Attorney: ‘Not financially viable’ to keep Manhasset Bow Tie as is

The Island Now
Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations met with attorney Paul Bloom and his clients who purchased Roslyn and Manhasset's Bow Tie theaters last week. (Photo by Demi Guo)

By Demi Guo

The lawyer for the company that purchased the Manhasset and Roslyn Bow Tie cinemas said that it is “not financially viable” to leave Manhasset’s theater in its current state.

Though “maintaining a movie theater is not off the table,” part of the space will have to be devoted to other uses, the lawyer, Paul Bloom, a former Great Neck village justice and trustee, said at a meeting of the Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations last Wednesday. He represents Cinemas GMC LLC, the new owner of  the two theaters.

“It could shrink down to zero, it could shrink down to two, it could shrink down to one, it could expand to four,” he said this week of the number of screens in the cinema. “All these things are being explored right now.”

Cinemas GMC LLC, a single-use company formed just for this purchase, bought the Plandome Road theater and Roslyn’s Bow Tie last month. Great Neck’s Bow Tie theater is also for sale, but Bloom said that the LLC is only focused on the two it bought. As of yet, he added, the LLC has not talked about plans for Roslyn’s Bow Tie theater.

Bloom and Adam Ruttner, a member of the LLC, attended the council’s monthly meeting to initiate a discussion about what Manhasset residents would like to see become of the Bow Tie space.

“We bought the company to make a profit,” Bloom, of Melville-based Harras Bloom & Archer LLP, said. “We’re here to listen.”

The space’s zoning is open to a variety of possible uses, including office, retail or hotel space, he said.

Meeting attendees said that the movie theater property should be used in a way that will add to the area’s downtown nightlife.

Instead of a cinema, perhaps the space could be made into a small center for the performing arts, as exists in Huntington, or an eat-in theater that takes reservations, said Marion Endrizzi, a board member of the Plandome Heights Civic Association. Or, suggested Andrew Schwenk, the council’s first vice president, the property could be a mixed-used establishment with both movies and another form of entertainment.

The only issue would be parking, since the cinema does not have any, Schwenk said. But, several attendees pointed out, the location is well-placed to cater to youths since it is within walking distance of places like the Manhasset Secondary School.

“They like to walk,” Schwenk said. “Even in the snow.”

Additional retail space would be one of the least feasible options for reworking the space, Bloom said.

While there are no concrete plans yet, the meeting established the beginning of discussions about what to do with the purchase.

The current leases for the two theaters last until the end of March 2022.

“We really do want to find a use that’s going to work for us and work for you and the town,” Ruttner said. “That’s the end goal here.”

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