Found this yesterday. A comparison of both sides of 42nd Street of 1989 and 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/03/nyregion/42nd-street-then-now.html?ref=nyregionFirst time i've ever seen the street done like this. The vast majority of photos are of standing either end of the street looking down. Its great to see all the stores from this angle. you get more of an idea just how long the street was and how many businesses other than the theaters there was.
Below is a brief(ish) history of the theaters which lined both sides of 42nd Street. I don't profess to be a Times Square expert and the information below is what i have collected via the internet and various books, etc. If anybody notices any errors, please let me know and i'll harass Pete to change them for us.
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The South Side
Facing the the south side of the street you can see just how many stores there were/are between Broadway/Seventh Ave and the New Amsterdam theater.
The first theater on the block in the 1989 view is the Roxy which is a small storefront sandwiched between the Video World peepshow and the New Amsterdam theater.
I always thought that the Roxy (sometimes called the Roxy Twin) had been in two separate locations at different times on 42nd St. However, if you look further down the Deuce just past the Empire theater you can see another Roxy storefront with a black van parked on the curb.
I'm now assuming that these two theaters were operating at the same time, one being a porno theater and the other being a kung fu house (or both?)The latter theater turned in the Movieplex 42 (with 6 screens!) in 1994.
The second theater is the already mentioned and probably most famous on 42nd street, New Amsterdam, now run by Disney.
Built in 1903 it turned into a movie house in the 30's and stayed open until i believe, around 1980. It had been given listed status and was shuttered until fully restored by the Disney company. The lights were temporarily turned back on in the 80's as shown in the movie 'Shakedown', although i doubt they were done just for this purpose.
Next theater along is the Cine 42 which i think first screend movies in the early to mid 70's.
This theater had 2 screens crammed into a very small space. This theater closed in 1992. It is rumoured to still be intact behind the Disney billboards.
Further down the street there is the Harris theater which was situated in the Candler Building and next to a Tad's Steaks outlet.
The Harris (formerly the Candler Theater) was built in 1916 and converted to a cinema in the mid 30's. This theater was one of the last to close on 42nd St. in 1994. It was demolished in 1997 and the site is now occupied by Madame Tussauds.
Next along there is the Liberty theater which is situated next to the Peepland peep show (former site of the Playland arcade).
The sign above the marquee makes this theater instantly recognizable from the rest. Built in 1904 it was transformed in a cinema in the mid 30's after the popularity of live theatre declined. The theater was still intact behind the Hilton Hotel and/or Applebee's but has recently been gutted to be transformed into a restaurant.
Next along is the Empire theater.
Opening in 1912 it was originally called the Eltinge and functioned as a live theater and burlesque house until it was converted to a movie-house in 1942, eventually being rechristened the Empire. The Empire closed in the mid 80's. This theater looks like its still in use but the whole theater was moved on rails further down the block and used as the lobby for the 25 screen AMC.
Walking past the Empire and the second Roxy we come to the site where the Anco theater once was.
This theater was built in 1904 and after many different guises, was named the Anco in 1940. This theater was gutted in the late 80's after becoming an XXX theater and was to be used as retail space but was later flattened in the late 90's during the Disney 'clean up'.
The North Side.
Crossing the street from the Anco and within throwing distance of the Port Authority terminal we walk past the many cut-price electronics, clothing stores and deli's (What is a flame steak? I'm English!) and come to the first theater which is the Harem.
A small storefront theater which opened in the early 70's and played nothing but XXX for around 25 years. The Harem was closed and demolished in the mid 90's along with most of the block from Eighth Avenue to the Selwyn theater which we come to next.
The Selwyn had been a movie house from the mid 30's up until the 90's when it was renovated and returned to a live theater venue being named the American Airlines Theatre.
Right next door to the Selwyn were the Apollo and Times square theaters.
The Apollo was built in 1910 originally being called the Bryant. It was renamed after being bought by the Selwyn brothers and stayed a legit theater until 1933 when it became a burlesque house. the late 30's was when the Apollo became a movie house. The Apollo was stripped of its architecture in 1996 and was demolished to make way for the Hilton Theater. The Times Square opened in 1920 and ended its life as a movie theater in the 80's. The Times Square theater building shared its facade with the Apollo is still standing and is currently unoccupied.
Next to the Times Square is the Lyric theater.
Becoming a movie house in the mid 30's it functioned as a cinema until the mid 90's when it was one of the last three grindhouse to play movies on the Deuce (the other two being the Selwyn and Harris theaters). With the Apollo, the Lyric theater was stripped of its architecture and demolished to make way for the Hilton Hotel (formerly the Ford Center for the Performing Arts).
Next is the Victory theater.
Built by Oscar Hammerstein in 1900 it was originally called the Theatre republic but was soon renamed the Belasco. It ran as a legitimate theater until 1932 when it becme Minsky's Republic, the first burlesque house on Broadway. The Republic was renamed the Victory in the 40's when it turned to showing movies. During the 70's it started to show XXX movies up until the late 80's. The New Victory opened in 1995 after a complete renovation.
The last theater on the north side of the Deuce is the Rialto.
Built in 1935 the Rialto opened as a movie house and replaced the previous Rialto theater which itself was built on the site of Oscar Hammersteins famous Victoria. The Rialto was a twin screen cinema and the official listed was 1481 Broadway. In some photos you can see two triangular shaped marquees on 42nd St. although i believe only one had an entrance, the other being literally just around the corner on Broadway.
Showing a variety of movies from horror/thrillers to kung fu to XXX porno flicks the Rialto briefly changed its name to the Warner Cineplex before closing in 1991. The building was demolished in 1998 and the Reuters building now stands on the site.
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