Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas
159-02 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11425
159-02 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11425
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 71 comments
Re: article posted ¼/24: The last sentence recommends alternative independent cinemas, including the Fair in East Elmhurst.
Yes, I highly recommend the Fair for an “alternative” moviegoing experience.
Theater last day of operation April 30, 2024. see ad in photos section
Jamaica Multiplex to close April 30 Many people are shocked by loss; some blame inflation and streaming by Naeisha Rose, Associate Editor Feb 1, 2024
Showcase Cinemas, a global chain that manages movie theaters across the country, has told the Chronicle via email that Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas will cease operations on Tuesday, April 30, about two months earlier than what has been reported over the past few weeks.
“Members of our Starpass loyalty program will receive a special offer as a way to thank them for their many years of movie-going at Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas,” said a marketing and partnerships representative of the chain. “Showcase Cinemas remains deeply committed to our theatrical exhibition business and we look forward to continuing to provide a superior movie-going experience at our U.S. cinema locations.”
When asked why the multiplex, located at 159-02 Jamaica Ave., is closing, the representative said the move follows a failure to come to terms with the landlord on a new lease agreement.
Michael Mattone, CEO of Mattone Investors, LLC, the owner of the building that houses the movie theater, told the Chronicle there was no dispute with Showcase Cinemas.
“Their lease terms came to an end,” Mattone said. “They were there for 20 years and then we gave them an extension. That extension basically expired and they decided not to seek an additional term.”
When asked about the April 30 end date, Mattone said he had been told it was June.
“That’s news to me,” said Mattone, who opened up a JD Sports next door to the multiplex two weeks ago.
As for whether he will work with a different movie chain or replace the business with a retailer, the CEO said he has a couple of things in the works.
“I am not at liberty to get into the details on those just yet,” Mattone said. “Those range from maintaining it as a theater to change of use … [Details] coming soon to a theater near you.”
Several people were shocked and dismayed on Monday to learn that Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas will be closing.
The move comes on the heels of Brooklyn’s Linden Boulevard Multiplex Cinemas’ closure on Jan. 2 and the announcement that College Point Multiplex Cinemas will close May 7 and eventually be replaced by a logistics center.
According to multiple reports, Showcase Cinemas, owned by National Amusements, which owns all three theaters, has been shuttering movie houses across the country due to the rise of streaming, low foot traffic since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and expiring lease agreements.
“I think another theater would be good,” passerby Javonte Wooten said when asked by the Chronicle if there should be a new business or another moviehouse. “I actually live near where the Linden Boulevard theater just closed. Those are staples in our community.”
Wooten, who works for the city Department of Health in Queens, said there are not a lot of places to take kids and she is sad to see both theaters go.
“I have attended this one plenty of times and it has always been pretty nice, but I know it is not busy at all,” she added. “I can understand that after the pandemic that all of the theaters are getting shut down, but it is a sad era to take place with streaming and everything.”
A Brooklyn woman in her 50s said that she is a live-in nurse aide and does not get to go out a lot, so she watches movies via cable TV.
“I want it to stay the same because I’ve been coming here since I was 5 or 6,” said a 23-year-old Ozone Park woman. “We come here all the time.”
She said she does not want to see the multiplex get replaced by a different theater chain or a retailer.
A third woman from Brooklyn who works in Queens, found the news to be terrible.
“We need a theater right here in Jamaica,” she said. “It was my go-to theater right after work.”
Sheryl Virtue of Deer Park, LI, said she is not a cinemagoer but feels that movie theaters are a great place for young people to gather.
“I’m not a movie person … but for those that are into movies, I don’t think it is a good thing,” Virtue said. “Sometimes this is where [youths] get to hang out with their parents or their peers.”
Janet Henry of the Bronx said that there should be a smaller multiplex in the building that houses the theater as well as a new retailer that will draw people to the moviehouse and the area.
“Inflation is really high too; perhaps if they cut prices a little bit,” Henry said. “When people can get things at a lower cost, they will try to make use of it.”
Joel Raceral of Cambria Heights did not feel any particular way about the multiplex closing because of the lack of quality films.
“I don’t really go to the movie theater often,” Raceral said. “There isn’t anything really interesting for me to watch anymore.”
Fabiola Labonche of Jamaica had mixed feelings about the closure. She was sorry to hear the theater is closing, but liked the potential of a new type of business replacing it so there will be more jobs in the region.
“I’m sad because I enjoy going there,” she said. “But it can be an Amazon. We don’t have it here. I need a job. Just put an Amazon here.”
Regal Tangram opened in Flushing in November 2021.
Jamaica movie theater set to close in June, while future of College Point theater in doubt
By Iryna Shkurhan
Posted on January 3, 2024
Queens is set to lose one of its few remaining movie theaters this year, and another one appears in jeopardy, amid a nationwide decline in the big screen industry.
The Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas will shut down in June, according to the Mattone Group Jamaica Company, a real estate investment firm that spearheaded bringing the theater to Jamaica, and also managed it over the past two decades. Meanwhile, the College Point Multiplex Cinemas, just five miles away, looks slated to close, with reports emerging last week that developers are in the process of transforming the cinema site into a distribution center.
The parent company of the two theaters, Showcase Cinemas, notified the owner of the Jamaica property last month that it does not plan on renewing the lease. Showcase initially signed on for a 20-year lease in 2002, and then received a short two-year extension in 2022, which is set to expire in June.
The Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas, a 15-plex cinema located on Jamaica Avenue, opened in May 2002 – the same month that the original Spider-Man movie was released. When the cinema first opened its doors, the operators were still running movies on giant rolls of film.
“We hate to see it go. It’s unfortunate, but a sign of the times,” said Michael Mattone, who recounted breaking ground on the previously vacant lot where Jamaica Center now stands in 2000. “We were hoping that they would stay, but I can’t say it came as a total surprise.”
Showcase Cinemas is owned by National Amusements, which collectively owns 1,500 theaters across the world under a variety of theater brands including Cinema de Lux and Multiplex Cinemas. Its theaters in the United States are almost exclusively in the Northeast.
The company has closed several theaters in the past year but has yet to formally announce the closure of the Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas. The future of the College Point Multiplex Cinemas appears in doubt. Last week, New York YIMBY reported that the real estate development firm, Triangle Equities, secured $50 Million in financing for a logistics facility on the 425,000-square-foot site where the theater on Ulmer St. is currently located.
The current plan is to redevelop the nine-acre area into a multi-story distribution center, given its central location and proximity to major roadways. The site is also home to Party Wow, a party supply store, and used to have a Toys “R” Us before it filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
Meanwhile, other theaters operated by Showcase Cinemas across the state have recently closed.
Tuesday marked the last day that the Linden Boulevard Multiplex Cinemas in East New York was open to moviegoers.
A statement on its website read, “It has been our pleasure to serve the Brooklyn community with great movie-going for many years. Due to a business decision, January 2, 2024 will be our last day of cinema operations. Showcase Cinemas is committed to providing a superior movie-going experience and we hope to see you at our Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas and College Point Multiplex Cinemas locations. Thank you for your patronage.”
But despite the company’s message to encourage moviegoers to visit its other locations, it appears that both Queens locations won’t be open for long.
QNS reached out to National Amusements for comment, but did not hear back by publication time.
The closures are part of a nationwide trend that left the industry scrambling to sell tickets amid a rise in streaming services, and then the pandemic further hurt the industry with temporary closures.
“Whereas other theaters did rebound. I don’t know that Jamaica really rebounded as well as some of the other theaters,” said Mattone. “So I think that may have also been part of some of the decision making.”
Mattone said that his investment group has already held preliminary conversations with other theater companies to explore the possibility of keeping a movie theater in Jamaica. But he couldn’t comment just yet on the specific companies in consideration. They are also considering other types of retailers. But he added that bringing in another theater tenant would be the most seamless option.
“I can’t think of the last new theater that opened in the area,” said Mattone. “There’s really been no new theaters that have opened in Queens in god knows how long.”
Queens residents who are looking to watch a movie on the big screen still have some options.
AMC has locations in Bay Terrace and Fresh Meadows. Regal UA also has theaters in Astoria and Forest Hills. There are also small independent theaters sprinkled throughout the borough such as the Cinemart Cinemas in Forest Hills and Fair Theater in East Elmhurst.
Grand opening ad in the photos section
Please update, theatre open May 17, 2002
Here’s a google street view of the Jamaica Multiplex:
View link
Warren, who is Sumner Redstone ?
That’s a good idea, Bway. Perhaps you should suggest it to the management.
I wonder why they don’t just call it Jamaica Center Multiplex Cinemas!
This site is not connected with the management of the Jamaica Center multiplex. You should probably take it up with them, not here, as no one here has any connection to this theater whatsoever.
WHY IS THAT EVERYTIME I ARRIVE AT JAMAICA MUTIPLEX THE ESCALATOR IS INOPERABLE. IN THE PAST MONTH, I WENT TO JAMAICA MUTIPLEX ON THREE OCASSIONS EACH TIME THE ESCALATOR WAS INOPERABLE AND MY FAMILY AND I HAD TO WALK UP APPROXIMATELY 50 STAIRS TO SEE THE MOVIE. THE 1ST 2TIMES I WALKED UP THE STAIRS BUT, ON THE LAST OCASSION I DECIDED TO TAKE MY FAMILY ELSEWHERE. I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS WOULD HAPPEN IN ANY OTHER COMMUNITY BUT, BECAUSE THIS IS A PREDOMINATELY BLACK COMMUNITY THIS IS HAPPENING. I AM APPALLED AT THESE CONDITIONS AND HOPE THEY WILL BE RECTIFIED IN A TIMELY FASHION. UNTIL THEN I WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO THIS THEATRE NOR MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
Lefty, you are right. NA used to really take care of their theaters, but like you said, now that they have begun to build the “delux” ones, those apparently are the ones they are focusing on, and forgetting the older ones.
I complained to National Amusement’s HQ telling them about my experiences at the Concession Stand with the workers, and with the doorman who if you ask where to go just nods his head. I never got a response back from them. It’s sad because the theatre is near to where I live. Due to these experiences I’ll be forced to travel to other theatres, unless I hear that they’ve changed. Which I doubt. National Amusements use to maintain their theatres now they’re only care about their “de lux” or “premium theatres” in which more than the theatre is found in the building.
Maybe we should inform National Amusements, as well as each other.
That’s very sad to read, Lefty. I wonder what’s kept those concession workers from being fired and replaced by polite people, and, how that theater stays in business with such rude people working inside it. Thanks for the advice. Now I know enough to stay away !
The theatre is a bargain during the matinee. But afterwards don’t even bother. The staff does nothing to stop patrons from smoking, or drinking alcoholic beverages. The carpet needs cleaning, and the popcorn is cold and stale tasting. The staff at night is rude, especially the Concession Stand Workers. The Concession Stand Workers will not answer questions, will carry a conversation with coworkers instead of helping customers, and will literally throw your food and drinks at you and on top of that short change you. The matinee staff work as professionals the rest of the staff are rediculous.
To say the least, especially for those who sat on one !
sad
Those HIV-contaminated needles in cinema seats were an all-too-real threat not long ago !
Wow, not too munch said about movie houses on this page. Instead of praise for a new Multiplex Venue. Just a lot of rhetoric about nonsense.
No hypodermic needles in the seats, with little post-it notes on them, saying, “Congratulations ! You are now HIV positive !” ?
This theater is a good bargain. The matinee is $6.75. At times the escalator doesn’t work and there is only one elevator to the main floor. You have to walk up the stairs. Once there the multiplex is nothing to write home about. Just a big box. I noticed that they don’t do a good job of cleaning. There is pop corn spilling out of the machine, the stairs leading the main lobby needs a good shampooing. But once you sit down to watch the movie the seats are comfortable.
MOVIEGUY, Thanks for your prompt reply and also to SAPS. I plan to make a nostalgic trip back to Jamaica soon after 28 years and will visit the Jamaica Movieplex. Looking foward to that popcorn!