Elwood Cinemas Closes After Coronavirus Shutdown

ELWOOD, NY — The Elwood Quad has been showing movies in Elwood since the 1960s, when the theater opened with a single screen. Over the decades, Elwood Cinemas has expanded, first to two screens and then four but remained under family ownership.

This week, the theater announced it would close. A message on the theater's website read simply: "For the safety of our patrons and staff, we have decided to close temporarily until further notice."

It wasn't clear if the long-standing business shuttered due to being closed for months because of coronavirus or competition from multiplex cinemas. The owner of Elwood Cinema, Jay Levinson, told Newsday in November 2019 that he was planning to renovate the theater in advance of an AMC multiplex opening in the former Sears space in East Northport. Levinson also owns Bellmore Playhouse in Bellmore.

Do you remember going to single-screen theaters on Long Island? Which one? Tell us your oldest movie theater memories in the comments.