Cinemart Cinemas at risk of closing
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A column by Michael Perlman in the Forest Hills/ Rego Park Times
The Cinemart as it looked in August of 1980. (Photo: Jim Azzara)
In an age of large corporations governing the movie industry and films customarily available on DVD, Netflix, and Movies On Demand, independent theater owners in particular need to have a gimmick in order to lead a successful business.
At first, single-screen theaters shuttered, and now some multiplexes are vanishing at a fast rate. Forest Hills and Rego Park have witnessed the closure of the Trylon, the Forest Hills, the Drake and, most recently, the Continental (UA Brandon).
Now the historic Cinemart Cinemas, located at 106-03 Metropolitan Avenue, is at risk of joining that list if the community does not lend their support. To increase the Cinemart’s viability, owner Nicolas Nicolaou is open to public input.
Not long after Nicolaou renovated the five-screen theater in the early 2000s and introduced the Theater Café with its bar, cozy fireplace, and sidewalk café, the realities behind the movie industry shifted.
“The major Hollywood studios cut off any first-run movies to our independently owned theater eight years ago, and we have been operating at a loss,” said Nicolaou. “Our community deserves an upscale first-run facility. We should not have to travel away from our area to watch a movie, and also deserve having choices.
“We are part of our neighborhood for almost 90 years, and have added historic character and business to our community,” he added. [Read More]
