1000 Morris Ave
1927

Operated by the Consolidated Amusement Company, the former Fleetwood Theatre opened in 1927 with a 1,600-seat capacity. In 1940, the company had a total of 22 locations in Manhattan and The Bronx, but soon began to withdraw from the film industry. In 1941, they announced the leasing of 18 of their venues to J. J. Theaters Inc. for a 25-year period, including the Fleetwood. Renovation work was done in 1945 by architect Julius Bleich, and in 1953 the theatre and adjacent stores were sold. The theater closed in 1958, and two years later it was purchased by Seymour M. Tannenbaum to be converted into a bowling center. It later housed a Fedco Foods store, a company owned by prominent African-American businessman J. Bruce Llewellyn in the late 1960s. Over the years it maintained its commercial use, with the upper floors most recently occupied by a church. The interior has been mostly gutted, but the façade maintains its ornamental brickwork, terra cotta pilasters and classical pediment. Photo courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archive.