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Map: Old Drive-In Movie Theaters
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 12, 2010
Modified Jul 12, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 12, 2010
Modified Jul 12, 2010
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This neat city map blog, called NY City Map, just updated with some vintage aerial photos from 1951. Did you know New York had its share of drive-in movie theaters? There was The Whitestone Drive-In in the Bronx, The Fabian on Staten Island and The Bayshore Sunrise Drive-In (out on Long Island).
Today, there are still some drive-ins in New York state, but none within the city limits. According to Drive-In Movie, "although New York State was one of the first 10 American states to host a Drive-in movie theatre— the first one in NY had opened in August of 1938 at Valley Stream, on Long Island (a long time gone), the Empire State was still what you'd call: a late bloomer. Generally, across America, the peak years for Drive-ins were the mid to late 50's. New York's peak season was '63, with over 150 Driveins lit-up that year. Since then, the state has experienced a rate of attrition and decline of 82%, but yet, NY remains one of the top 5 Drive-in states, with nearly 30 Drive-ins that remain lit currently & seasonally."
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movie theater
vintage
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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