Center Cinemas
42-17 Queens Boulevard,
Sunnyside,
NY
11104
42-17 Queens Boulevard,
Sunnyside,
NY
11104
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 48 comments
I drove by the former theater site this morning, March 23. The mega-theater was never built. Not sure about the apartment complex.
A decade after it was purchased by a local developer, the old Sunnyside Center Cinemas building on Queens Boulevard may finally be demolished to make way for an apartment complex
Permits have been filed for the building which would replace the Center Cinemas and its vacant neighboring properties: https://newyorkyimby.com/2021/11/permits-filed-for-43-42-43rd-avenue-in-sunnyside-queens.html
Once again a Center of community agitation. Latest news article and photos can be viewed here
And an unidentified exhibitor likely withdrew from the downtown Yonkers mixed used project. Expect Bow Tie to also drop it’s multiplex planned for Greenwich, CT after having closed it’s theater next to the railroad station. Damn this virus!!!!!
optimist008 Regal also withdrew from the former Walmart at the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, NY and the Walmart in Riverhead, NY. All long prior to Covid.
Regal withdrew from it’s planned theater in Paramus, NJ to have been located on the top level of the vacant Sears on Route 17. I would bet the same for the multiplex above and for their Flushing-Tangram site as well. Doubt we will see any new theaters built for several years thanks to Covid.Another new theater planned for a Bronx mixed use project (bronxpoint.nyc) has been scrapped. The exhibitor was never identified.
An update on preparations for the Regal multiplex, which will now have more screens than previously announced, can be found here
Correction, it was 5 screens, not 6 screens.
A new Regal multiplex is coming to Queens Boulevard on the Sunnyside/Long Island City border, and under the shadow of the #7 elevated subway line. Sketch and details here
To those of us who love movie theatres, we don’t care about the business model. That said, I agree with other posters that any owner of a movie theatre can not pass up millions of dollars for their property.
I think this was the theater where I first saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I went in completely unprepared and needless to say it knocked my socks off…!
Walked by here yesterday. Sad to see it just sitting empty. If they weren’t going to repurpose or demolish the building, why void the lease? They could still be showing movies!
Hello fellow movie theater lovers,
I’m doing a project for my photojournalism class at NYU about closed down independent movie theaters in New York. I hope to gain information about people’s past experiences at these movie theaters, recollections of favorite memories or not so great experiences, perhaps economical insight, contacts with owners/managers, etc. On a larger level, I hope my project is able to show the significance of the role that these establishments play in our city and the importance of keeping them afloat.
If anyone would be willing to answer a few questions via email about your personal memories at the theater, please let me know! It could be as simple as recounting a favorite movie you remember seeing back when it was open. I would greatly appreciate your insight.
You can contact me at:
Thanks,
Gabi
Wow, I was thinking last night that I wanted to pass by and see a movie before….well, too late.
Opened by the Squire-Queens Circuit in 1940 in a 20,000 square foot plot, the 600-seat theatre had a fantastic 75-year run.
I think artpf may be thinking about either of the two large theaters in Sunnyside, the Bliss or the Sunnyside, which were in the 2,000 seating range. According to the 1944 FDYB the capacity of the Center was 600.
This movie theatre CLOSED last month. The landlord is looking for someone to buy the air rights to build a big building on top of this, but says teh restaurant next door will remain. The current movie tenant said he was blind sided by his lease not being renewed.
BTW, the capacity listed above says 750 seats and 6 screens. I know for sure teh original configuration was 2013 seats.. It’s hard to believe they’d go from one screen and 2013 seats to 6 and 750. The rent on this property was around $15K a month! Please correct the header above that says it’s open.
I was wondering why they were letting the marquee fall apart and go dark and leave graffiti all over the building, now I know. With this closing the nearby Jackson 3 might be worth reopening.
Went out on top
If the theater closes after today as they say the owner rejected a 6 month stay the final pictures to play there are, The Interview, Annie, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tombs, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, Top 5 and Penguins of Madagascar.
The owner of the property has granted the theater a reprieve http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2014/50/sunnysidetheater_tl_2014_12_12_q.html
The place is a gridhouse . How it lasted is anybody guess.
The theater will be demolished for Affordable Housing.
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141209/sunnyside/bargain-movie-theater-closing-make-room-for-affordable-housing?utm_source=Forest+Hills+%26+Rego+Park&utm_campaign=c6d26a028e-Mailchimp-NYC&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6c3609dc85-c6d26a028e-132251089
I believe these are the people who brought back the Islip. Wonder how that’s going.