Times Square Theaters: Then and Now

I was in Times Square last night and I went into Forever 21, the store that is situated where Virgin Megastore used to be. What was notable about Virgin was that it extended several stories down. There were three stories of the record/video store, with the ground floor being the store’s top floor. Then there was a multiplex movie theater with four screens that went at least two or three stories further down, like a bomb shelter. It opened as the Sony State in 1996, but was later called the Loew’s State when it changed corporate hands. When Virgin closed in 2009 and was eventually taken over by another retailer, I wondered what would happen to the theaters. Well, last night, I found out. The space was gutted and turned into a lower level of the new store. So those theaters are gone.