Long Beach Cinema 4
179 E. Park Avenue,
Long Beach,
NY
11561
179 E. Park Avenue,
Long Beach,
NY
11561
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 45 of 45 comments
The Long Beach Cinema remains closed, having been damaged by three feet of flood waters. Local newspaper reports that a leaky roof caused substantial damage to projection equipment.
As mentioned in posts above, the west side of the structure was built in the original shell of the Lido Theater. The entire interior was cleared out – gutted with little remaining other than the roof and west wall. The eastern half of the building is indeed new construction, replacing a single story frame real estate office.
Still closed — doors, marquee and display cases all covered in plywood.
Currently closed as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the owners have indicated that the theater will eventually reopen: View article
Newsday carried movie times in the June 26, 2011 paper, so, presumably, it’s open. Whether it opened on the 10th is a moot point so long as it’s open.
So did the theater reopen?
I telephoned this evening. A recorded message states that the theater will have a “grand reopening on Friday June 10th”, and no further information.
The comment by saps, December 20, 2006, suggests that the Lido Theatre might have been demolished and replaced by an entirely new building. Judging from the bird’s-eye view of the building at Bing Maps, the original theater building’s shell, including the roof, still exists.
The Cinema 4 occupies two buildings, and it looks like the one at the corner of Long Beach Boulevard could be of recent construction, but the original auditorium building still has a gabled roof, the peak of which can be glimpsed in this 1951 photo (the same photo lost memory linked to early in this thread.) An entirely new building would not have that sort of roof.
The photo shows only a small part of the corner building, but it’s clear that it was once lower than the theater. The current street view shows that it is now the same height. My guess would be that the original corner building was demolished, rather than extended upward, and an addition to the theater was built on its site.
I also suspect that, as the theater’s footprint was just about doubled by the addition, its current seating capacity is probably more than the 540 this page currently lists, even taking into consideration the likelihood that the current seats are larger than the Lido’s seats were, and the rows probably spaced farther apart.
Test of NY Post article dated 6/3/11:
ong Beach, LI, is getting its movie theater back.
The beach town’s four-screen cinema is reopening after mysteriously closing in late April.
Its owner, PL Long Beach LLC, announced today that the theater would reopen June 10 after undergoing renovations that include a new 3-D screen.
When the theater closed, residents were left to wonder what had happened. Signs were simply taken down and the glass covered up with paper. Town officials were even were unaware about what had happened.
The theater’s owner said today that it planned to lease the space out for retail stores but changed direction after the community made it clear it wanted a place to see movies. Long Beach Cinema is the only theater in the town.
.
Why closed the theater before you sign a redevelopment deal?
From Long Beach Herald:
On April 1, Long Beach resident George Ennis, who hosts the annual George Ennis Film Festival, said he had booked the theater at Long Beach Cinemas at 179 E. Park Ave., where he planned to hold a pre-screening of the festival’s short films on May 25.
Ennis said that the pre-screening event â€" a lead-in to the film festival on June 5 at the Cabana, that also raises money for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation â€" was expected to attract about 150 people to view the roughly 10 to 12 short films that would be presented at the festival and showcase the work of amateur and professional filmmakers.
“A lot of people were looking forward to it,†Ennis said. “Having [the pre-screening] at the theater put a little bit more legitimacy to the film festival.â€
So Ennis said it came as a shock when the movie theater manager told him that the event would have to be canceled. The manager, Ennis said, informed him that theater’s owners had abruptly closed the business the night before. On Thursday, the theater’s coming attraction posters and movie listings were removed, and the lights inside the building were off.
“I went by [Thursday] and wanted to ask [the manager] a question,†Ennis said. “When I saw there was no coming attraction signs, I knew something was fishy.â€
Ennis said the manager later contacted him to apologize and explained what had happened.
“Evidently the owners came in the middle of the night and said ‘we’re wrapping it up,’†Ennis said. “Who knew that two days ago, driving by the theater, that they were going to pull the rug out.â€
The abrupt closure came as a shock to many residents, Ennis said, adding that even the manager seemed a bit unsure as to why the owners closed the business without any notice. Neither the manager nor the building’s owner, Philip Pilevsky of Philips International, returned calls for comment on Friday. City Manager Charles Theofan could not be reached for comment on Friday. Another city official with the building department said on Friday that he was not sure why the theater had closedOn April 1, Long Beach resident George Ennis, who hosts the annual George Ennis Film Festival, said he had booked the theater at Long Beach Cinemas at 179 E. Park Ave., where he planned to hold a pre-screening of the festival’s short films on May 25.
Ennis said that the pre-screening event â€" a lead-in to the film festival on June 5 at the Cabana, that also raises money for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation â€" was expected to attract about 150 people to view the roughly 10 to 12 short films that would be presented at the festival and showcase the work of amateur and professional filmmakers.
“A lot of people were looking forward to it,†Ennis said. “Having [the pre-screening] at the theater put a little bit more legitimacy to the film festival.â€
So Ennis said it came as a shock when the movie theater manager told him that the event would have to be canceled. The manager, Ennis said, informed him that theater’s owners had abruptly closed the business the night before. On Thursday, the theater’s coming attraction posters and movie listings were removed, and the lights inside the building were off.
“I went by [Thursday] and wanted to ask [the manager] a question,†Ennis said. “When I saw there was no coming attraction signs, I knew something was fishy.â€
Ennis said the manager later contacted him to apologize and explained what had happened.
“Evidently the owners came in the middle of the night and said ‘we’re wrapping it up,’†Ennis said. “Who knew that two days ago, driving by the theater, that they were going to pull the rug out.â€
The abrupt closure came as a shock to many residents, Ennis said, adding that even the manager seemed a bit unsure as to why the owners closed the business without any notice. Neither the manager nor the building’s owner, Philip Pilevsky of Philips International, returned calls for comment on Friday. City Manager Charles Theofan could not be reached for comment on Friday. Another city official with the building department said on Friday that he was not sure why the theater had closed. Ennis said that he was given no indication that the theater was in danger of shutting its doors.
Ennis said that he was given no indication that the theater was in danger of shutting its doors.
“I’ve been talking to the manager on a weekly basis â€" there was no indication that it would close,†Ennis said. “The manager didn’t really get into why it closed that much, but I can only guess that it was for financial reasons.â€
For many years, Long Beach Cinema, the only movie theater in Long Beach, was located at the corner of Long Beach Road and Park Avenue. The theater boasts four movie screens and is located on the former site of the Lido Theater, said Carole Shahda Geraci, of the Long Beach Historical and Preservation Society.
Ennis acknowledged that, as of Friday, it was still unclear if the theater was shutting its doors permanently. “The manager said that he couldn’t tell me for sure that it was going to reopen in a few weeks, but he said that it didn’t look that way,†Ennis said.
Now, Ennis said that his pre-screening benefit may be relocated to the Cabana, and said that the theater’s closure is a bit of a letdown.
“It’s a little difficult â€" this would have put [the event] in a much more conducive atmosphere to concentrate on the films,†Ennis said. “And it’s going to hurt a little from a contribution standpoint.â€
Check out next week’s issue of the Herald for expanded coverage.
Link includes a photo.
View link
Theater looks closed. Nothing on the marquee, no one sheets, nothing in the box office.
Keith you got good taste in films,Hammer films were so much better than the horror trash they peddle today.LOVED “the MUMMY” story.Theatres just don’t do that anymore,Guess times have changed.Sadly.
This was the main theater I trained at in the early 90’s. It was also the theater that made me decide to give up projecting altogether due to the lousy equipment. The theater was cut in two by Henry Stampfel and his wife I guess around ‘89 or '90. I was showing Batman 3 and Casper and that lousy five tear platter system went haywire and snapped the film on me. As I was repairing Batman I accidentally shut off Casper’s uptake and that film busted. Both theaters were packed. The regular projectionist happened to be walking by, thank God, and saved the show. Talk about panic. I worked this theater a few times, Oceanside, Malvern, Green Acres. Henry lost the lease and Clearview has it now, they gitted it and put up a four plex.
For an independt theatre, the admiission prices are expensive. Full Pirce for the First SHow, go the Fantasy for %6 and save $4.
The descriptive text may need to be revised because I believe the old theatre (last called the Park Avenue) was torn down several years ago and the new cinema (Long Beach Cinema 4) was built from the ground up at the same site.
I may have been responsible for the Hammer film show. In the early 70’s my father and uncle owned the Lido and Laurel theaters. I worked there In the summer of 71. I had no idea what to do, and the staff wondered why this guy was standing around watching movies all the time. Once they determined I was harmless they embraced me into their fold and I was involved in just about every aspect of the running of the theaters.
I thought it would be nice to have my own midnight show so I presented a list of my favorite films to my father. They were able to get a copy of the Hammer film, The Mummy. I made posters to advertise the event, and the manager of the Lido even wrapped himself in bandages for a frightening walk up the aisle. We made a very small profit, but it is a fond memory.
Once at the Laurel, the manager noticed some smoke near me. We couldn’t find the source of the smoke no matter where we looked, but it kept showing up. Then he said, “Your PANTS are on fire!” Apparently I had stepped on a burning cigarette. Thereafter I was referred to as “Hot Pants Pollack.”
My father and uncle sold the properties, at a loss, a few years later.
I went into the pizza business in East Rockaway and now make a product called “Z crackers."
Last weekend I took my wife to Long Beach. It looks a hell of a lot better than I remember it. But imagine my surpise when I looked for the theaters.
Keith Pollack
I saw my first movie there in 1934= “Babes In Toyland” with Laurel and Hardy. I was so scared in the scene with the “boogie men”, my parents had to take me out, crying!!!
Herb S
The Film Daily Yearbook; 1941 edition gives a seating capacity of 560 for the Lido Theatre. In the 1943 edition it is listed with the same capacity, but closed. Open again by the 1950 edition of F.D.Y. with a seating capacity of 540.
In the middle of winter, I would get so bored standing on that picket line. It’s freezing! And because the lobby is small, the patrons have to line up outside, as well, until their particular theater is cleaned from the previous performance. Well, to liven things up a bit, I used to keep a couple cannisters of fart spray under my cuffs and walk through the crowd. Unfortunately, one night the union business agent crossed my path and became violently ill. We later found him in back of the theater puking. OOPS! Talk about a back fire…
this is in new york…not long beach,ca