Social distancing gets a throwback with New York drive-in movie theater
The Bel Aire Diner in Queens, New York wanted a way to drum up more business while keeping their customers safe and socially distant, so they created a drive-in movie theater in their parking lot.
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A New York City diner is throwing it back to its 1965 opening day with a socially distant, drive-in movie theater.
“We have a parking lot that’s not being utilized. A lot of the other businesses are closed,” Kal Dellaportas, the son of the Bel Aire Diner’s owner, told Fox News. “What can we do with that? [My manager] was like, you know, why don’t we do a drive-in?”
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The drive-in was an instant hit for his Queens business -- and some of his workers. Dellaportas said he had to lay off about half of his staff due to the coronavirus, but slowly, he has been able to bring them back.
“Some of these people have been with me for, you know, 20 years, basically since I was a child,” he said.
What he thought would be the biggest challenge turned out to be easy: he needed the “A-OK” from his landlord to use the parking lot that he shared with other businesses.
Dellaportas said the neighboring businesses were receptive to the idea, offering flyers and gift cards.
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“We’re trying to keep [our neighboring businesses] involved, and hopefully it’s a boom for all the businesses, not just us.”
The response within the Astoria neighborhood has been overwhelming, according to the restaurant. Dellaportas said he loved how the community has been coming together.
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“At our first event, we had, like, two neighbors. They basically parked next to each other. [They] messaged [us] just afterwards and they were telling us how they were so excited. They hadn’t seen their neighbors who live next door in eight weeks,” Dellaportas said.
The dine-in, drive-in can fit about 40-45 cars, and the diner has been serving meals via its app. Aside from regular movie showings, the restaurant also has been working with the organization Queens Together to show select films through the Astoria Film Festival.
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