The Space at Westbury

Went by there yesterday. The new owners have soaped the windows so it is no longer as easy to see through. However, I noticed that the concession stand, where the popcorn was still popped right before your eyes (see previous post) has been removed, while around the corner, the trees by the building have been chopped down. The whole place looks very gloomy.

I was born in Westbury and brought up in Old Westbury. I have not been back there since 1961. I have many fond memories as a child of going to the Westbury Theater on Saturday afternoons to see a movie. Sundays were spent going to St. Brigid’s Church, buying rolls at the bakery and a Sunday paper at the Drugstore and then heading home. In the 1940’s and 1950’s I spent many many hours at Annie McCarthy’s candy and grocery store/house which was located on the left across from the gas station as you headed into town on Post Avenue. She was my grandmother. It is heart breaking to read what has been happening to Post Avenue and the theater.
ShirleyA

Honestly, it was a shock to see it playing there and it was first run in the summer of 1990! I remember taking my wife there and she said “oh my God, isn’t this the place with the weird owners?” Now keep in mind, she was from Brooklyn. She had even heard of the stories. We actually had a fine time. The theater was packed and my wife loved the fresh popcorn. She said how nice an experience it was. That was what was so paradoxical about the place. It could be nice or not so nice. Like you said before, depended upon what meds they were taking.

Look where Garden City is. One of the most bizarre aspects of LI is that drive up from Baldwin through Hempstead. Going north along Henry St.in Hempstead, you hit the remains of the old trolley line and the street became Clinton St in Garden City. You literally go bump and one second you’re in slummy Hempstead and the next, beautiful Garden City with mansions all around.

Not to beat Nassau into the ground, but even Garden City isn’t what it used to be. Bloomingdales is now a SEARS!!!!!!!!!! The famed N. Franklin Street is NOTHING like it used to be. People who live there now brag about how nice it is. Huh? You didn’t see it back in the 70’s when it got and deserved it’s name as the “Fifth Ave. of LI”.

As for Roosevelt Field, this is not the place to discuss it but what the hell…as I’ve said before, it’s a shadow of it’s former self. Even back in 1998, it was still a great mall. But in a very short time, it’s become a disgrace…dirty, lack of maintenance, you name it. I have heard (from a couple of friends of mine who still live on LI) that the reason for the mall’s turnaround is a re-routing of several bus lines. I shall not elaborate. But I don’t think it’s just that.

God, I remember the mall and the theater back in the 80’s. It really was like a small city…with all the stores and that great WELL maintained theater. EVERYONE went there. Then I went there in 2002 and it was sooooooooooooooooooooooo depressing. I could not believe how bad the place was.

As for Westbury, I remember taking my future wife for dinner in a restaurant a couple of doors down from the theater (forgot the name) and then catching “Ghost” at the theater. Lovely time. Now? I shudder to think of what the area looks like now.

“Nassau could never look like a borough of the city of New York!”

HA! Want to make a bet? It already does and Westbury/New Cassell is quickly turning into Nassau’s version of Brownsville or East NY…especially New Cassell.

Nassau fell apart in the 80’s. Back in the 70’s, it still felt like a decent suburb. But they developed the living hell out of it in the 80’s and destroyed so much.

Now it’s even worse than it was. I’m shocked at what I see there now…the gangs, the graffiti. I know no one my age who wants to live there anymore. Maybe 30 or 40 years from now, it will begin to regentrify. Brooklyn has more potential than Nassau does. How ironic…the 5 boroughs were nearly destroyed by the post war housing boom on LI. But now Nassau’s on the decline while the 5 boroughs continue to get hotter and hotter.

Sorry…I know this is not the place to have a discussion about urban/suburban development. But in some ways, the decline of movie theaters DOES pertain to the topic.

I live in the downtown Westbury area and have to agree with the previous poster about Post avenue. It has certainly been going downhill. The grafitti is all over the theater building and they even tagged my building as well. Usually the grafitti says one thing, it’s a gang symbol and all over town. I never saw any movies there at The Westbury but it’s a shame that downtown theatres like these are neglected and then often torn down.
I agree that Nassau is looking like a 6th borough of New York City. I’ve lived in Nassau all my life (grew up in Levittown) and remember how much better it was. Roosevelt Field mall’s side roads are riddled with potholes and sometimes the gangs hang out there. The movie theater there is very rowdy I never go there, I usually go to Levittown’s Nassau multiplex.

It’s doomed. Sorry but the neighborhood is in decline and has been for years. And there’s way too much competition in the area with the new megaplexes.

I grew up in Nassau County and I go back there fairly frequently to visit friends and relatives (I’m in NJ now). Nassau is becoming like a borough of NYC now, demographic wise. I was shocked two years ago by the horrible condition of the Roosevelt Field Mall and it’s movie theater. The mall removed that great “spitting” fountain that they had for what???!!!! A kiddie train ride…to generate revenue. Ugh!

Back in the 80’s, Roosevelt Field was THE mall to go to. And the theater, though mightily multiplexed, was fantastic. It was clean as hell and just a great theater to go to. HELL, even this Westbury place was OK. It was one of the few close by places to show unusual fare such as “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”, “My Life as a Dog”, “Jean DeFlorette”, “Murmur of the Heart” and so many others. The only other theater on LI that show stuff like this was the New Community Cinema in Huntington. And that was quite a schlep. I would never have gotten the chance to see these fine films without the Westbury. Yes, the owners were a well documented couple of nut-burgers but they booked good stuff in the mid to late 80s.

Has there been any activity here lately?

“King of Hearts”?

Well, the one side of Westbury(actually Old Westbury) has the million and multi-million dollar homes BUT it’s quite a stretch from where the Westbury Theater is located. 10-15 years ago, the main street in Westbury was very nice. But I was back there about a year ago and was kind of shocked about how it’s sunk. Westbury is a strange town the way it’s split. One area (near where the movie theater is) is rather run down and low on the economic scale. The area across Jericho Turnpike is beautiful. But I’d be willing to bet that the residents of Old Westbury don’t go near the old “downtown” area.

An odd spectacle. I hate to say this but the theater was doomed in more ways than just the owners. Then neighborhood itself is in decline and it’s got stiff competition just around the corner with the Raceway Theaters off of Hempstead Turnpike.

RobertR: it would be a comedy, drama and tragedy. What’s sad is that these people must’ve loved the idea of owning and running their own movie theater. But they were so odd and genuinely mean spirited that one had to wonder why they were doing it. Was it just for the novelty? Did they treat the theater itself like some kind of big toy and couldn’t be bothered with the details like being nice to your patrons? It was and is a very strange story…