Time Square Grindhouses thirty years ago

By Jack Brummet

Just some of the movie theaters then in Times Square.  On the bill that day:

Cine 42: I: Critters / Deadly Blessing; Theater II:  The Toxic Avenger/ Bloodsucking Freaks
Harris: P.O.W.: The Escape / Exterminator 2/ Delta Force
Liberty: Make Them Die Slowly/Savage Man, Savage Beast / King Dick
Empire: Shaolin Kung Fu/ Shaolin Vs. Lama /Shaolin Red Master 

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Times Square, 1979

By Jack Brummet, NYC Metro Ed.

Times Square, 1979, with Bill Murray, and a working gal. This was the center point of when we lived in NYC. I had to pass through Times Square often (I especially remember going there to the electronics stores, like 47th Street Camera to pick up a tape recorder, camera, or Walkman).

People can't conceive what a toilet Bryant Square Park was back then now that it's been so tidied up. Needles, hookers, bums, street kids, drunks, three card monte, hustlers. . .and the Irish bars and Tad's Steak House. 

We'd pass through TS to go to the theater a/k/a Broadway, or sometimes actually go there to see a film in one of those amazing stadium style theaters (where you could still smoke at a movie) or sometimes even to see a grindhouse movie or a zombie double bill. It never felt scary (well, sometimes), but always felt sleazy. Now it's something more akin to Fisherman's Wharf or the Pike Place Market or The Grove in L.A.--a friendly tourist destination with a colorful past.

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42nd Street, 1986

By Jack Brummet
NYC Metro Editor

Not long before the Times Square cleanup began, there was still a thriving grindhouse row on The Deuce, a/k/a 42nd Street.  Here are some double and triple features that ran on 42nd Street 25 years ago.

42nd Street (North)

Rialto:  Basic Training/Madman
Victory: "3 Adult Hits"
Lyric: Police Academy 3 / The Protector
Times Square: April Fool's Day / Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Apollo: Eyes of Fire / Hell Night
Selwyn:  Band of the Hand / The Last Dragon

42nd Street (South)

Cine 42: I: Critters / Deadly Blessing; Theater II:  The Toxic Avenger/ Bloodsucking Freaks
Harris: P.O.W.: The Escape / Exterminator 2/ Delta Force
Liberty: Make Them Die Slowly/Savage Man, Savage Beast / King Dick
Empire: Shaolin Kung Fu/ Shaolin Vs. Lama /Shaolin Red Master

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Times Square, New York City

Partial view of Times Square at night--click to enlarge

Within two minutes of arrving at Port Authority on the bus from Massachusetts, I was walking in Times Square. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the frenzy that is Times Square--the massive crowds, the insane shops, and the lights and noise. As tawdry as it was and is, I've always loved the place. It's different than it was...when I lived here, there were no chain restaurants, no bubba gump shrimp company, no olive garden. What is mainly different is what is different in NYC in general: you no longer feel threatened, and there are far more people on the streets (which is true of the entire west side, from Times Square up to the Upper West Side). Today after a play on Broadway, we walked through Times Square and I was just stunned. The vibe is still frantic, but it's now tempered. . .they've cleaned it up, and it's now for everyone... not just the brave. Sure, Rudy had a lot to do with that...but that doesn't mean I think he should be President. Or even Mayor.
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