A Queens diner has come up with a clever way to temporarily fill the void where movie theaters used to be, while also raising money for first responder during the pandemic: The Bel Aire Diner in Astoria has started hosting drive-in movie nights in their parking lot.
Located on Broadway and 21st Street, Bel Aire has set up a 25-foot screen in its parking lot for a makeshift drive-in movie experience that can host up to 40 cars. Kal Dellaportas, a co-owner of the diner (which has been open since 1965), told Gothamist the idea was to give back to the community, and help people come together during this difficult period.
"It's humbling how much it affects other people just to be here, and to give people a way to go out and do it safely," Dellaportas said.
The diner partnered with Long Island Movie Nights, a company specializing in pop-up drive-in events. Movigoers are required stay in their cars and listen to the film via an FM station; they can pre-order food and drinks from a special movie night menu from Bel Aire's website. (The diner allows attendees to use their restrooms provided they're wearing masks and gloves. They said the toilets are being sanitized "before, during and after the event.")
For the first couple events, the diner asked people to donate $20 to reserve their place. Half of that money was used as a credit toward food and drinks, and the other half is being put toward a thank you luncheon for officers from the local 114th Precinct. In addition, sales of popcorn from the first events went to Queens Together, which is helping feed frontline workers during the crisis. Dellaportas estimates they've made around $500 for charity so far.
They kicked off the series last Friday with Grease, and he estimates over 100 people were there altogether—including some locals who hadn't seen each other in awhile.
"At our first showing, we had an elderly couple who called me over to say thank you for holding this event," Dellaportas said. "They told me the car next to them was their neighbors, and they had not seen them for eight weeks. It was beautiful they could see each other. I get goosebumps thinking about the feedback we've gotten."
With the first event a success, they repeated it this week with two showings of Dirty Dancing on Wednesday night. And they are now talking about increasing to multiple showings a week (and possibly allowing people to vote on the movies), especially considering that Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that all drive-in theaters in the state can reopen starting May 15th.
All the movies are first announced on their Instagram—but because of the overwhelming initial response, ticketing will now be done via their website for future events. Dellaportas said they're planning to have at least two showings per week going into the summer (one is scheduled for this Saturday), weather-permitted. They're still figuring out what the breakdown of the new pricing will be, but "events will continue to be charitable." (And the money from popcorn will likely continue going to Queens Together.)
After the Dirty Dancing event was announced, Dellaportas said he got an email from a very unexpected person: Eleanor Bergstein, the writer of the film. "She personally wanted to thank our restaurant for what we were doing for the community. I never would have expected that. I had a fanboy moment!"
