the same building as the Gotham (and then New Gotham) Theatre on East 125th Street.
ReplyDeleteThe uptown Gotham is on land that belonged to the Kyckuyt family in the 17th century and then to Jacob Myers before passing into Moses Montefiore’s hands and then becoming a movie theater in the 1920s--apparently it was only later known as the Gotham, and then the Teatro Delmar starting in the late 1940s, when it ran Spanish language films into the 1960s.
DeleteI am interested in locating information and images of 2 theaters in 125th street. The Little Apollo and the Gotham (167 E. 125th St.)
Both were theaters run by the Minsky Brothers. The 3rd was the Hertig and Seamon Burlesque which is today’s Apollo.
Any information would be greatly appreciated
They need to take the entire building down, including the grocery store. It will someday be an awesome footprint for a huge mixed-use development. This piece will transform the neighborhood. My guess is that it's about 10 years away.
ReplyDelete