Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Mysterious 62 East 4th Street Has Warhol Past
By
Jen Carlson
Published May 5, 2008
Modified May 5, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 7
By
Jen Carlson
Published May 5, 2008
Modified May 5, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Lost City visits one of the odder buildings in the East Village today, located at 62 E. 4th Street. Currently two of the five floors house the Duo Theater, but the top three levels have gone unused for nearly 40 years. Built in 1889, the current crumbling facade isn't the biggest mystery -- the architecture is. LC notes:
There's all sort of Italianate grandeur in the shapes and lines. But it's all thrown off by the bizarre, frontal, cylindrical metal fire escape, enclosed by a tubular metal grill. The top floor included a boarded-up space of what looks like a door. But to where? There's no balcony. And what was the intention of the column-framed open forum on the fourth floor?
Paint it pink and it could be the next Palazzo Chupi!
Cinema Treasures says that in 1969, the building housed a gay cinema; one commenter on that site noting that it was "owned by none other than Andy Warhol in the late sixties. It did indeed show adult fare and had the distinction of having Joe Dallesandro (Warhol Superstar) be a projectionist there as well have a revolving door of male clients who visited Dallesandro during the show."
In fact, Warhol did rent the 150 seat Fortune Theater at 62 East Fourth Street (second floor), placing Gerard Malanga as manager and the one-and-only Jim Carroll as co-manager. Together the group put on a series of hardcore male porn films in what was called Andy Warhol's Theater: Boys to Adore Galore; all paperwork was being filed under the name: Poetry on Film. Carroll once claimed that Dallesandro made some extra cash on the side sellin' sex in "a small sofa-filled room beside the projection booth." (Pictured at right: Filmmaker Craig Highberger and Jackie Curtis at the Fortune Theater in 1974.)
Tagged
62 e 4th st
andy warhol
architecture
building
duo theater
east 4th street
east village
Fortune Theater
jim carroll
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .