Bostonist: Downtown Crossing is a Target

Ron Newman

Fri, 13 May 2005 10:25:39 -0500

The Gaiety (Publix) was strictly a movie theatre since at least the early 1940s. It showed second- and third-run action and exploitation films, but not porn. If it ever had strippers during its burlesque days, they were in the 30s or earlier.

ed

Fri, 13 May 2005 09:48:17 -0500

the gaiety kind of had strippers for a little while, and there might have been some theaters that showed porn in scollay square. you can still probably buy drugs in downtown crossing if you hang around long enough. i think paul reubens would have been disappointed.

Ron Newman

Thu, 12 May 2005 22:10:44 -0500

Downtown Crossing didn't have porn movie houses. Those were further down Washington Street: the Mayflower (built as the Modern, and returned to that name briefly when it became a live stage in the early 1980s) the Paramount (soon to be renovated by Emerson College) the State (replaced by the new Ritz hotel) the Pilgrim (demolished about ten years ago; the Park Essex residential tower is now under construction on that site) the Pussycat (once the Stuart, now a McDonald's) There also used to be a few non-porn theaters showing third-run or kung-fu exploitation films, such as the Pagoda (originally Center, now the Empire Garden restaurant), the Star Cinema (once the RKO Boston and then the Boston Cinerama), and the late lamented Publix (originally Gaiety, now being demolished as you read this). But none of them were in the Crossing either.

Katie

Thu, 12 May 2005 21:46:10 -0500

My mistake about the separate ownership of Filene's Basement, but I'm quite happy to hear about it possibly surviving even if does become a Macy's...as for "porn mecca", I've just heard stories from the good ol' days when it was full of porno film houses and drug dealers on every corner, but I'm too young to have actually seen it. And to clarify, I don't think that Target stores in the area are THAT far away. Please understand that those, like myself, who have to rely on the T to get everywhere, can't make a quick trip to Target without taking a few buses to get there. Oh, to have my own car in the city. A girl can dream, can't she?

jon

Thu, 12 May 2005 21:34:22 -0500

Sure, maybe not quite a porn mecca...but we hear all these stories about the good old days when the Mayflower was still showing skin flicks and they still called the "ladder district" the "combat zone"...but we're not really old enough to understand the history pre-1980 when it closed.

Ron Newman

Thu, 12 May 2005 19:53:47 -0500

Filene's Basement is under totally separate ownership from Filene's, so whatever Federated does with the main Filene's store, it's not going to close down the Basement. Also, where is this "porn mecca" in Downtown Crossing? Somehow I've missed it entirely.