A beloved independent movie theater on the North Shore will reopen next month, but the fates of two other local independents are not known.
“Can you smell the fresh popcorn? We can!!!” the management of Soundview Cinemas wrote in a Facebook post on May 14. “Soundview Cinemas is pleased to announce our reopening [on] Friday June 25th [at] 33% capacity.”
Located in the Soundview Marketplace in Port Washington North, the theater had been closed since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Owner Jordan Desner of Plainview said in a phone interview that improving conditions had led to the reopening decision.
“We feel that COVID is starting to improve, and now the studios are starting to release the better movies as the summer’s starting to come, so we’re going to give it a chance,” Desner said.
A lack of “good product” had been one of the reasons that Desner opted against reopening in October, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed theaters to reopen with COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Major theater chains including Regal, which has eight theaters on Long Island including one in Westbury, and AMC Theaters, which has eight, including one each in Glen Cove and Garden City, reopened with reduced capacities in October.
As for two remaining independent theaters on the North Shore, whether the Manhasset Cinemas or the Roslyn Cinemas will reopen is not known. Both have stood dormant since the start of the pandemic, and efforts to contact the Great Neck-based Gilman Management Corp., which owns and operates both theaters, were unavailing.
One local independent theater in the area has already been claimed by the effects of the pandemic, with Great Neck’s Squire Cinemas announcing its closing in mid-September following 85 years of operation.
For the patrons hoping to hit Soundview Cinemas soon, movies being shown and show times for the reopening will be announced the week before, Desner said.
