Hollywood Theatre - New York, NY

Originally billed as the “Pride of the East Side,” the Hollywood Theatre, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, opened on March 11, 1926. It was operated by the Mayer and Schneider (M&S) Circuit, and designed by architect Harrison G. Wissman, who is also known for the nearby East Village Cinemas. According to an account in the Motion Picture News, the crowd on opening night was so large that the police had to cordon the entrance to prevent them from storming the theater. Several of that era’s stars of stage and screen attended the opening, including George Walsh, Charles De Roche, Julia Faye, and Edna Purviance. 

The 1,303 seat theater was later managed by RKO and Loew’s Inc before closing in 1959. After the theater closed, they converted the orchestra level of the auditorium and the lobby into separate retail spaces. The former orchestra level became a series of grocery stores, beginning with a Pioneer Supermarket in 1960. In early 2012, it was announced that the East Farms Supermarket, the latest tenant to occupy the space, would close and they would demolish the building to make way for an eight-story condo building with retail space on the main floor. Demolition began in 2014, and the new building opened in the Winter of 2016.