When New Yorkers return to the city’s big screens on Friday, many of the Big Apple’s beloved indie theaters will remain closed, according to operators who say they were not given enough notice to prepare and to create a 25 percent capacity limit. Money is much more restrictive.
Gov. Cuomo announced on Monday that the NYC movie theater could reopen on March 5, almost a year after all the non-essential businesses were ordered to shutter after the first COVID-19 cases were discovered in the city.
But independently owned theater operators say the reopening plan favors large theater chains that can bear the cost, such as AMC and Showcase, but hurts their small businesses.
“This is also a total loss of revenue from opening. The overhead to run the theater is just tremendous, ”said Harvey Elgart, owner of Cave Garden Cinema, Cobble Hill Cinema and Williamsburg Cinema. “Utility bills, electricity, heat. This is a major cash-flow problem with very few people to come. I can actually do better by being closed than by being open. ”
Elgarert and several other small theaters have yet to set a reopening date, and say the sudden announcement shut them down after months of begging for more guidance from the governor’s office.
“The announcement came for a full year that the New York governor allowed theaters to open throughout the state and did not discuss any theater the whole time,” Elgart said. “We were completely abandoned by the governor.”
Theaters in and above Long Island were allowed to reopen in October, also under the 25-percent, 50-man limit.
In addition to capacity, all movie-theater patrons must, according to state regulations, wear masks, and sit in socially distant, assigned seats.
“We found out just like everyone else on the news. I hadn’t slept for months, we gave up,” said Nick Nicolau, owner of Cinema Village in Green Nick Village, Alpine Cinema in Bay Ridge and Cinemart in Queens.
“Not to cover operating expenses at 25 percent, but it is going to allow us to reopen and reopen safely. The time it takes to train our staff and follow the guidelines. “
Nicolaou, which hopes to reopen its venues on April 1, is one of several smaller theaters that said the two-week notice did not give them enough time to get ready.
“Cinema village, disaster of entire lobby, pipes freeze. Alpine, we had similar losses. When you have buildings that are 100 years old, and they are closed, it creates other issues,” Nicolaou Explained
The Film Forum in Greenwich Village is planning to reopen on April 2, a spokesperson said, while IPIC is expected to open on March 31 in the Financial District.
Like Elgarert, others, including Cinepolis in Chelsea and the film at Lincoln Center, have yet to announce a reopening date.
“When we are aware of the governor’s office’s recent announcement to allow the reopening of New York City movie theaters, the film remains closed in theaters at Lincoln Center for the safety of our staff and audiences,” the spokesperson Lomus Thomas said.
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