The Liberty Theater Is No More....

How sad. Kind of like the state of Broadway these days.

Does not look like there was that much left before they gutted it.

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Follies could be done at the old RKO Keiths in Flushing.

Much of the lobby remains but the auditorium would really lend itself to Follies

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The back of the stage is on W. 41st between Seventh and Eighth. The main entrance is still on 42nd Street, but has been severed and blocked off from the auditorium, and now serves as the entrance to Madame Tussaud's. The theater was essentially entombed by Applebee's, Dave and Buster's, Tussaud's, the AMC Empire, and the Hilton Hotel.

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So sad, it amazes me how badly New York have treated so many of their theatres compared to London.

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"Does not look like there was that much left before they gutted it."

Really? for a theatre that was closed in the 30s and just reopended a couple of times since then for use i think the building was in amazing condition

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The New 42nd Street Inc. has been a real disaster for the historic theatres on 42nd Street. The Harris, which was nearly intact, was torn down with barely a headline about it. The Apollo and the Lyric were essentially demolished and the inhospitable Ford Center/Hilton/Foxwoods went up in its place and has mostly sat empty in between flops. The Times Square, also largely intact, is marooned, waiting for a tenant and because of its lack of a loading door on 43rd Street will never likely be a theatre again. The Eltinge/Empire, which serves as the entrance to AMC, received a truly poor "restoration" and is pretty much an embarrassment. The historic Selwyn building that was the entrance to the Selwyn/American Airlines "fell down" in the middle of the night, conveniently when no one was around to witness it. Now, the Liberty gets stripped to the walls. New York and 42nd Street deserved better.

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What a shame. I had hope that this may have been left in peace at the very least. And for a Tim Horton's?! Heartbreaking.

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around 1055

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Hilton Hotel... not Hilton Theater/Foxwoods/Ford Center for the... and so on and so forth.

The problem with reusing this theater was that all the 42nd Street entrances and fire exits were cut off by the other businesses that sprang up literally all around it. It no longer had existing support facilities or a fly, as I understand it, also because of everything that had been built around it. However, since the auditorium was completely intact, there had been much discussion on these and other boards about repurposing it as a kind of museum dedicated to Broadway and 42nd Street... or at least something remotely interesting. New York's complete and utter indifference to preserving its history extends far beyond just the theaters. It's really disgraceful, which is what makes a project like the High Line park so noteworthy and important.

And thank you for that, Smaxie. Very well put. The greatest street in the world deserved far better.

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Again, I ask: Where do the ghosts go, when a theater comes down?

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Ah, Hilton HOTEL. No wonder I was so confused! Thanks for the clarification!

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