Alpine’s renovation project has the audience excited

Alpine Cinema, which recently announced renovation plans for its 100th birthday next year, offered a sneak peek of what patrons can expect when the theater is permitted to reopen.

Members of the Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District toured the theater last month and were pleased by what Alpine owner Nick Nicolaou has accomplished.

“The BID is so impressed with Nick’s commitment to the Alpine and his community,” said Amanda Zenteno, the BID’s executive director. “The Alpine is an important part of Bay Ridge and, despite being closed for so long, Nick is using the time to bring the movie theater back to its former glory. We are all grateful for his investment in Fifth Avenue.”

Photos courtesy of Alpine An exterior look at Alpine Cinema

Nicolaou said he’s been lucky to have his staff join him in fixing up the theater as best as they could.

“It’s going to be a beautiful place inside,” he said. “We are going back to the original ceilings of the lobby, because when the theater was renovated in the early ’80s, they put a low ceiling. We removed everything and exposed the 1921 walls and ceilings.”

Despite the struggles of the film industry and theater chains during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicolaou says he is doing everything he can to keep the theater open.

Photo courtesy of Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue BID The original light fixtures.

“I am not going to be the one to shut down New York’s oldest operating cinema since 1921,” he said. “Together with our community, we’ll fight every day to preserve our historic movie house. We have been in the red for some time. If we go down, we’ll go down fighting together because Brooklyn New Yorkers are brave and proud.”

Photo courtesy of Alpine

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.