Herricks Cinema 4
3324 Hillside Avenue,
New Hyde Park,
NY
11040
3324 Hillside Avenue,
New Hyde Park,
NY
11040
2 people
favorited this theater
Tiny neighborhood house built in the back of a small strip mall sometime in the 60’s. The previous owner twinned it and went first run after many years of discount double bills. Aquired by Clearview they somehow broke each side in two and made it a quad.
Contributed by
Robert R
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
Ed, Grand Ave. is now a quad and a half….LOL
What were the GG Cinemas anyway? One owner, owner affiliation to get bookings of the first run releases, co-op etc? Though I went to both the Herricks and Franklin growing up, both GG theaters, I never felt they were coporate or even franchised, just independent theaters just by the way they were run, the management “Decisions” made. I am using the Franklin as an example, because I spent the most time there and find the most bizarre decisions, from construction to running films without audiences there!
Was GG renamed Clearview when it was bought by Cablevision? When I was growing up, it seemed like the Franklin which my friends and I used to go to at least on day a weekend, seem to be more of an independent theater. Could I be wrong about that? Was GG just a sort of “Co-op” of theaters to book movies so they can get first runs against the big chains or was it an actual corporation? The Franklin I know was never an RKO, a Century, Loews, Sony, etc. but I never remember it ever being a GG theater or even advertising any kind of chain affiliation except in the paper.
It seemed so too, it was independently operated the way it was run, and also the way it quaded. They just took the two small balconies and made theaters of them.
It was very strange how it was quaded, because first off, it looked to the naked eye about only 50 seats if that much, and then there was an area, the same size where no seats were, and then the screen. I do not know if it was structually unsound to put seats, but they did not have bars so you could not walk on them, and you could walk up and touch the screen as you sometimes did as “crazy teenagers.” It if was a corporate of theaters, I doubt they would have quaded the theater in this way, because the cost of rental against the number of seats, it really would seem, “what is the point?” if you only have 50-75 seats in the theater?
I even remember on a couple of occasions seeing a day, non matinee for another film, and walking into both the big theater and the small theater on seperate occasions and the movie was running but no one was in the theater. When I asked about that, they said, no one had come for the 3:30 showing on a summer weekday. I asked, “Why then, after a half hour, do you not just shut the film off? I was told, they keep in on just in case people come late! Well we know movies never start on time because of previews etc, and then after a half hour and no tickets sold? That does not sound like a corporate run theater.
For that reason it seems like it was some kind of independent theater that either joined the GG group for advertising and movie booking purposes or was bought and joined with Clearview when Cablevision bought it. Does someone have the history of GG, and how it evolved to Clearview and the purchase by Cablevision?
Needless to say, movies up there on the “living room theaters”, were always sold out on the weekends.
Clearview bought the GG theaters. Mr GG was an actual person. Everone today splits up theaters to get the most films they can in at once. Some films stay for a long period of time and get moved into the smaller 50 or 60 seats theaters. Thats all thats needed for those films at that time.
this theater is located in New Hyde Park
Mr GG owned the Herricks, Port Washington, Grand Avenue, and I forget what else offhand. Clearview bought them from him and started buying up theaters all over. Then Cablevision bought Clearview. Thats where it stands today.
As of October, 1985, RCDTJ, GG’s Long Island empire also included the Old Country Twin in Plainview. See the ad I posted above on Aug 23rd, 2006.
I knew I was missing one. LOL. Thanks Ed.
I was never in this theatre but wandered around the exterior one day shortly after it was opened. It seemed really cheaply contructed from the outside.
I worked at this theater as an usher when I was in high school in the early 90’s. At the time, the theater was a twin and both screens while tall in height, were rather narrow. Overall, the theater was very small and a bit run down, so I can’t imagine how they managed to squeeze in an additional two screens. For some reason, this theater always did well, at least when I was there. It was the perfect template of a neighborhood theater… loyal patrons with near sold out crowds on weekends and a respectable showing on weekdays.
At the time, it was under the control of the “GG Theaters” chain, which owned by Mr. GG (I have no idea what GG was short for), who was a bit of a character. His main hub was the Port Washington theater and also ran a theater in Baldwin. He was Israeli with a strong accent and not much of a personality. He would call for the totals on most night and occasionally pop by to grace the theater with his presence.
The theater was managed by an eccentric older woman named Ruth (or Ruthy) and she was entertaining to say the least. She had a bit of a foul mouth and would have no problem insulting patrons of the theater if they somehow pissed her off (like complaining that the sound was too low or loud). If you were nice to her, she was nicer to you… but if you pissed her off in some way… watch out! Her daughter Joanie was an on and off assistant manager and she had a real sour disposition and unpleasant to work with. The rest of the crew was rounded out by teenagers mostly. We had some fun changing around words with the marquee on random late nights and would often change the answering machine to that of a gay porn theater… but only for a couple of hours at night.
Your manager sounds like a “classy lady"The theatre business does not need,but wait,she worked for GG theatres,Not GCC.