The cinemas from New York City they reopened this friday with important security measures almost a year after the Big Apple began its lockdown, which led to the entire entertainment sector having to stop short.
Although the majority of theaters in New York State obtained permission to start operating again last October, this was not the case for those in the metropolis, who did not receive the go-ahead until last week by the governor, Andrew. Cuomo, who defined March 5 as the first day of his “return to normalcy.”
However, Cuomo ordered that cinemas have to limit their capacity to 25%, and that the number of people in the same room cannot exceed 50, which has led some to delay opening even more, since they do not consider that it will be economically viable to receive so few clients.
The AMC cinema chain did open its thirteen stores throughout New York City, as well as the iconic Angelika Film Center in Manhattan, which has implemented a system by which the seats that surround the purchased ones are automatically blocked when they are acquired. online or at the box office, ensuring social distancing during the movie.
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What’s more, both the movie theater and the cafeteria you have will not accept cash payments. For its part, the IFC Center, another of New York’s emblematic cinemas, has included cheaper passes at less popular times to try to avoid crowds, and has decided not to sell food or drink to increase the feeling of security for its customers .
“People who should wear masks would have permission to take them off to eat popcorn or drink soda. We have decided, after conducting surveys and consulting with our members about how they felt, not to have food stalls, “the general manager of the IFC Center, John Vanco, explained to Efe.
“We have the simple objective that everyone has the same rules that masks must be worn in the building and there is no exception, … which means that everyone will feel safe,” he added.
Likewise, at the IFC Center the movie will start exactly at the specified time so as not to lengthen the stay in theaters more than necessary, so that if the viewer wants to see the trailers and shorts that are sometimes shown before the feature film, they should go before.
Nitehawk Cinema, popular with New Yorkers for having seats with tables where you can dine while watching the movie, also returned to showing movies this Friday, after having only opened as a restaurant weeks ago.
This cinema, which will only seat customers in alternate rows and guarantees not to have anyone in the adjoining seat, has had the advantage that its workers have been able to access the coronavirus vaccine for more than a month, since the workers from the hospitality world could begin to be inoculated in early February.
As well they will take the temperature of all their clients, and it will close the doors on Mondays to be able to do an in-depth cleaning of its facilities.
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Film at Lincoln Center or the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) are some of the cinemas that have preferred not to open their doors yet or have not managed to organize themselves with such a short time frame.
“We have managed to reopen quickly but we understand that other independent cinemas are taking a little longer because it has been difficult to do so,” Vanco said.
“I think everyone wants to reopen even with limitations. (…) A capacity of 25% is not great, but it is much better than being closed,” he settled.
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