Nitehawk Cinema is a dine-in

independent movie theater An independent movie theater (American English) or indie cinema (British English) is a movie theater which screens independent, art house, foreign, or other non-mainstream films. It can be contrasted with a mainstream theater (often a multiple ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It operates two locations, in the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Aven ...

. The theater, which offers a menu of food and drinks that can be ordered and consumed while patrons view films, was the first

liquor license A liquor license (or liquor licence in most forms of Commonwealth English) is a governmentally issued permit to sell, manufacture, store, or otherwise use alcoholic beverages. Canada In Canada, liquor licences are issued by the legal authority ...

d movie theater in the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and the first movie theater in New York City to offer

table service The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many ...

History

Nitehawk Williamsburg

Nitehawk was founded by Matthew Viragh. Viragh sought to establish a dine-in movie theater in New York City in 2008, after being a regular attendee at the

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

while living in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, and later working at the

Commodore Theatre Commodore Theatre is an historic movie theater located at Portsmouth, Virginia. It was built in 1945, and is an Art Deco style, 1,000-seat theater building. The two-story front facade features a plain mass of yellow pressed brick decorated with h ...

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

, the first first-run movie theater in the United States to serve alcohol. At the time, New York state had a

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

-era law barring movie theaters from serving alcohol, prompting Viragh to hire a lawyer and a lobbyist to seek the law's repeal. Senate Bill S4772, which authorizes movie theaters in New York state to serve alcoholic beverages, passed the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

by broad margins and was signed by Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

on August 17, 2011. Nitehawk opened its first location, a three-screen theater in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...

, on June 24, 2011. The theater was the first multi-screen theater in Northern Brooklyn following the closure of the Commodore Cinemas in Williamsburg in 2002. As its opening preceded the passage of Senate Bill S4772 and the modification of the theater's liquor license by several months, alcoholic beverages were initially only served in the front-of-house cafe and not during screenings. Nitehawk Williamsburg is housed in a former industrial building renovated by Caliper Architecture, and was retrofitted to also include a nine-unit apartment building and a custom façade made from

LED lights An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

, zinc, and glass. The theater's menu was developed by

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

-starred chef

Saul Bolton Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

Nitehawk Prospect Park

In September 2016, Nitehawk announced plans to open a second location, Nitehawk Prospect Park, in

. It is located in an historic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

movie theater adjacent to Prospect Park that operated as the Sanders Theater from 1928 to 1978, and as the Pavilion Theater from 1996 to 2016. Viragh and the building's owner had discussed converting the theater into a Nitehawk in 2011, but discussions fell through following the opening of Nitehawk Williamsburg. In 2015, the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

approved a plan that would have partially converted the building into

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

s and shrunk the floor area of the theater. However, an investment firm ultimately purchased the building for $28 million and granted a long-term lease to Nitehawk. Nitehawk Prospect Park underwent renovations through 2016 and 2017, at a cost of "less than $10 million". Originally slated to open in fall 2017, renovation delays and the discovery of historic elements from the Sanders theater amid demolition led the opening to be postponed, and it ultimately reopened on December 19, 2018. The theater, which includes seven screens, 650 seats, two kitchens, and two bars, was designed by Think! Architecture and Design. The exterior of the building remained largely unchanged, except for the addition of a new marquee and an enlargement of its windows. In contrast to Nitehawk Williamsburg, Nitehawk Prospect Park screens a greater proportion of

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

and

blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

films.

Programming

Initially focused on screening first-run films, Nitehawk shifted focus to incorporate a range of first-run,

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

art house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

, and

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

films. Nitehawk holds several regular series of special screenings and

midnight movie The term midnight movie is rooted in the practice that emerged in the 1950s of local television stations around the United States airing low-budget genre films as late-night programming, often with a host delivering ironic asides. As a cinematic ...

s, including "The Deuce" (

grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a film ...

films), "Film Feasts" (multi-course meals based on the film being screened), "Nitehawk Naughties" (

erotic films Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, specially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religious groups or hav ...

), "Anime After Dark" (

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

films screened in partnership with

Anime NYC Anime NYC is an annual three-day anime convention held during November at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Programming The convention typically offers arcade games, an artist alley, concerts, manga library (Carolina Manga ...

), and "A Nite To Dismember" (an all-night

movie marathon A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

held annually on

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

). Since 2013, Nitehawk has held the Nitehawk Shorts Festival, an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

focused on

short films A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

. Nitehawk does not screen advertisements during its preshow, instead showing a montage of

clips CLIPS is a public domain software tool for building expert systems. The name is an acronym for "C Language Integrated Production System." The syntax and name were inspired by Charles Forgy's OPS5. The first versions of CLIPS were developed start ...

that are customized for each film; for instance, the preshow for Nitehawk's screenings of ''

The Favourite ''The Favourite'' is a 2018 period black comedy film co-produced and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, from a screenplay by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Set in early 18th century Great Britain, the film's plot examines the relationship betw ...

'' included clips from

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

's comedic work and

Yorgos Lanthimos Georgios "Yorgos" Lanthimos ( el, Γιώργος Λάνθιμος, Giórgos Lánthimos, ; born 23 September 1973) is a Greek film director, film producer, screenwriter, photographer, theatre director and former professional basketball player. Sin ...

' short films. In addition to its standard menu, Nitehawk offers a special menu for

brunch Brunch is a meal eaten between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sometimes accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail). The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word ''brunch'' is a portmanteau of ''breakfast'' a ...

screenings, and limited-time menu items inspired by the current slate of films it is screening.

Reception

Nitehawk has been cited as an

that has achieved financial success despite the industry's decline in ticket sales, which prompted several independent theaters to close down. The passing of Senate Bill S4772 is noted as having led a proliferation of liquor-licensed dine-in theaters in New York City, including Syndicated in

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...

, the

Metrograph The Metrograph is an independent two-screen movie theater at 7 Ludlow Street in the Dimes Square neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It opened in 2016 with two theatres, a bookstore, a "curated" concession stand, and a restaurant. ...

on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

, and an

Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and ...

, with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' calling Nitehawk "the granddaddy of swizzle-stick cinema in the city".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nitehawk Cinema Cinemas and movie theaters in New York City Culture of New York City Theatres completed in 2011 2011 establishments in New York (state) Williamsburg, Brooklyn Park Slope