The last picture show on Main Street.

 

Queens Chronicle 

 When Kew Gardens Hills resident Richard Reif first attended Main Street Cinemas back in 1946, a day at the picture show cost only 25 cents.

“You could spend the whole afternoon there, which me and my friends did,” he remembered fondly. “You got two feature films, a cartoon, a newsreel and an episode of a serial — and you could bring your own food.”

So it’s not difficult to imagine his disappointment when, after seeing Idris Elba’s latest film, “The Beast,” last weekend, he found out that would be the last movie he ever saw at the theatre, which closed its doors earlier this week.

It is rumored that the theater is closing due to a rent increase; however, the Chronicle was unable to confirm that, as owner Rudy Toolasprashad did not respond to multiple queries. City property records show that the lot — which includes the movie theater and all the stores between it and the corner of 72nd Drive — was purchased by G & Y Main Street Plaza LLC in February of this year. It is not clear whether the purchase has any connection to Main Street Cinemas’ shuttering.

Like all theaters, Main Street Cinemas had previously closed during the earliest days of the pandemic. Though many other small film venues across the country never reopened, Main Street Cinemas welcomed movie-goers back in March 2021.

“I thought then it would close for good, but it didn’t,” Reif said. “This summer you know, I went to movies like ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ and ‘Elvis’ and ‘Thor,’ and there were big turnouts — people of all ages, parents brought their kids for things like the Sonic Hedgehog movie. So that really surprised me that it’s closing.”

The institution has been a staple in the community since it opened in 1941, when it was called the The Main Street Playhouse. It played the starring role in the lives of many young people over the years.

 Queens Chronicle

“You could spend the whole afternoon there, which me and my friends did,” he remembered fondly. “You got two feature films, a cartoon, a newsreel and an episode of a serial — and you could bring your own food.”

So it’s not difficult to imagine his disappointment when, after seeing Idris Elba’s latest film, “The Beast,” last weekend, he found out that would be the last movie he ever saw at the theatre, which closed its doors earlier this week.

It is rumored that the theater is closing due to a rent increase; however, the Chronicle was unable to confirm that, as owner Rudy Toolasprashad did not respond to multiple queries. City property records show that the lot — which includes the movie theater and all the stores between it and the corner of 72nd Drive — was purchased by G & Y Main Street Plaza LLC in February of this year. It is not clear whether the purchase has any connection to Main Street Cinemas’ shuttering.

Like all theaters, Main Street Cinemas had previously closed during the earliest days of the pandemic. Though many other small film venues across the country never reopened, Main Street Cinemas welcomed movie-goers back in March 2021.

“I thought then it would close for good, but it didn’t,” Reif said. “This summer you know, I went to movies like ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ and ‘Elvis’ and ‘Thor,’ and there were big turnouts — people of all ages, parents brought their kids for things like the Sonic Hedgehog movie. So that really surprised me that it’s closing.”

The institution has been a staple in the community since it opened in 1941, when it was called the The Main Street Playhouse. It played the starring role in the lives of many young people over the years.