New Plaza Cinema: UWS Arthouse Theater Proves ‘We’re Here to Stay’

By Carol Tannenhauser

There’s a small arthouse theater on West 67th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue that is often overlooked amid all the talk about an Upper West Side “cinema desert” and the return of the Metro Theater.

New Plaza Cinema rose from the ashes of the legendary Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, which closed in January 2018, when its lease was not renewed after a 35-year run. Operated by Dan and Toby Talbot, who are “credited with helping start the art-house-revival movement in the 1960s,” The New York Times reported, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas introduced Upper West Siders to Federico Fellini, premiering “City of Women” at their opening in 1981. Many other major films followed over the years, including “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “The Thin Blue Line,” “My Dinner With André,” and “Mulholland Drive.”

“You could decide to go to Lincoln Plaza Cinemas at two o’clock in the afternoon, if that’s the time you had free, and you knew whatever you saw would be a good movie,” said Shawn Moore, head of marketing for New Plaza Cinema, named in honor of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

Legend has it that a band of determined seniors started New Plaza Cinema, and that’s partially true. “But New Plaza has also always been run by volunteer, retired professionals,” Moore emphasized. In fact, the woman who spearheaded the push to get New Plaza going, Norma Levy, was a retired Yale-educated attorney with a deep love for arthouse films.

“The truth is that there were about 30 people who had been going to the former Lincoln Plaza Cinemas for years and were devastated by its closing. And Norma took the lead and got those people together and said, ‘Is there anything we can do about it?’”

Theirs was an arduous journey as they sought a venue for their theater. After bouncing around from the JCC to Symphony Space, they landed in the New York Institute of Technology auditorium, until a water main burst, flooding it from floor to ceiling. Then came COVID. After an interim stay at a church when the city reopened, they found Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York, with a 72-seat screening room. They reached an agreement and are planning to remain there through 2026.

“Like Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, our goal is that any time you come to New Plaza Cinema, whatever film you see, it’s going to be a quality film,” Moore told the Rag

It won’t be a commercial blockbuster from a major studio; no Marvel heroes here. Rather, like its predecessor, New Plaza Cinema screens independent and small studio productions, foreign films, classics, and documentaries. It has premiered several films over the past few years, including “Living” starring Bill Nighy, “The Teachers Lounge” (nominated for Best International Feature at last year’s Academy Awards), “Freud’s Last Session” starring Anthony Hopkins, “Farewell Mr. Haffmann” starring Daniel Auteuil, and “Hundreds of Beavers,” a word-of-mouth hit that warranted a feature in The New York Times.

With 60% of its seats filled on average this year, New Plaza Cinema is doing remarkably well, despite one major limitation (besides not having space for a concession stand): It is only open on weekends (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Macaulay needs the screening room for its students during the week.

“We have now started to prove ourselves to distributors that we can turn out people and we can make money for them,” Moore said. “But it’s going to always be a challenge until and unless we are exhibiting seven days a week.”

Sometimes the theater gets the benefit of long weekends, summer vacation, and the week between Christmas and New Year’s – and they make the most of all the time they have. After the films, they offer frequent talkbacks and Q&A sessions with filmmakers, actors, and interesting others. Melissa Newman, daughter of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, has made several appearances, talking about her parents’ films and growing up as their daughter.

“We have other guests who come and explain their process in making the film or being in the film or whatever their role,” Moore explained. Some have included Lee Grant, Jenny Slate, Michael Imperioli, John Turturro, Jacqueline Bisset, Griffin Dunne, and Lena Olin.

New Plaza Cinema is a nonprofit organization. It earns 80% of its revenue from ticket sales and the rest from donations in order to break even. All but two of those leading and helping to operate the theater are volunteers.

“But we’re not just a little community theater trying to get by,” Moore reiterated, “as much as we’re run by former professionals who are trying to keep it going.”

What sets them apart are two main factors, she said. The first is Gary Palmucci, film curator and general manager of New Plaza Cinema. With 30 years experience in film distribution, “he’s brilliant at it,” said Moore.

The second strength of New Plaza is its volunteers. The leadership consists of retired professionals with decades of experience in their fields, and a deep love for arthouse cinema. 

Yes, 65% of their audience is over 60 – in many cases, way over – but New Plaza Cinema is fully accessible and there are trained ushers – also up in years – to help patrons to their seats and deal with their walkers. 

“It’s very interesting to me that the number of people that come there with walkers, et cetera, their energy level and their interest in the films never seems to wane,” Moore said.

That was evident the other evening at a Q&A for “Rebel With a Clause,” a road-trip movie about grammar and punctuation that was both hilarious and heartwarming. It’s coming back exclusively to New Plaza Cinema several times this summer, featuring a Q&A with the two Upper West Siders who made the film. For times and other movie schedules and events check – HERE.

“We’ve proven ourselves,” Moore concluded. “We’re here to stay.”

Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.