3. RKO Shore Road, Bay Ridge
Another theater-turned-gym can be found on 86th Street in Bay Ridge, between 4th and 5th Avenues, just a few blocks from the former Harbor Theater. There you’ll find what was once the RKO Shore Road Theater. The theater opened in March 1924 with the film “Unseeing Eyes” starring Lionel Barrymore. The crowd on opening night was so large that some people had to be turned away!
The theater closed in 1951 and was purchased to be converted into stores and offices. Since then, the three-story brick building has been occupied by retail stores on the ground level. Today, Planet Fitness occupies the upper floors where the mezzanine once hung.
