White Plains' Cinema De Lux at City Center will close on Oct. 29
Correction: Bow-Tie Cinemas in Bronxville is still open as The Picture House Bronxville. The Picture House Regional Film Center took over the location in December 2021. A previous version of this story indicated otherwise.
White Plains' last movie theater, Cinema De Lux at City Center, is closing next month.
The theater is set to close on Oct. 29, according to Showcase Cinemas, Cinema De Lux's parent company. The 15-screen theater opened in 2005 and was one of the biggest movie theaters in the area.
"Showcase Cinemas confirms the closure of Cinema De Lux City Center after failure to come to terms with a new lease agreement," a spokesperson for the company said.
White Plains moviegoers will now have to find another theater to watch the newest releases. But finding a new local spot may be difficult. This upcoming closing is just the latest in a string of shuttered movie theaters across the county.
Theaters like Fine Arts Cinema in Scarsdale and Hawthorne and Greenburgh's Multiplex Cinemas have closed within the last 20 years, mirroring trends across the country as consumers move to streaming movies after the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I believe [the closure] was really a reflection of the broader changes in the entertainment industry and COVID kind of accelerated that," White Plains Mayor Tom Roach said.
He said that "mega-theaters" with 10 or more screens, like Cinema De Lux, no longer meet the volume of moviegoers, which could add to the changes in the movie industry.
"I think there's room for smaller or mixed-entertainment venues," Roach said, referencing unique movie theaters like the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers and Look Dine-In Cinemas in Dobbs Ferry. "If they have other reasons for people to come into the building, then I think perhaps that can work. We are certainly open to everything."
Roach said the city is in contact with Kite Realty, the company that owns City Center, and local representatives about the potential for a new tenant in the space.
"My hope is that we get another theater that meets the current needs," Roach said. "I think there's a way to do movies that would be financially viable and I think it's probably smaller theaters and fewer screens."
Where can I watch movies in Westchester?
Showcase Cinemas said it will continue to run its theaters at Cinema de Lux Ridge Hill and Cinema de Lux Cross County in Yonkers. Here is a list of movie theaters that are still operating in Westchester:
Cinema de Lux Ridge Hill, 1 Ridge Hill Blvd., Yonkers
Cinema de Lux Cross County, 2 South Drive, Yonkers
Jacob Burns Film Center, 364 Manville Road, Pleasantville
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 2548 Central Park Ave., Yonkers
The Picture House, 175 Wolfs Lane, Pelham
The Picture House, 84 Kraft Ave., Bronxville, N.Y.
Mamaroneck Cinemas, 243 Mamaroneck Ave., Mamaroneck
Regal New Roc 18, 33 Lecount Place, New Rochelle
AMC Port Chester 14, 40 Westchester Ave., Port Chester
AB Cinemas, 144 Main St., Mount Kisco
Bedford Playhouse, 633 Old Post Road, Bedford
Look Dine-In Cinemas, 1 Hamilton St., Dobbs Ferry
Regal UA Cortlandt Town Center, 3131 E. Main St., Mohegan Lake
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: White Plains' City Center movie theater closing in October
