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Loew's Triboro Theatre

2860 Steinway Street and 28th Avenue
Astoria (Queens), NY 11103




Loew's Triboro Theatre on Steinway Street in Astoria opened on February 21, 1931, with Marie Dressler & Polly Moran in MGM"s "Reducing" on screen, and six acts of vaudeville topped by Mitchell & Durant, Artie Lewis, Peggy Ames, and the Neal Sisters. The Triboro had a complete change of program every Saturday and Wednesday. Its "loew" admission prices started at 25 cents for weekday matinees and ascended to a high of 50 cents at night and all day Saturday, Sunday and holidays. However, the Triboro was built at the height of the Depression and had to compete with about six other theatres in Astoria. The Valencia Theatre in Jamaica got the first-run bookings, after which the Triboro would get them a week later, but at least exclusively and a week ahead of the remaining Loew's theatres in Queens. Vaudeville was quickly dropped from the Triboro in favor of double features. By the end of the Depression, business did improve at the Triboro, as it did for the movie industry generally, and held up through the WWII years and until around 1950 and the onslaught of home TV.

Thomas Lamb designed the 3290-seat Triboro with a classic Mayan Revival exterior. Upon entering the theatre, audiences were treated to an Atmospheric-style ceiling and palatial interior. One of the last giant Loews palaces to be built in New York City, the Triboro Theatre was also one of the first to go. Its demolition continues to leave a gaping wound in Queens' architectural history.