RED HOOK WHAT ABOUT FILM HOUSES?
Owner of movie theaters in Red Hook, Hyde Park and New Paltz presses for New York approval to reopen
Movie theater owner Al Bulay said if the state doesn’t allow movie theaters to reopen soon, businesses like his — not only in New York, but across the country — could end up closing for good.
At an invitation-only event Thursday at the Lyceum Cinemas in Red Hook, Bulay said the state ban is not only hurting independent theater owners across New York, but across the country.
“If a neighborhood theater in Topeka, Kansas closes, it is Andrew Cuomo’s fault,” Bulay said during the event, which included politicians and the press. “He has hurt every movie theater in the country by keeping New York closed.”
Bulay owns the Lyceum Cinemas in Red Hook, the Roosevelt Theater in Hyde Park, and the New Paltz Cinemas in Ulster County, as well as two theaters in Vermont.
Movie theaters in New York have been closed since March 16, when Cuomo ordered most businesses in the state to shut their doors in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
While other New York businesses, including gyms, casinos and bowling alleys, have been allowed to open in some capacity, indoor movie theaters across the state remain shuttered, with no word on when they will be allowed to reopen.
Movie theaters originally were thought to be included under in 4 of the state’s reopening plan, which included arts and entertainment, but they were not.
Bulay was joined Thursday by elected officials and political candidates in calling on the state to allow movie theaters to operate, including Dutchess County Legislator Will Truitt, R-Hyde Park, who called the state’s reluctance “very bizarre” and suggested people would be safer in a movie theater complying with safety protocols than at any one of the many outdoor protests that have taken place in recent months.
Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, in a letter read by Truitt, said the county has complied with all the guidance
“If a neighborhood theater in Topeka, Kansas closes, it is Andrew Cuomo’s fault. He has hurt every movie theater in the country by keeping New York closed.”
required to allow businesses to reopen under the state’s phased approach, and he implored Cuomo “to do what is right” and allow theaters to reopen.
Molinaro was Cuomo’s Republican opponent in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
Rob Lawinski, a film buyer who works with Bulay, said movie studios are delaying the
release of blockbuster films because New York, Los Angeles and San Franciso theaters remain closed.
“New York is the No. 2 grossing market in the U.S.,” Lawinski said. “It’s going to kill the independents,” he said of the ban on reopening.
Bulay said movie theaters in 47 other states, including Vermont, where he owns two, have opened without incident. As part of Thursday’s event, he and General Manager Matt Heuer outlined the numerous safety measures they’ve put in place in the Vermont theaters and that will be used in his theaters here when allowed to open. In addition to enacting social-distancing protocols
and requiring all employees and patrons to wear masks, Heuer said showtimes would be staggered to reduce traffic in the theater, and staff will use an electrostatic fogging disinfectant machine to sanitize the seats.
“We’ll work with whatever the state tells us,” Heuer said.
Bulay said he is concerned that if not allowed to open in some capacity soon, he may not be able to pay the taxes on his properties.
On Wednesday, Cuomo said the state is opening up as much as it can while trying to keep its rate of positive COVID-19 tests below 1%.
New York’s positivity rate on Wednesday was 0.98%.
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