Pavilion Theatre - Incompetent Uncaring: Beware!

I saw The Wackness at the Angelika last week and it wasn't much better.. had to strip down to my wife beater.

You are right though, the Pavilion is a dump.

On this hot summer evening let us not forget that in the winter there is little/no heat in that theater. I would sit there in a down jacket and scarf for the whole movie and when it was over walk out on the street and warm up. What ashame that the one "neighborhood" movie house in the Slope is so terrible. I gave up over two years ago and haven't been in the place since. Sorry to hear it is just as bad.

veets wrote: What a shame that the one "neighborhood" movie house in the Slope is so terrible. I gave up over two years ago and haven't been in the place since. Sorry to hear it is just as bad.

^^^this

I love going to movies, but I never go there anymore.

I overheard an interesting conversation while at the theater yesterday, which made me feel worse for the people who work there.

I heard a woman employee speaking about another girl that had fainted the day before from the heat in the theater.

We should band together as a community and buy the place out and get in new management.

So who owns the Pavilion?

July 24, 2006:

A real-estate developer with no history as a movie theater owner has bought Park Slope’s Pavilion multiplex — and the sale has local movie-goers worried that he will convert the much-loved theater into a residential building.

But new owner Abraham J. Hidary — who plunked down $16 million for the building last month — told The Brooklyn Papers that he’s in the movie business to stay.

http://www.bigscreen.com/journal.php?id=181

Gotta love the Google...

http://www.hidrockre.com/contact_us.asp
65 West 36th Street, Suite 1200
New York, NY 10018
Tel: 212.563.9200
Fax: 212.563.9290
E-mail: [email protected]

From Crain’s 2006:

www.hidrock.com/press_pdf/100006.pdf

With housing prices in brownstone Brooklyn at
lofty levels, patrons of the Park Slope Pavilion
movie theater often ask anxiously if it will be
converted to condominiums.
The new owner has a reassuring answer, at least
for the short term.

``It would be a great condo conversion at some
point,'' says Abraham J. Hidary, president of
Manhattan-based Hidrock Realty Inc. ``[But] it
is a movie theater, and is going to remain that
way for a long time.''

Mr. Hidary's family-owned real estate firm
agreed in mid-June to pay $16 million for the
35,000-square-foot theater. The deal with seller
One Liberty Properties Inc. of Great Neck, L.I.,
is slated to close in August.

As hot as the housing market is, the property's
$1.1 million rent means it's now more valuable
as a theater than as residences, says Ken
Freeman of Massey Knakal Realty Services,
who brokered the sale. The theater operator,
New Jersey-based Access Integrated
Technologies Inc., has 16 years remaining on its
lease, plus options for two 10-year renewals.
The owner isn't eager to replace concession
stands with gourmet kitchens. ``I've been going
to that theater for years myself,'' says Mr.
Hidary, who lives nearby, off Ocean Parkway.
``I anticipate the theater only doing better as
Park Slope improves, as more people move in.''
Though area real estate values have tripled in the
past decade or so, Mr. Hidary does not believe
that the market has peaked.

``We see a lot of future in Brooklyn,'' the
executive says. ``Brooklyn is now head and
shoulders ahead of the other [outer] boroughs.''
The theater has a rich and checkered history.
First opened in 1928 and named for the brothers
who built it, the Sanders shut in 1978 and was
later seized by the federal government in
connection with a credit-union scandal.
Norman Adie and three partners bought the
property at 188 Prospect Park West in 1993 and
reopened it in 1996, adding a second-floor cafe
before selling to One Liberty in 2002. The eatery
has since closed, but remains intact. Mr. Hidary
says he will press the theater operator to reopen
it.With housing prices in brownstone Brooklyn at
lofty levels, patrons of the Park Slope Pavilion
movie theater often ask anxiously if it will be
converted to condominiums.

The new owner has a reassuring answer, at least
for the short term.

``It would be a great condo conversion at some
point,'' says Abraham J. Hidary, president of
Manhattan-based Hidrock Realty Inc. ``[But] it
is a movie theater, and is going to remain that
way for a long time.''

Mr. Hidary's family-owned real estate firm
agreed in mid-June to pay $16 million for the
35,000-square-foot theater. The deal with seller
One Liberty Properties Inc. of Great Neck, L.I.,
is slated to close in August.

As hot as the housing market is, the property's
$1.1 million rent means it's now more valuable
as a theater than as residences, says Ken
Freeman of Massey Knakal Realty Services,
who brokered the sale. The theater operator,
New Jersey-based Access Integrated
Technologies Inc., has 16 years remaining on its
lease, plus options for two 10-year renewals.
The owner isn't eager to replace concession
stands with gourmet kitchens. ``I've been going
to that theater for years myself,'' says Mr.
Hidary, who lives nearby, off Ocean Parkway.

``I anticipate the theater only doing better as
Park Slope improves, as more people move in.''
Though area real estate values have tripled in the
past decade or so, Mr. Hidary does not believe
that the market has peaked.

``We see a lot of future in Brooklyn,'' the
executive says. ``Brooklyn is now head and
shoulders ahead of the other [outer] boroughs.''
The theater has a rich and checkered history.
First opened in 1928 and named for the brothers
who built it, the Sanders shut in 1978 and was
later seized by the federal government in
connection with a credit-union scandal.
Norman Adie and three partners bought the
property at 188 Prospect Park West in 1993 and
reopened it in 1996, adding a second-floor cafe
before selling to One Liberty in 2002. The eatery
has since closed, but remains intact. Mr. Hidary
says he will press the theater operator to reopen
it.

thanks for the info. I saw cloverfield there and had a similar experience. it was so fucking hot in the theater I stripped down to my final layer (well, not my bra, but you know). when the movie was finished, I got up and literally felt my shirt peeling itself away from the seat. I didn't complain to anyone simply because it didn't seem worth the trouble but I'll toss my word in with everyone else's.

I did send a letter to that addy about my complaints. I hope other people take afew minutes and do the same.

Norman Adie and three partners bought the
property at 188 Prospect Park West in 1993 and
reopened it in 1996, adding a second-floor cafe
before selling to One Liberty in 2002. The eatery
has since closed, but remains intact. Mr. Hidary
says he will press the theater operator to reopen
it.With housing prices in brownstone Brooklyn at
lofty levels, patrons of the Park Slope Pavilion
movie theater often ask anxiously if it will be
converted to condominiums.

Anyone else remember Norman and his white cowboy boots? lol...



Not to mention, anyone else find it disgusting that 'eager inquirers' are wanting to know whether the building will be turned into condos (presumably because they're interested in purchasing one)?

Reading the article, it sounds like the NJ-based theater mgmt company that has the long-term lease on the space is the culprit, not the owner.

The owner can put some amount of pressure on them, but let's face it...a lease to operate a business means that the business is at the discretion of the operating company that leases it.

So I'd place all efforts in that direction, to the attention of senior management at their NJ headquarters (as mentioned in the article posted above).

And also send notices of the situation to the Better Business Bureau, as their rating should indeed be affected for negligence like this.

Nuclear Redaction wrote: I went to see Wall-E there today. Arrived at 12:45 for a 1:00 show; the movie was in a little theater on the 3rd floor, but when I got to the 2nd floor, they said they were still cleaning the theater. Everyone going to that showing had to wait in the 2nd-floor concession area, where the A/C either wasn't on or was too anemic to make a difference. They finally let us up there at about 12:55, and the trailers didn't start until about 1:05. For a 1:00 show. Good planning, that. At least the A/C was working in the theater itself.

The exact same thing happened to my wife and kid on Sunday, so this was no one-time mixup. I hate that place like poison - it's 5 minutes walk from me and I haven't been there in years.

brooklynpotter wrote: am i the only one old enough to remember that AC used to be one of the big reasons people went summer movies?

someone needs to call "shame on you". or plan a boycott. or both.

Yeah I am old enough to remember going to the movies in the summer in the days where they just showed the film continuously without clearing the theater and we would sit there and watch it 2 times through just to be in the AC. I think the phrase was "air colled" or something like that with pictures of icebergs or something on the marquee.

Did they get new seats in some of the theaters? i took my son there to see Thomas last week and the seats seemed new.

Funny anecdote: last year, a girlfriend and I went to go see "Brave One" (which totally sucked) and there were only 2 other people in the theater, and one of the employees came in a gave us an impromtu comedy routine. It may have been the margaritas, but the kid cracked me up.

I totally relate to the complaints, but I think I have just learned to have such low low expectations of most things, that way I can be pleasantly surprised a little more often ...

tajmb wrote: The #63 bus on 5th ave will take you right down to the UA court street theatres. Is that not convenient enough? Oh, and the air conditioning was turned up so high on Sat that I was wishing I'd brought a jacket.

last time i was there, they caught a guy hiding out in the women's restroom stall masturbating for hours. that may not have been the worst think i've ever witnessed at that theater.

that place is just the scum of the earth. take the 2 train to Chambers and go to Battery Park City instead.