WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 8, 2019 27
A World’s Fair landmark and its
link to Queens cinema history
BY THE OLD TIMER
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
The two main symbols of the 1939-
40 World’s Fair no longer tower
over the ground where they
once stood, which is today Flushing
Meadows Corona Park.
One was a large globe called the
Perisphere which housed the “The
World of Tomorrow” exhibit, a
panorama that depicted what a
futuristic American city might look
like. The other was a 610-foot-tall
triangular spire that soared into the
sky, called the Trylon.
Both the Trylon and Perisphere
represented the promise of the future,
but neither structure would survive
long aft er the fair ended. Ironically,
they were demolished, its materials
recycled for the war effort after
America was hurtled into World War
II in 1941.
The Trylon disappeared from the
Queens landscape almost as quickly
as it had been a part of it. However, the
name itself would live on for decades
at the Trylon Theater, a moviehouse
located at 98-01 Queens Blvd. in nearby
Rego Park.
The Trylon opened its doors on
the day aft er Christmas, Dec. 26, 1931.
Constructed in the art deco style
popular at that time, it seated 600
people and became a popular place for
couples and families to go out and see a
show any night of the week.
Over the decades, the Trylon Theater
projector screened some of the fi nest
movies ever made. Among one of the
fi rst fi lms to be shown there was “The
Wizard of Oz,” which had originally
been released back in August 1939.
Moviegoers walked into the Trylon
under a semicircular,
backlit
marquee, with
the feature
a t t r a c t i o n
spelled out in
red letters that
were changed
by hand. They
p u r c h a s e d
tickets from an
outdoor booth
lined with
terrazzo tile
that included a
likeness of the
Trylon from
the World’s
Fair.
The theater
area was
constructed with a vertical glass block
section and a cast concrete vertical
element, which gave each visitor the
feeling that theater was larger than
its actual size.
Film lovers continued to enjoy
features at the Trylon Theater for
nearly six decades. But like most
moviehouses of its era, it suff ered from
changes in the American entertainment
landscape — particularly the advent
of television in the 1950s and, later,
the demand for multiplex theaters
screening more than one film at a
time.
Even as other movie theaters
across Queens adapted with the times,
the Trylon Theater tried to hold out.
Finally, it screened its fi nal fi lm back
in the autumn of 1999.
In the years that followed, plans
emerged for the
old moviehouse
to be converted
into a community
center for
the growing
B u k h a r i a n
J e w i s h
community in
the Forest Hills/
Rego Park area.
H i s t o r i a n s ,
preservationists
and movie
lovers, however,
held out hope
that the theater
could somehow
be saved as a city
landmark.
In October
2005, a group of them gathered under
the Trylon’s blank marquee calling for
a halt to ongoing renovations at the site,
hoping that various theater fi xtures
could be spared. The Ridgewood Times
published a story about the rally in its
Oct. 27, 2005, issue, an excerpt of which
follows:
Chanting ‘Save the Trylon,’ members
of the Committee to Save the Trylon
Theater, along with preservationists,
formed a picket line, questioning why
the city had failed to landmark the
movie house, which has been closed
since 1999.
“The Trylon is an architectural and
historical gem,” said Michael Perlman
of the Committee to Save the Trylon
Theater. “Pretty soon, it will be no
more.”
Donning a mask, Perlman helped lead
the protest of the renovations, saying
that the original architect “would be
turning in his grave.” Carrying signs
reading, “Now Playing: Gone with the
Jackhammer” and “Trylon Trashed:
Restore what was lost,” the protesters
called upon the city city to take action
to preserve the marquee and the box
offi ce.
Glen Leiner, executive director of the
Art Deco Society of New York, told the
Times Newsweekly that theaters like
the Trylon are few and far between,
and that it is necessary to save such
historic structures.
“It’s a single-screen movie house,
and older theaters are an endangered
species,” Leiner said. “Many of them
have been creatively re-adapted for
new uses, and that is the purpose of
our rally.”
The eff ort to landmark the Trylon
Theater, however, proved unsuccessful
in the months that followed.
Congregation Ohm Nator would later
reopen the former moviehouse as a
community center, and it continues to
serve local residents to this day.
Sources: CinemaTreasures.com and
the Oct. 27, 2005, Ridgewood Times.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood: The
Way It Was” that you would like to share
with our readers, please write to the Old
Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com. Any
print photographs mailed to us will be
carefully returned to you upon request.
The Trylon and Perisphere in the 1939-40
World’s Fair. Ridgewood Times Archives
The terrazzo tile likeness of the Trylon in the entrance to the Trylon Theater,
as shown in this 1999 photo. Photo via CinemaTreasures.com Protesters outside the closed Trylon Theater in Rego Park in October
2005. Ridgewood Times archives
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