RKO Proctor's 86th Street Theatre

1284 Lexington Avenue at 86th Street
New York, N.Y. 10128









Proctor's 86th Street Theatre opened on May 16, 1927. As designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the opulent theatre had 3,160 seats. Starting in 1929, the theatre was operated by the RKO circuit. Although the theatre used a Lexington Avenue address, the main entrance was on 86th Street, just west of the Liggett Rexall drugstore that occupied the corner of the building. At the 86th Street entrance was a large marquee and a short vertical sign, and on the 86th Street-Lexington Avenue corner of the building was a much larger vertical sign that gave the full name of the theatre: "RKO Proctor's 86th Street Theatre." A secondary, but rarely used entrance — with a small marquee, box office and display cases — was midblock on Lexington Avenue between 86th and 87th Streets.

In 1965, the RKO 86th Street Theatre was demolished to make way for Gimbel's East department store. A new and much smaller theatre, the RKO 86th Street Twin (with 450 seats each), opened in December 1971 in the building now occupied by a Duane-Reade drugstore. The Gimbel's store was closed in the 1980s, and the building was transformed to be the base of a large apartment building.

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