Surfside Twins
103-22 Rockaway Beach Boulevard,
Rockaway Park,
NY
11693
103-22 Rockaway Beach Boulevard,
Rockaway Park,
NY
11693
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Jerry Lewis Cinemas
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Jerry Lewis Cinema, Surfside Cinema
Nearby Theaters
This twin in Rockaway Park, Queens has the distinction of being the last operating cinema on the peninsula. It opened in September 1971 as a single screen Jerry Lewis Cinema with 275-seats and was located in a corner store front of a mini mall.
When the chain failed in 1973, it was taken over by a new operator and it was renamed Surfside Cinema. They built a second 200-seat screen on August 14, 1981, reopened as the Surfside Twin and showed first-run fare. It closed on September 3, 1996.
Contributed by
philipgoldberg
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
The Jerry Lewis Theater was located at 103-22 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Rockaway Beach, NY 11693. It rented a corner store front in a new mini mall. However, it only lasted a very short time when the “Surfside Twin” opened up and took over operations. Today the theaters are long gone. (Note: The above location map is incorrect)
I have a poor photo of it from late 1997 and it was out of business at that time.
Correction, the theatre was a single screen. They build an aother auditorium next to the original in the early 1980’s. It closed in the late 1990s. Please update it open in the early 1970s as a single theatre. An added auditorium to make it 2 in the early 1980’s.
Theatre 1, the original was fairly good in the 1980’s. It had Dolby Stereo and theatre 2 was MONO. The current owner Harvey Elgart that owns Kew Gardens and Cobble Hill, the last owners of the Surfside Twin Cinema.
The theatre was business wasn’t good in the late 1990’s when they had competition form the Kings Plaza Cinemas 6 and UA The Movies at Sheepshead Bay 9.
I went their when I was a teenager and lived in the Rockaways for most of my life before leaving in 2013.
The theatre closed labor day weekend in 1996. Don’t have exact date, their last features was A Very Brady Sequel and Carpool
Just to let you know, Harvey Elgart was the owner of the movie theatre and he also own At the time of closing, he was operating the Cobble Hills Cinemas. He eventually open the Kew Gardens Theatre and Williamsburgh Cinemas
I think he also operates the Grand Avenue Cinemas in Baldwin, (Long Island) NY but I couldn’t swear to it…
The owner of the Grand Ave cinemas also operates various theaters on Long Island and in Queens
Please update, theatre closed September 3, 1996.
Please update, it was twin on August 14, 1981
Please update, total capacity 475 Theatre 1 275 Theatre 2 200 (build next to original screen) Location never split Source: DOB records and I use to go this theatre years ago, sorry never took any photos