Lafayette Theatre
97 Lafayette Avenue,
Suffern,
NY
10901
97 Lafayette Avenue,
Suffern,
NY
10901
37 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 915 comments
There is certainly a good selection of films this fall. 15 weeks of movies. September 24th. To December 24. Doors open at 11 AM movie begins at 11:30 AM. The Wurlitzer organ plays starting at 11 AM. Admission is only $2.00!! No word yet on whether it’ll be DCP’s a mix of DCP’s and Blu-ray.
Well, the new “Classic Film Series” has been posted on the Lafayette’s web site.
My only question, which will determine whether or not I attend any of them is, are these shows DCP or DVD/Bluray? If both, which ones are DCP and which ones are DVD/Bluray?
Big Screen Classics Update 1. From 2003 to 2010 the Town of Ramapo helped fund and Promote the Big Screen Classics movie festival working with Nelson and Pete. 2 In 2010 Nelson asked me if the Town could purchase a digital projector for Lafayette use…After much discussion, I was able to convince the Town Bd that it was a worthwhile investment…We purchased the equipment in return for our Classic movie series being fully funded by Nelson’s company, a five year agreement memorialized this. 3 In 2013 Nelson left the business, and the Town was asked by the owner to act as the exhibitor of films at the theater…To keep the theater operational we agreed to do this in return for a small administrative fee.. I quickly found out what being an Exhibitor entailed ….filling out comprehensive credit applications (20 in total), scheduling movies working w our buyer and the draconian studios, coordinating all of the advertising and promotion, developing a social media presence – website, weekly email blast, signing up with groupon etc etc…In total we booked 65 first run movies and all of the Classics.in sum, we kept the ship sailing sans the expertise of Nelson and Pete, I tried my best to keep the theater viable… 3. Shortly before the opening of Star Wars we were informed by the theater ownership that our services wee no longer needed..and that more flexibility in programming was desired and therefore the agreement to screen the Big Screen Classic series would not be renewed. Subsequently as per our initial agreement w Nelson we reclaimed our projector last week. Needless to say I was disappointed after working w the theater for 14 years, but as Willy Loman once said “there are no more long term relationships anymore” This is sad but true. The decision to end the the Town/theater partnership had nothing to do with politics, as most of you who attended the films know the film series was my passion… 4 To date the films for our 15th annual film series have been booked…the venue has not been finalized as of yet…will advise on both soon… Thanks for you ongoing support of our endeavors…please send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions Best Phil Tisi
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The fall classic series will be announced at the end of the summer. The town of Ramapo is no longer involved. But the theater will have classic movies this fall.
While there will be no longer a partnership with the town of Ramapo, With the town of Ramapo sponsoring the classic series as they did in the past. There WILL be classic movies at the theater Saturday mornings . Just not the same schedule, as the town followed in the past. Updates coming soon
Pete and Nelson certainly did a fantastic job programming the Lafayette theater with 3-D film festivals and the classic movies Saturday mornings.
Always wonderful presentations in 35mm. Pete worked his ass off during the 3-D festival in 2004. Remember he had to have two projectors running basically exactly at the same time to have perfect 3-D.
Beautiful prints and a great selection of Saturday morning classic films and great movies during the many film festivals the three day film festivals.
I am so happy that I was able to take part in the festivals and the Saturday morning Movies from 2003 until their last season of classic films Spring 2013
I can’t think of any theater now that does what Pete and Nelson did those 10 years
If you want to see the current programming at the Ramapo cultural arts Center. It’s listed under Maveli Cinemas . Go to Facebook and type in “ Maveli Cinemas
https://www.facebook.com/Maveli-Cinemas-1667355403510798/
Very well-said, Bill.
Dedicated film programmers such as Pete and Nelson (who also love film) are becoming as hard to find as good 35mm prints.
Perhaps I’m assuming a bit but it’s a sad day when when local politics interferes with such a wonderful cul tural program as “Big Screen Classics”. (or whatever the latest was.)
And how many people who didn’t have the dedication and pride in their work that our friend Pete has would’ve simply cancelled that show?
During their Lafayette years, Pete and Nelson were directly responsible for some of the most memorable movie screenings I’ve ever attended.
I ran the 35mm at the Cultural Arts Center one night during the Jewish Film Festival in, I think, 2004. That wasn’t the original gear, I’m pretty certain it was donated by Nelson Page after being removed from one of his other theaters and that showing was the first time it had been used. The night was memorable because the motor on the feed platter burned out about 20 minutes into the show and I had to turn the platter by hand for the next two hours.
Would anyone know if there is a link to a web site for the Ramapo Cultural Arts Center?
I searched Moviefone.com but found nothing.
Thank You
There is also a 35 mm projector up in the booth a platter system. It has not been used in many years because of the switch to digital
I’ll be going to the Ramapo cultural arts Center, to see a Malaysian/Indian film today. I will check on the speakers and observe how the sound is during the movie. The last few times I was there the sound was perfectly fine crisp and clear. Christie digital projector in the booth so the movie looks very good on the screen. Yes it’s kind of plan inside absolutely nothing even close to the absolutely gorgeous Lafayette theater. I think the partnership between the theater and the town of Ramapo of course should’ve continued Regarding the classic series
Will there be periodic up-dates from Phil here as to the transfer of the classic film program to the Ramapo Cultural Center?
Looking forward the new venue.
he Ramapo Cultural Arts Center is the old Spring Valley Theatre, which opened in 1962 and closed in 1988. It spent half it’s life as a porno theatre prior to the town of Ramapo taking it over. The Ramapo Cultural Arts Center has it’s own cinematreasures page, here.
I was last in the Ramapo Arts Center around 10 years ago, so admittedly my comments may be out of date.
At that time they had a professional HD video projector, but it was not DCP compliant, so they could only run films from DVD or Bluray. The screen was the back wall painted white. The sound was set up public address style with a speaker on either side of the screen, totally wrong for motion pictures. If movieguy is correct and they are now using Bose speakers, you could not have picked a worse choice for movie sound due to the way they disperse the sound.
The theatre’s interior is typical of a 1960’s movie theatre, no grandeur but functional. Downtown Spring Valley is no Suffern, not much of interest except the theatre.
The Ramapo Arts Center is also accessible by NJ Transit train. It’s 3 blocks away from the Spring Valley station, on the Pascack Valley line (a different line than the one that takes you to Suffern).
I hope the Classics series finds a new home, but it’s sad to think that the Citizen Kane show I attended on 6/4 was my last classic movie at the beautiful Lafayette, and I never knew it. It was a great 13-year run.
The Lafayette theater is a true movie palace. Built in 1924. With a full balcony opera boxes beautiful neon marquee. 950 seats. The cultural arts Center was a single screen first run theater up until the mid-70s. It does have a good sized screen. The sound system is good with the Bose speakers all around. The seats are comfortable. There are currently Indian Hindi movies being shown at the cultural arts Center. If the classic program Is it re located to this theater by the town of Ramapo in the fall. It’ll be a very good venue for the movies.
The Ramapo cultural arts Center is located in downtown Spring Valley. It is about 15 to 20 minutes away from Suffern. One can take Route 59 from downtown area of Suffern past the Walmart through the downtown area of Munc past the Walmart through the downtown area of Monsey past the shopping center and the sign for that now closed Rockland Drive In. Also pass The Spring Valley high school. When you pass the Finkelstein Library on the left. One gets to an intersection where you can make a left and go down Route 45 into downtown Spring Valley where the cultural arts Center is located
Since my knowledge of the Suffern area is due solely to my visits the the wonderful “Big Screen Classics” program I was wondering… what is the distance factor between the Lafayette and the Ramapo Cultural Center in Spring Valley? (Is there much of a “hike” difference between the two venues ?) And a very big “Thank You” to Phil for your interest and efforts in keeping classic films alive.
Phil Tishi posted up on Facebook that he was very happy to do the film series for 14 years. Everyone should still continue to support the Lafayette theater. He intends on moving the classic series to another venue in the fall. The town owns the ramapo cultural arts Center in downtown Spring Valley. It is now showing Hindi movies seven days a week and doing pretty well. I’m sure there would be room for a classic series on Saturday mornings if that’s where they intend to move the classic series to. They do have a digital projector a Christie digital projector at the cultural arts Center. Along with a very good sound system Bose speakers. Comfortable seats and a big screen. So look forward to possible classic film programming there in the fall
I think the price of digital projectors has come down since the town bought the projector to loan it to the theater in 2010. But they still probably run around $40-$50,000. The longer the throw from the digital projector to the screen the more expensive a projector is because more power is needed to go for a longer throw to the screen. The size of the screen makes a difference as well
Clickable link to the new story Pete posted above, Click Here.
Since the town is pulling their digital projector out of the theatre, I think Ari is going to get a big surprise when he finds out how expensive they are to replace.
Yes the town and the current operator of the theater will not continue their partnership that has gone on since 2003. However the current operator of the theater. Intends to do some classics movies but not with the same frequency as in the past. The theater of course will continue to show first-run movies and explore some other programming options. So while the news is a bit sad. First-run movies and other programming will continue at the theater.
Potentially sad news for fans of the Lafayette:
“A six-year contract between the town of Ramapo and the Lafayette Theatre — which had the town loaning the venue a digital projector in exchange for the movie palace hosting a Saturday morning classic film series each fall and spring — is gone with the wind.
After the Lafayette’s owner and operator, Ari Benmosche, informed the town on June 8 that he did not want to extend the contract that had been signed with a previous operator of the theater, the Town Board voted unanimously Wednesday to remove the projector."
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/2016/06/17/lafayette-theatre-pulls-plug/85980124
The Lafayette gave a perfect DCP presentation of Singin' in the Rain yesterday, and for only $3. I was especially impressed with the brightness of the image. Pete and Nelson would have been proud. Looking forward to their showing of Citizen Kane on June 4th.