Harrison Cinema
233 Harrison Avenue,
Harrison,
NY
10528
233 Harrison Avenue,
Harrison,
NY
10528
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 16 comments
Status should be demolished. Torn down in 2019.
My Great Grandparents built this Lyceum building and opened the first cinema. My Great Aunt and my Grandmother played the piano for the silent movies. The original owners were Michael and Mary Ceclia Belluscio. They lost it in the depression but not before a fire (supposedly my uncle and friends having a poker party after hours too close to film storage and too many cigars). My Uncle Paul acquired it again and sold it back to his father for a small amount. There were multiple shops below – bakery, toy store, etc. over the years and my mother was an infant in one of the apartments for a while. I would LOVE to find an old ad for a movie and I’m happy to give you the pictures I have but they are not of the working theater. Jen
It was in the newspaper today that the theater will be demolished and replaced with a six story luxury apartment building with ground floor retail. Here is the newspaper link:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/harrison/2015/11/06/harrison-development-sets-trend/75303260/
Uploaded an undated photo of the Harrison in better days and a current one.
For the latter half of 1985, it was owned by Ed Bebko, a theater operator from Buffalo looking to expand his business. It ran second run films but didn’t catch on.
To the relative of Sam Cornish: I am doing research on the Ojai Playhouse (Ojai Theatre in Ojai, CA) and your great uncle leased the theater in our town beginning in 1958. I’m still doing the research so I don’t know how long he stayed. He was already quite old when he came here.
Fatima-r: The theatre has always been a big, plain rectangular ceiling with no character. I believe that it originally contained a stage but was removed. Rumor has it that Harrison will FINALLY undergo a redevelopment after many years of discussion and the theatre will probably be torn down.
I am an architecture student working on a project on this cinema. If there are any pictures you would be willing to share, it would be greatly appreciated! My email is
Are there any old/historic photos of this theater? It would be interesting to see what it looked like back then….
I just unearthed an old real of family movies than depicts Harrison on July 2, 1927. Among other things, it shows the Biltmore theater which was showing Laura La Plante in The Love Thrill. Cool looking old movie house…
The Biltmore Theatre in Harrison was owned by Mr. Tommasino in the l940’s-1960’s (during the week day he would show Italian language films)…gosh I would love to have some of the weekly programs at this point!….I started attending the theatre at age 7 in 1947…golden age….The owners son Al (Mr Tommasino had two sons) was in my class at Harrison High School) and I serentipiously ran into Al during my first sojourn to Rome in 1963 when I was crossing a plaza to American Express when I heard someone call my name….it was Al who had relocated to Rome to work with his father (I believe the theatre had been sold at this point) and said one of the properties his father owned was the Saudi ambassidors residence…and since he had just recently died….why didn’t I stay there and we could spend some time viewing the city’s landmarks and hideaways….thank you Biltmore Theatre for introducing Al to me!
Rich Harrison
My great uncle owned an operated the Harrision Cinema in the 1940s. His name was Sam Cornish and he lived with his wife Gertrude in the Calvert Street Apartments on Calvert Street in Harrison. He eventually moved to California and opened up some movie theaters there. I don’t live in Harrison any longer and am trying find out what the current plans are for this theatre.
This Irish bar is now at 233 Harrison Avenue. There are some interior photos on their site, but no way to tell if this is a remodel or a new building.
http://www.odonnellspub.com/
It was a great theater, worked there in the late 80’s, ahhh what memories! I hope it doesn’t go the route of Scarsdale theater.
Rumor has it that this cinema has just been purchased…should Westchester residents be prepared for Restored Movie House #4?
Gutted and for rent at http://listing.loopnet.com/14153891 for $11,250 per month.