Summer is halfway over somehow, but that doesn't mean there needs to be any slowing down when it comes to drive-in movie theaters. The city has already seen at least half a dozen of them pop-up in the last two months, and another new one—with an emphasis on Black American movies—is starting in Queens this weekend.
Bounce Playground's Movies In Your Car, a Black-owned drive-in theater, will open this Thursday, July 30th at the York College Performing Arts Center in Queens. They plan on showing movies there every weekend through at least the rest of the summer, with two showings per night at 8 and 11 p.m. Their initial lineup this weekend includes Girls Trip, Training Day, Minions, Belly, Sonic, Harlem Nights, Trolls, and Transformers.
Tickets are per car starting at $40 for General Admission and $60 for the VIP experience (which includes popcorn, candy, Red Bull, and a guaranteed parking spot in the first three rows), and you have to buy them ahead of time. As with the other drive-ins, there's lots of safety precautions, including social distancing, and mandatory mask wearing if you exit your car to go to the bathroom. You can bring your own snacks, but they will also be selling concessions there (which you can preorder online). You can get more info about tickets and other safety FAQ questions here.
In early May, The Bel Aire Diner in Astoria started hosting drive-in movie nights in their parking lot which became wildly popular. Then the Skyline Drive-In opened in Greenpoint with a slate of classic movies ($54.99 per car). Then Tribeca Enterprises announced that they will be showing outdoor films at Orchard Beach in The Bronx and Nickerson Beach in Nassau County as part of their Tribeca Drive-In series throughout July.
This month, Rooftop Films announced they were launching a new Brooklyn Drive-In which will run through October, as well as a second drive-in theater, this time located at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, opening in August. And over in Newark, another pop-up theater debuted earlier this month.
