After 90 years of showing movies in Queens, Cinemart Cinemas is fighting to stay open with one last “make or break” showing.
The Forest Hills movie theater will be previewing American Sniper -- a first-run film -- this weekend, just as the film received an Oscar nomination for best picture.
Theater owner Nick Nicholau said he convinced Warner Brothers to let him show the movie as a last-ditch effort to reel in viewers as he loses money to the larger multiplexes which get major releases weeks earlier than smaller theaters like his.
If he can cash out from this weekend’s showing, Nicholau says the theater will stay open.
"If enough people show up, Hollywood is waiting, and we can stay here for another 88 years,” Nicholau said.
If not, he will be forced to close.
Cinemart, which has been open since the 1920s and offers $6 matinee tickets, has been in the red for the last seven years, according to Nicholau. But to him, it’s more than just making a profit.
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"This is not about only saving Cinemart, this is about saving the entire community here,” Nicholau said.
Forest Hills moviegoers agree that the community would suffer if the neighborhood landmark closed.
"Without it, we'd feel a real loss,” said moviegoer Jerri Gissinger.
And while some viewers have stopped going out to the movies in favor of digital streaming services, others say there is no replacement for the big screen.
“There is nothing like seeing a movie in a movie theater,” said moviegoer Sharon Friedman.
