4. Moss and Brill’s Hamilton Theatre

Image courtesy After The Final Curtain

Moss and Brill’s Hamilton Theater, which was later renamed the RKO Hamilton Theater, is located in Manhattan’s Hamilton Heights. The theater was opened on January 23, 1913 and was designed by Thomas Lamb, who also designed the Loew’s Canal Theatre. The theater was commissioned by vaudeville operator Benjamin Moss and Solomon Brillis, though when Moss retired in 1928 it was converted to a movie theater. It is notable for being one of the first theaters in New York City to exclusively play films.

It stopped showing films in 1958 and was bought by a church in 1965 before it was sold again sometime in the mid-1990s. Some of the theater was used for retail space while other parts were used as a warehouse. In 2000, the exterior of the theater was named a city landmark.