UA Movies at Patchogue 13
600 Sunrise Highway,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
600 Sunrise Highway,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 241 comments
Considering they use the same corn, oil, and salt….I cant imagine how the popcorn could be worse. Also…it clearly depends on who makes the popcorn.
It’s actually sad to hear the theater is officially closing. We will have to come by one last time for the popcorn! Now that my husband has retired, we left the island and now we get to go to the wonderful New Rochelle theater, which is hard to imagine that is run by the same corporation. Their popcorn just isn’t as good as Patchogue’s (its only redeeming quality).
so who is uarules???? do i know you??
I have often visted this site and have never commented before, despite the ingnorant comments that are occasionally posted. There are always people who think they know how thinks work but are rarely accuate as is the case with JBock. I, too, would like to know who he or she is. Hmmmmm…. Bitter?
As for the theatre closing, there is alot involved and there is really no way of knowing when it will be. In the meantime, please give the staff the credit they deseve. They work very hard while not knowing the future of their employment and their “home”. Walk in someone else’s shoes, JBock. Patchogue is a “family” place and THAT is why patrons will “travel past the Island de Lux” to come here. I also agree that we do have the best popcorn around. Some of the staff will be going to the Regal Ronkokoma and you will see how loyal our patrons are.
George is doing very well and is managing several theatres in a privately owned chain since leaving Patchogue 3 years ago. He is still a great friend as are most of the people that I have worked with in the past 11 ½ years.
I know of George Fonzone…met him a few times but briefly. He left Regal and is the manager of the now independently owned Douglaston theatre. I believe thats correct…
Anyway, the theatre still does not have a closing date…but very, very, very soon.
It appears this theater is in it’s final days, from what I heard, the housing development for the site is approved, will begin as soon as the theater closes.
WHAT HAs SHAPPENED TO GEORGE FON….past manager for many many years
I would love to know you’re real name JBock…I’ve worked for Regal since 2000 and have worked at Patchogue as a manager in 2006.
I have heard that they received permits to build condos on the site. when is it going to close and what are the details of the condo development?
I know the huge theater everyone is talking about. Back in the 90’s, when they reissued star wars, I saw it in the previous sunrise drive in one that was put into the theater.
“Auditorium Checks” are supposed to be the greatest customer service Regal can offer. You no longer have to get out of your seat if you have a complaint – they come to you every 15 minutes so that you can notify the employee from your seat if there is a temprature problem, film presentation/sound problem, baby crying, someone is having sex or smoking (if it’s pot – you probably got it from the staff they don’t drug check and if they did – nobody would have a job, not even management). Really, it is just a disturbance every 15 minutes and the usher usually doesn’t know what to do, and since they have to do all 13 theatres – and then tell management about any problems, it could be a while to have the problem fixed (if the usher remembers the problem). And yes they are required – or the employee may be fired for failing to provide you with the best customer service possible.
If they really wanted to serve you better – they would clean everything. The seats are no longer cleaned every 3 months – they are spot-cleaned as needed since the cost is expensive and there is a minimum to be cleaned when the professionals are called in (which they do not do any longer – since they may close). And with the seats no longer being cleaned – the mold is a growing problem. Bring your own flashlight and look at your seat – it is gross on top and even worse on the bottom metal of the seat- you may never want to sit in a seat ever again. They can’t replace the seats with new exact replacements because the seats were made in 1985 and are no longer in production (and the repair parts are becoming scarce) – which is why you see gaps in the rows of seats; when a seat is beyond repair it is removed and classified as a designated spot for the disabled- regardless if it is in the middle row and is inaccessible to a disabled person (it just sounds like UA is doing something nice, but they aren’t really).
Then the mold spread to the walls – especially near the black areas up front by the screens. But that all stems from the a/c system. Again, their system is so old and beyond repair – the costs to update to working modern equipment is well beyond the pockets of UA. There are theatres were the unit never stop cooling or warms up. They show movies regardless of the temprature inside any particular theatre – as they say, the show must go on. But the real kicker is at night when the theatre closes – there is no heat or a/c at all (regardless of temprature outside) – the power to the air system is shut down – so mold has a good chance to fester and spread (which it has to unsafe levels -which is why I stopped going there after watching a movie while sitting against the wall and getting sick. My doctor said I was exposed to mold and sure enough – I researched and discovered the mold growth at the theatre – which everyone should know for their health and safety).
Lastly there are the UA mascots (as proclaimed by the joking management)– the rodents. It seems befitting as Patchogue UA is the bottom feeder of movie theatres on Long Island. When you cut back on cleaning efforts to save money, you invite this problem into your business and it’s safe to say that the rats do good business.
It’s just a pity that the Regal corporation headquarters has let this building go down hill – and it’s only getting worse. UA was always frugal but always talked of doing modern renovations since it used to be a serious money making theatre. But since Regal took over, it looks at Patchogue as just a pile of cash, just waiting to sell it off. Besides, corporate officials actually believe that Regal patrons are so loyal that they will travel past the Island de Lux theatre to get to the Ronkokoma theatre. Somebody is smoking something? and it ain’t just the Patchogue Pothead Staff. Really, what a shame.
[i]so budgets are designed for very little staff (who are required {otherwise fired} to walk through the auditoriums every 15 minutes with a flashlight.
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Yeah, what the hell is that! Itg must be true, as I have seen this myself! Every friggen so many minutes some guy would walk down the aisle in the middle of the movie with a flashlight, and then walk out. VERY distracting. What the heck is the reason for that?
While I must say, the popcorn was great at the Patchogue (probably the best I have had in a while in a theater), that’s about the only positive I could say about my last experience there. The cost of a popcorn and a drink was more that the price of the tickets themselves, and I missed the beginning of the movie because the line took forever to buy the concessions.
A real shame, because the place was quite busy, it would probably be even busier if it was better maintained.
There will be no miracles for Regal’s UA Patchogue theater. Since the land is outright owned by the corporation they can do whatever they want – close it or sell it at their whim. And the corporate headquarters are banking on a zoning change in which case they will close that theatre without warning or notice to the public (two weeks notice for staff). The theatre does make a profit however the land is worth millions (more money than it would cost to renivate to modern fixtures and ammenities). Corporate only sees the big bottom dollar and does not want to wait for the money it would receive in the future (if they fixed up the place – because people would come back to it) – they would rather take the big payday when they sell the land (for more homes on a highway)!
Needless to say, not one dime will be spent on the building as they await the zoning change. The roof has patch job leaks, the mold is dangerously hazardous (because of the poor a/c system that is no longer maintained – just fix when broken) and the cleaning is bare minimum – no sterilization (Only one person has a food handlers license). I don’t know how they are still open with the mouse/rat infestation – which is why I don’t go there anymore.
One of Regal values include bare minimum staffing. This is their absolute motto – not one more person than you need – so budgets are designed for very little staff (who are required {otherwise fired} to walk through the auditoriums every 15 minutes with a flashlight.
Regal only supports it’s new fancy theatres and is slowly closing less modern theatres. It’s a better financial situation for them business wise. They don’t have to hire the lowest bid contractor – and hence avoid the hassle of dealing with contractors – or the lawsuits that come later from the poor work done to remodel. It is easier to build a new megaplex in your backyard than to fix up the family theatre you’ve gone to your whole life – why? Because it’s a corporation that has absorbed all the bankrupt chains along the way -there is no family friendliness at the theatre (did you see a baby changing table at the theatre? there is no room in the bathroom so they are ignoring this compliancy telling parents to go their cars – official policy) or corporate level. Consumers are the faceless patron (when and if you complain you get a generic letter that won’t address your specific complaint – oh and free passes) and employees (from the concession stand to management) are replacable at a cheaper rate.
Regal is truly a conglomerate corporation that is just after the all-mighty buck, especially yours.
Bway, your point is well taken. But my point is that a vintage 50’s- 60’s indoor-outdoor (ala Smithtown DI and Jonny All-Weather) have very little to do with the multiplex-styled theaters of the 1980’s. Even #13, for the most part, was brought into the ‘80’s, when the Patchogue-13 was built. The ADA improvements (circa 1994) have also somewhat brought #13 into the 1990’s. However, that being said, “they” deserve a tremendous amount of credit for realizing the value in retaining the old indoor: there simply aren’t that many mutiplexes with such a sizeable auditorium, repleat with stage and curtains. What that auditorium is lacking is the old Haywood-Wakefield seats with painted concrete floors, and “tectum” (shredded-wheat) panels on the walls. A couple of old “art-deco” chandeliers wouldn’t hurt, either!
Bway, I like this site because it gives me an opportunity to “mix it up” with real movie theater people, like yourself.
In some cases this may be true, but in the case of the Patchogue, Theater 13 IS the same exact building it always was, even when it was the indoor theater for the drive in. They did NOT demolish the building, and instead incorporated it into the new multiplex attached to it. If they tore down the drive in indoor theater, I may say you guys have a point, but in this case, you are sitting in the exact same theater you would have sat in when attending the drive in indoor theater when you vist Theater 13 today. I saw Empire Strikes Back at the Patchogue drive in’s indoor theater….if I attend a movie in Theater 13, it’s the SAME theater.
I agree with Warren’s March 12th statement. This site has a nasty habit of combining theaters that just happen to operate on the same piece of real estate, but at different times. This theater has nothing really to do with the Patchogue Drive-In. The Patchogue DI has it’s own storied history.
Anyone remember the dark burgundy red color of the exterior of the building? Most of the people I spoke to after opening in November of 1986, really disliked that color. The story I heard at the time was that the color was actually chosen by Salah H. himself. I think it was rather ironic that Salah was involved in such mundane details, but Sal, one of the original theater managers, told me that Salah only actually visited the theater once after construction. Soon afterwards, he vacated his position with United Artists (this is back when TCI didn’t really want anything but bean-counters in the home office. Gee, I’m so glad that’s changed!).
The real problem with the burgundy color was with all the salt in the mortar joints that were used to build the concrete block exterior. They couldn’t stop the salts, which manifested itself as whitish streaks, from running down the sides of the building. This was due to the exterior moisture getting into the cured mortar (a condition known as “efflorescence”). Priming and re-painting was a temporary solution, at least until the next rain storm. We used to laugh and say that they must have used beach sand in the mortar; hope they got it cheap! Well, a couple of years after construction, they gave up on it, and painted the building a color remarkably similar to the annoying salt stains. It’s been the same exterior color ever since.
Right, that’s what I meant to say, if it didn’t come out right. Theater 13 is the original indoor drive in theater. Obviously, the refreshment stand on the back wall (that is cemented over now) is not needed, as that was the refreshment stand for the outdoor drive in.
the old candy stand is is cemented up but theater 13 is the origional indoor theate..
No, Theater 13 IS the former indoor drive in theater. If you drive to the back of the building, you can even see the cemented up concession stand for the drive in on the wall of what is now Theater 13 of the multiplex.
not true ……The Patchogue was an indoor -outdoor theater—the indoor is part of the 13 screen theater that stands today….
metropolis good stuff……..were off topic…..lol
I agree that some of the other ones like the Island Grill are better, but I wouldn’t say the California is the worst diner I ever ate at….although granted, it’s been a while since I have eaten there.
California diner is the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I’ve eaten there more times than I can count, and have never had a problem. You’d probably never eat out again if you knew what was in most kitchens, of even the best of restaurants….
Never mind the theatre. DO NOT eat at the California Diner next door. I ordered an omelet, and it came back topped with a dead moth!