The Brooklyn Paramount is a live music venue inside a lavishly restored 1928 movie palace at 385 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn. Designed by the Chicago architecture firm Rapp and Rapp for Paramount Pictures, the rococo-style theater originally sat over 4,000 guests and hosted jazz legends like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, along with 1950s rock and roll pioneers such as Chuck Berry and Fats Domino.
After closing as a theater in 1962, the building spent more than four decades as Long Island University’s Schwartz Athletic Center, hosting the LIU Blackbirds basketball program. Live Nation led a roughly $50 million restoration to return the space to live entertainment, and the venue reopened as the Brooklyn Paramount on March 27, 2024, with a debut performance by Damian and Stephen Marley.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: 385 Flatbush Avenue Extension, Downtown Brooklyn, NY
- Type: Concert theater / live music venue
- Originally Opened: November 1928
- Reopened as Music Venue: March 27, 2024
- Capacity: About 2,700
- Operator: Live Nation
- Famous For: 1930s-50s jazz and rock and roll shows, now a restored Live Nation concert hall
From Movie Palace to College Gym
When it opened in 1928, the Brooklyn Paramount was billed as one of the first theaters built specifically for sound film, wrapped in an ornate rococo interior with a cloud-painted ceiling. Beyond films, its stage became a stop for touring jazz and early rock acts through the 1950s. Long Island University acquired the building and, after the theater closed in 1962, converted the auditorium into a basketball arena that served LIU’s athletic teams for more than 40 years.
A Live Nation Restoration
Plans to revive the theater as a performance venue took shape starting in 2017, with Live Nation eventually overseeing an extensive, multi-year restoration that preserved much of the original architectural detail while adding modern concert infrastructure. The venue reopened in March 2024 with roughly 2,700 capacity, giving Brooklyn a mid-sized concert hall between club-sized rooms and the borough’s larger arenas.
Explore more: Explore more iconic music venues.
Brooklyn Paramount FAQs
When did the Brooklyn Paramount open?
The theater originally opened in November 1928 as a movie palace built by Paramount Pictures; it reopened as a live music venue on March 27, 2024, after a Live Nation-led restoration.
What is the capacity of the Brooklyn Paramount?
The venue holds about 2,700 people.
Was the Brooklyn Paramount ever used for something other than concerts?
Yes. After closing as a theater in 1962, the building served as Long Island University’s basketball arena, known as the Schwartz Athletic Center, for more than four decades before its restoration.
Get More from Brooklyn Paramount
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate Brooklyn Paramount, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.
Photo: Acroterion / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.