It's where JLo premiered the Netflix documentary "HALFTIME” … But this New York theater was nearly torn down before becoming an iconic cultural institution. Welcome to the United Palace.
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00:00Thank you, United Palace, for not turning this into a 200-screen multiplex.
00:12So we're going backstage at the United Palace now.
00:15There's a lot of work being done, so we'll just be a little quiet, breeze through.
00:18You'll see some of the masters in action.
00:30The New York Times recently came in here and declared this a Byzantine, Romanesque, Indo-Hindu, Sino-Moorish, Persian-Eclectic Rococo Deco.
00:48Otherwise known as a kitchen sink masterpiece.
00:51In the 1930s, local long-time residents have actually let us in that they would come here for a full day of entertainment.
01:01So they would come in, there would be a main feature, there would be serials, cartoons, newsreels.
01:06And that whole day of entertainment cost 25 cents.
01:09So the community loved coming in here, hanging out in the AC, which we've had for 92 years.
01:14Here's the original equipment.
01:21For many years, his church services would pack the place.
01:41Now we're a 3,400-seat house, and he would pack nearly 5,000 people in here.
01:46In 2013, a local friend who you might have heard of, Lin-Manuel Miranda, helped bring back the movies to the palace.
02:02He donated a brand-new DCP projector and helped crowdfund for a brand-new 50-foot screen and 7.1 surround sound.
02:10We were rescued in the 60s, became the United Palace, and eventually, in 2016, we were landmarked.
02:22So no one can buy this place and turn it into a parking garage or a casino.
02:26It will stand as the United Palace.