OT: Long time Sayreville/South Amboy eyesore going away?
- Thread starter T2Kplus20
- Start date
5 years after me.
Trying to think of anyone I know who was in that class and can't come up with anyone. I knew a lot of people in the class of '83, though - neighborhood kids.
No mention of the drive-in it replaced in that OPlinked story.
I recall as a kid coming back from the shore over that bridge and seeing nudity on the biggest of the 3 screens. For some reason, I always want to sit on the right side of the car afterward.
I recall as a kid coming back from the shore over that bridge and seeing nudity on the biggest of the 3 screens. For some reason, I always want to sit on the right side of the car afterward.
That theater was the go-to theater for event films in the early 1980s.
The funny thing is that most of the locals avoided it like the plague. We knew it had rats from the moment it opened.
I don't know anyone from Sayreville that avoided Amboys nor did I ever see a rat.
In one of the stories about this I saw "National Lead" mentioned... and I had always thought of that toxic site as Dutch Boy Paints (which I now found out was just a National Lead consumer product.. that place on the south-west side of the bridge always had these oddly colored collection ponds.. poison is beautiful. Of course, all such companies either fold or change their names.. same for the products. That's not to say that capitalism poisoning us is worse than what the socialists/commies do. It is just what they all do.
This is probably why..
www.nj.com
This is probably why..
New Jersey was and is home to many familiar products.
New Jersey was and is home to many familiar products.
Well, if you by locals you mean "South Amboy," then I can't speak to that. But I know kids from all over Middlesex County made pilgrimages to the Amboy Multiplex. The volume of birthday parties I attended at Razz-ma-tazz was ridiculous. Hell, that complex was a bit of a landmark for kids driving home from the shore in the summers because as soon as you saw those lights at night (and the bridge), you knew exactly how long it was going to take you to get to your house.
Do you remember the Captains Wheel on route 1 South. It was their personal clubhouse and pickup place back around late 70’s -80. It was like the Bada Bing of Metuchen-Edison PD.
Yes Amboy was one of the first DriveIns to show X rated / hard R rated vids. . Seeing a 50’ crotch from 35 or GSP was amazing at 18. . Amboy was Drive In first before it became a multiplex theater.
The Best Man at our wedding had his 1969 Mint Camaro stolen from that parking lot one night we all went there as a group. Cops told him it was very common to take cars right across the Outerbridge Crossing to chop shops for parts or serial number changes.
I know I'm posting a reply to an old post from Oct 2022, but I just wanted to inform you that people would not see the movies coming over the Victory Bridge. They would see the movies coming over the Edison Bridge which is the the Rt 9 bridge. The Victory Bridge was the draw bridge on Rt 35 between So. Amboy and Perth Amboy.
I went to that drive in in my parents car when in grade school and in my own car when in HS. I'm not sure, but I remember watching Star Wars there with my wife and children.
My aunt Mary worked there for many years.
Never saw one movie in the Amboys Cinema.
I went to the Amboy Multiplex during my time at RU
And your point being? Let just say the screen was visible on the bridge to many tired travelers.
Just wanted to correct the name of the Bridge.
I'd like to also correct myself. The Victory Bridge was between Sayreville and Perth Amboy.
I vaguely remember a cop killing himself in the lot in the back. Years ago.
We had American Cyanamind by me. They had colored collection ponds and a place we called the tar pits both right next to the Raritan. Used to ride our dirt bikes and this black sand like material(tar pits) you couldn't wash off. Being a kid, I never wonder how much of that stuff is plastered on my lungs. If you didn't grow up next to a Super Fund site than you didn't grow up Jersey.
Have not gone back to read old posts but surprised no reference to Bourbon Street. Amboy Theater was the signal you needed to get over to the right on the GSP for the Rt. 9 South turnoff 😁(well prior to GPS young ones). Used to hook up with friends and brothers far too many Fridays that I care to admit after work for a few beers and entertainment. Classiest gentlemen's club and "entertainment" we were aware of during the eighties. Many members of Bon Jovi and Skid Row were in there most times I was there. It seemed to be the hangout for the big hair bands prior to gigs on that Rt. 35 and Rt. 9 club scene (which was awesome imo). Probably the inspiration for many of those MTV videos at the time.
Last edited:
I was a kid but I didn't see X stuff.. not that I saw very often.. once a week for a few years.. but I figured it was just the horror-boobies thing mostly.
Ahh, Simko's. Lost a lotta brain cells in that place.
Ronnie B, are you from Green Valley? Sister Kelly and brother Shawn?
Hard R rated movies were considered borderline vs x rated… Amboy wasn’t the only Drive In who pushed the envelope with those type of educational films.
Yes sir, good call. Jensen Rd. My younger sister lives in the house we grew up in.
Simko's was always a more local place - the the extent JBJ ever went there it was because in his neighborhood. We were all blessed to grow up with multiple bars within walking distance.
The first day I met my second wife we went to Simko's for an after work drink.
My mom grew up a few houses down on Roosevelt before getting married and moving to EB. My grandparents lived there until they both passed (2008).
Not about Simkos, but I always wondered how/why that dry-cleaner building ended up in the middle of the road! LOL.
Wasn't Simko's Pub on Washington Road across from Arleth Elementary School? Pretty sure Simko's was originally a bar from Matawan and he moved it to Sayreville. Now they own a Simko's in Brielle.
Yeah like Cinema 9 & whatever that cinema in Sayrewoods was called. Not sure if the Madison Cinema went porn or not. Then, of course, there was the Majestic in Perth Amboy
