Paramount Theater, ca. 1995.

The Paramount Theatre opened in October in 1930 and was second only to the St. George Theatre in grandeur and reputation on Staten Island. The Art Deco theatre, which sat 2,300 patrons, was actually constructed on land that had once been the childhood home of the famed railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. A major selling point for the theatre was its double console Wurlitzer theatre organ, one of only ten in the whole country when it was installed.

The movie house was extensively renovated in the 1960s but suffered the same loss of patronage as many other movie theaters in the city and closed in 1977. The next decade saw the space serving briefly as a multi-purpose event hall, a nightclub, and, most notably, as a rock venue. Acts who performed here include the B-52’s, Squeeze, and the Ramones. Despite some success, the venue was short-lived and closed sometime in the1980s. The space has been largely abandoned since then, its future uncertain. Various plans have included demolition for high-rise apartments and restoration and creation of an event space and live performance venue. Work towards this type of conversion began in 2009 but was halted in 2010. In recent years, a number of TV productions have been filmed here including Gotham and Marvel’s The Defenders.