Gramercy Theatre

The story

The Gramercy once barred audiences from entering near the end of a film — a policy eccentric enough to define it as a true art house. Built in 1937 and designed by Charles A. Sandblom in the Streamline Moderne style, it opened as the Gramercy Park Theatre to avoid confusion with a rival Gramercy Theatre on First Avenue. When that older house fell to television in the early 1950s, the 'Park' was quietly dropped. Cinema V then took over, adding coffee in the waiting area and eclectic programming. Today Live Nation runs it as one of just two New York concert halls in its portfolio.