New Hi-Tech

When the World Trade Center displaced Radio Row in the 1960s, the city’s bustling electronics hub of more than 300 stores, some merchants migrated north to Canal Street. The stretch around Sixth Avenue became the principal market for electronics parts for a quarter-century. Farther east, a handful of appliance shops still line the street, though any direct link to the Radio Row exodus is unconfirmed.

The Port Authority paid each departing merchant $3,000. Many refused the payment and closed rather than relocate. At 33 Canal, the building dates to about 1920 and stands five stories tall. Next door, at 31 Canal, is the Loew’s Canal Theatre, designed by Thomas W. Lamb and opened in 1927. With 2,314 seats, it was the second-largest theater in New York City when it opened. In 1932, during a projectionists’ strike, it was bombed along with the Loew’s 46th Street Theatre. After the theater closed (sources place the date anywhere from the 1950s to around 1980), the lobby became retail space and the auditorium a warehouse. The terra-cotta facade was designated a city landmark in 2010. The last retail tenant of the second-largest theater in New York was a small appliance repair shop.