Governor Cuomo Announces that Movie Theaters are Opening Up Again in New York, However Some Will Not 

By: Kenny Velez

Red seats in a movie theater auditorium. Credit: Getty Images

Movie theaters in New York are going to open up again. After being shut down for a year, they will be opening up again Friday March 5. This time with new restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Restrictions include masks being mandatory to wear in theaters expect for seating and eating, assigned seats, limits to the amount of people in a movie theater, etc. 

However not every theater in Staten Island is going to be opening up. 

The Regal Theaters in Staten Island will remain closed for the foreseeable future. 

There are no plans to open them up at this point. 

The Atrium is the first movie theater revealed to be opening up on the Island. 

“We’re so excited to welcome people back to the theater,” said Gregg Scarola, owner of the Atrium, said to Silive. “Safety is first here, so we’re doing all we can to make sure everyone feels comfortable.”

The Mall has confirmed that the AMC movie theater will be opening up again on March 5, and people have already filed in for tickets. 

A lot of other states have opened up their movie theaters last year. 

New Jersey opened theirs in September. 

The movie landscape has changed since movie theaters closed down a year ago. 

Some movies are coming out to streaming services on the same day they are coming out to theaters. 

Some movies are only coming out to theaters, while others are coming out only to streaming services. 

Most movies though, have been delayed during this time. 

Some for one year, some for a few months, others for two years. 

The only movies in 2020 who were not delayed by the coronavirus pandemic were the movies that came out in January, February and March of 2020, but their box office income was affected by the pandemic. 

They made a lot less money than movies that came out in the previous year. 

There will also a new movie theater being built in the new Hylan Plaza in Staten Island. 

But when will it open will be unknown. 

The stores in the new Hylan Plaza, such as the new Shop Rite, has opened. 

The movies that are coming out this week are Raya and the Last Dragon. 

Raya is the latest Disney movie that is also coming out on Disney+ on the same day. 

There are also other movies coming out on that same day that are not going to be on a streaming service any time soon. 

The question is how many people will be leaving the comfort of their own house to venture in to the movie theaters in this Covid-19 world. 

The assumption is that ticket sales will be going down compared to the time when Avengers: Endgame was in theaters. 

This will be like sports ratings going down after they came back in July. 

This will also be happening because the biggest movies of the year, like Black Widow, won’t start coming out until May. 

There are also some movies that are also on a streaming service on the same day, meaning that there will be less incentive to watch them in theaters. 

Movies like Black Widow, however, are not coming out to a streaming service any time soon. Which means that people will have more incentive to come to the movie theater before the internet spoils it for them. 

After May all the most anticipated movies of the year will be coming out and people will be coming out to the theaters in droves. 

Until then movie theater owners will have to find ways to make people to come to the theaters in a time where everyone is content to stay home.