American Movies Theater: Yiddish Nickelodeon, Underground Rock Venue, and Blue Man Group studio, to be Demolished
Situated directly to the left of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe is an unassuming two-story brick building spanning 238-240 East 3rd Street. In the Fall of 2017 this building, owned and operated by the Blue Man Group as a rehearsal and production studio for almost twenty years, hit the market for a tidy $12 million, and by April 2018, EV Grieve reported that permits had been filed for a new 7-story residential development at the site. While these initial permits were rejected, and new ones have since been filed and remain pending, the demolition permits were approved this past July and a plywood barrier was erected around its ground floor in December. Constructed in 1913 as the American Movies Theater, it was part of a new wave of inexpensive theaters (known as nickelodeons for their 5-cent price) which swept the Lower East Side, an alternative to the vaudeville houses which dominated much of the Jewish theater culture. Hailed by its owner and foun...