Movie palaces became common in the 1920s between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. In the New York City area, only a small number of operators were involved in the construction of movie palaces. These theaters' designers included the
legitimate-theater architects
Thomas W. Lamb,
C. Howard Crane, and
John Eberson.
Development In 1924, Len Cohen of
Loew's Inc. began acquiring property on the city block between Broadway, 175th Street, Wadsworth Avenue, and 176th Street. Cohen spent three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars buying the rest of the city block through 1927. The theater was one of several structures built around the eastern terminus of the
George Washington Bridge to
northern New Jersey, which was developed around the same time. Loew's had specifically chosen the site because it was in a growing middle-class neighborhood, close to the
New York City Subway stations at
175th Street/Fort Washington Avenue and
181st Street/St. Nicholas Avenue. Originally, the theater was supposed to be one story tall The Aronberg-Fried Company was hired to construct the theater in May 1929. Loew's initially considered naming the venue the Marcus Loew Memorial Theatre but ultimately decided against it. After ten thousand people suggested names for Loew's theater on 175th Street in early 1930, Loew's decided to name it the Loew's 175th Street Theatre. A week before the Loew's 175th Street was to be dedicated, the opera singer
Tito Schipa was invited to test out the acoustics, and a large
American flag (dubbed the theater's official flag) was draped over the building. It had numerous ground-level storefronts, many of which had been leased out prior to the theater's opening.
1930s to 1960s The theater's opening date, February 22, 1930, coincided with the observance of
Washington's Birthday. and the Loew's 175th Street stopped presenting stage shows in April 1930. When the George Washington Bridge opened in 1931, Loew's considered re-adding stage shows as a result of increased patronage from New Jersey residents. These stage shows originally opened on Saturdays and ran for one week. In September 1932, the shows were rescheduled to open on Fridays instead. Amid a decline in the number of newly released films, Loew's considered hosting vaudeville shows at the theater in 1936. Starting in 1939, Loew's reduced ticket prices for films at the 175th Street Theatre during weekends. Loew's implemented a new schedule of film screenings in 1942, in which the theater displayed three
double features every two weeks, rather than two double features every week. Following the
U.S. Supreme Court's 1948 ruling in
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., Loew's Theaters was forced to split up its film-production and film-exhibition divisions. however, the sale was allowed to be deferred if another theater in the neighborhood screened
first-run films. The Loew's 175th Street Theatre and all of Loew's other theaters were taken over by Loew's Theatres Inc. the next year, while the production division was spun off into Loew's Inc. Meanwhile, by the 1960s, Loew's Theaters Inc. had begun to struggle financially, and the chain closed some of its larger theaters due to high expenses. Despite these difficulties, Loew's Theaters Inc. initially tried various tactics to keep the 175th Street Theatre open. In 1960, Loew's installed an automatic box office machine called Vendaticket at the theater, which sold tickets to patrons. The chain also hosted other events at the theater; However, the theater struggled financially, particularly since it could no longer rely on getting new films from Loew's production studio. and renamed the building the United Palace. Reverend Ike took a $300,000 mortgage loan from the Loew's Theatre and Realty Corporation. and he paid Loew's the same amount. He converted the United Palace into a building for his congregation, a
non-denominational church called the United Church, Science of Living Institute. Over the next several years, Reverend Ike spent $2 million redecorating the theater in the
Louis XV style. The congregation also began restoring the theater's pipe organ, which was dedicated as the Robert Morton Organ. At the time, the United Palace was one of the few movie palaces in New York City that retained their original organs. The structure was also sometimes referred to as the Palace Cathedral and the Christ Community United Church. The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) considered designating the theater as a landmark in 1970. However, United Palace objected to the proposal, and the landmark status was not granted at that time. The mortgage on the United Palace building had been paid off by 1973, five years ahead of schedule. The majority of congregants were black. and he also hosted annual prayer meetings at the United Palace. The theater hosted other church activities as well, including seminars, counseling, and yoga lessons. and Latin American music acts began performing at the theater in the 1990s. By the 2000s, the United Palace was nicknamed the "Latin
Radio City Music Hall" and hosted
salsa concerts,
bachata concerts, and some film screenings. It also hosted other events including fashion shows and graduation ceremonies. and the Eikerenkoetter family began renting out the theater for events. The United Palace rapidly gained popularity as an
indie music venue starting in March 2007, hosting ten sold-out indie music performances in six weeks.
2010s to present By the 2010s, the congregation met in a small storefront, while the main auditorium was used as a performance venue. The next year, UPCA executive director Mike Fitelson launched a campaign to raise money for a screen and digital projection system in the theater. The fundraiser was organized in response to the 2011 closure of
the Coliseum, the only
multiplex theater in the area. and they had raised $50,000 toward the screen's installation by August 2013. The theater had started screening films again by October 2013; to reward donors, the UPCA screened the film
Casablanca at the theater that November. In late 2015, the LPC hosted a public hearing on whether to designate the United Palace as a city landmark, as part of a review of 95 listings that had been calendared by the LPC for several decades but never approved. The LPC agreed to consider the United Palace for landmark designation in February 2016. The exterior was made a
New York City designated landmark on December 13, 2016; however, the interior was ineligible for landmark preservation because the LPC does not give such designations to houses of worship. At the time, there were no office or retail tenants. The congregation attempted to have the designation overturned but later withdrew their objections. City councilman
Ydanis Rodríguez also considered voting against the landmark designation after discussing it with the theater's owners, though he ultimately endorsed the designation, allowing the full
New York City Council to approve it. Miranda donated $100,000 to the theater in 2016 for the addition of a projector. At the time, there were plans to raise another $300,000 for a new sound system. Miranda launched an Indiegogo fundraiser to raise the necessary funds. which had sustained water damage over the years; Workers subsequently renovated the theater's interior and added a new sound system. Following these renovations, the United Palace reopened in December 2021. == Operators ==