Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York has announced that movie theatres will partially reopen next month, the latest easing of coronavirus restrictions in the city.
Cuomo said cinemas would be able to operate at 25 per cent capacity, or up to 50 people per screen, from March 5, almost exactly a year since they were shut.
“Assigned seating, social distancing and other health precautions will be in place,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter.
Officials closed movie theatres on March 17 last year as COVID-19 began ravaging America’s commercial capital, where the disease has now killed almost 29,000 people.
CEO of AMC, Adam Aron, has also announced that the chain’s 13 movie theatres in New York would reopen on March 5. AMC is the biggest cinema chain in the United States.
But Andrew Elgart, who owns three independent movie theatres in New York, said he probably would not reopen on March 5, although he is considering the possibility of doing so later.
He said expressed doubt that reopening would be profitable under the current pandemic conditions.
The New York City administration has been gradually easing restrictions in recent weeks as positivity rates fall.
