Movie theater owners, officials call on state to allow reopening

Movie theater owners say they’re being kept in the dark about when they will be allowed to operate again.

News 12 Staff

Aug 27, 2020, 4:26 PM

Updated 1,564 days ago

Share:

Long Island entered phase four of reopening in early July, and nearly every kind of business is now back up and running – but movie theaters are still in the dark.
Movie theater owners say they're being kept in the dark about when they will be allowed to operate again.
On Thursday, theater owners, industry officials and elected representatives gathered outside Malverne Cinemas calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to allow theaters to open back up.
They presented a plan that includes mask mandates, the installation of new filters, staggered show times, reducing capacity to 50% and having assigned seats to keep groups of people 6 feet apart.
The group argues that 44 states across the country currently allow theaters to open, and they say it's not fair that other businesses like bowling alleys and gyms can operate while theaters cannot.
Officials say at least one theater on Long Island has been forced to close. They're hoping the governor can allow the industry to start back up so more don't follow.
So far, Cuomo has mentioned theaters in his briefings, but has not given a target reopening date.