NEWS: Bay Ridge's Alpine Theater Saved!
From the Bay Ridge Courier: http://www.courierlife.net/site/news.cfm?newsid=16583707&BRD=2384&PAG=461&dept_id=560112&rfi=6
5/04/2006
The Show Will Go On: Entrepreneur Saves Alpine Theater
By Helen Klein and Thomas Tracy
In a four-star rescue, the Alpine Theater, a Bay Ridge landmark since the 1920s, was saved from extinction this week when a movie lover on a white horse galloped into town offering to keep the beloved neighborhood movie house open. Residents and local elected officials praised the sale Tuesday, a day after the property at 6817 5th Avenue officially changed hands. The theater had been on the market since late last year, after Loews Cineplex Entertainment announced that it wasn’t going to renew its lease with the landlord. The hero of this tale is Nicolaos Nicolaou, an entrepreneur who runs two other theaters in the city – one in lower Manhattan and one in Queens. Nicolaou plans to turn the vintage theater into an independent movie house. As an added bonus, an unused portion of the building – the original theater — will be set aside for a community cultural center, where gallery art shows and theater performances can be held. The deal came just as Lowe’s Cineplex Entertainment notified owner Jeffrey Deneroff that they would be closing their operation within thirty days. “We will see a new day dawning for the Alpine,” City Councilman Vincent Gentile proudly announced during a morning press conference.
For full story see: http://www.courierlife.net/site/news.cfm?newsid=16583707&BRD=2384&PAG=461&dept_id=560112&rfi=6