You are reading

Regal to Suspend All U.S. Operations as New York Theaters Remain Closed

Photo: Queens Post

Oct. 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Regal will temporarily cease all U.S. and U.K. operations beginning Thursday as movie theaters in New York remain closed amid the ongoing pandemic.

Cineworld, the parent company of Regal, announced the suspension today, which will impact 40,000 employees across the U.S.

“This is not a decision we made lightly, and we did everything in our power to support a safe and sustainable reopening in the U.S.,” said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld.

The company cited the closed New York market — a key market for the movie industry — as a major driver of the decision.

There are multiple Regal theaters in Queens, including the Regal UA Midway in Forest Hills, Regal Atlas Park in Glendale and the Regal UA Kaufman Astoria in Long Island City.

“Despite our work, positive feedback from our customers and the fact that there has been no evidence to date linking any COVID cases with cinemas, we have not been given a route to reopen in New York, although other indoor activities – like indoor dining, bowling and casinos were already allowed,” Greidinger said.

Cineworld said that studios have been reluctant to release new films without the New York theaters open. In turn, Regal lacks a line-up of strong commercial films to entice customers across the country to return to theaters amid the threat of COVID-19.

“The prolonged closures have had a detrimental impact on the release slate for the rest of the year, and, in turn, our ability to supply our customers with the lineup of blockbusters they’ve come to expect from us,” the CEO said. “As such, it is simply impossible to continue operations in our primary markets.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Scooter-riding robbers sought for gunpoint chain-snatching inside Woodhaven playground: NYPD

Police from the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill are looking for a scooter-riding armed robber and his accomplice who allegedly held up a 25-year-old man at gunpoint in broad daylight at a Woodhaven playground late last month.

The incident occurred just before noon on Wednesday, Sept. 25, when the two strangers rode a two-wheeled scooter onto the basketball court inside London Planetree Playground on Atlantic Avenue and approached the victim. One of the perpetrators pulled out a firearm and forcibly removed two gold chains from the victim’s neck and $100 in cash, police said. The bandits rode off northbound on 89th Street toward Jamaica Avenue. The victim was not injured during the encounter.

Flushing man busted for pushing an 82-year-old woman off the platform at the Main Street 7 train station in Wednesday: NYPD

A Flushing man was arrested Monday and charged with attempted murder for allegedly shoving an 82-year-old woman onto the tracks at the Main Street 7 train station during a random attack on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

Brandon Harris, 35, who lives directly across the street from the bustling subway station, was booked at the Transit District 20 headquarters at the Briarwood subway station in Jamaica on Monday.

City completes $106M sewer project in Maspeth using micro-tunneling techniques to reduce disruptions

The city announced on Monday the completion of a $106 million infrastructure project in Maspeth, the second of three phases to create a new drainage system through central Queens. The project also upgraded over a mile of water mains and replaced smaller, local combined sanitary sewers.

The city’s Department of Design and Construction managed the project for the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation and successfully used micro-tunneling technology throughout large parts of it to minimize construction impacts during work.