As some states begin the slow process of reopening, there’s currently one out-of-home option for cinephiles that has seen its popularity suddenly sky rocket: the drive-in. Photographer Jasmine Clarke visited four New York drive-in movie theaters to ask people—from a distance—what they’re watching and how they’re doing.
Overlook Drive-In Theatre
In operation since 1955, this drive-in movie theatre, located in Poughkeepsie, will be showing a number of classics including Dirty Dancing, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Gremlins through July.
Patricia (41) and Jamie (14)
What movies are you guys here to see?
Patricia: Love and Basketball and Crazy Rich Asians.
What’s the last movie you guys watched?
Patrica: Well, we do family movie nights. We plan to see Knives Out next, which she has seen, but I haven’t seen.
Have you guys been to this drive-in before?
Patricia: We haven’t. We’re from Massachusetts, so we made the trip out.
That’s so fun.
Patricia: Yeah, something to do in a pandemic on a weeknight—it’s just under two hours of a drive. So we said, Why not?
That’s awesome. How have the last few weeks been for you guys?
Patricia: They’ve been good. I’m working from home, and my daughter just wrapped up the school year. So we’re just looking forward to the summer.
Jamie: I’ve been doing online summer camps. I’ve been Zooming and FaceTiming friends, so that’s been good. But it’s just not the same as being in person, obviously.
Lola Hewitt, 17
How’s your day been?
It’s been good! I had to teach a class.
What are you teaching?
Wilderness survival skills.
Oh, wow. Are you teaching it online or outside? How’s that going?
Online. And it was good. The kids are super interactive with the class and they ask a bunch of questions and everything, which is fun.
That’s awesome. What movie are you here to see?
Love and Basketball.
Have you watched it before? Or do you don’t know anything about it yet?I haven’t. I watched a quick clip of the trailer but I turned it off because I feel like it ruins the rest of the movie for me.
Kiki Artis, 30
So, how was your day?
Oh, it was pretty good. I’m happy to be outside, finally. I’ve been working on my online boutique, myshiascloset.com. I’m actually wearing one of my items.
Nice. What movie are you here to see?
I’m here to see Love and Basketball.
Have you seen it before?
A million times. I’ve never seen it outdoors though, so that will be a new experience.
What’s the last movie you watched?
Creed and Creed II.
What did you think?
I loved it because Michael B. Jordan is in it.
What’s one of your favorite movies?
Anything with Michael B. Jordan.
Angie Aguilar, 17
What’d you do today?
Shoot, I don’t even remember. What did I do? Oh, wait… I have no clue.
How’d you hear about this drive-in?
I Googled drive-ins, and this one just popped up. And then, I did a little research, and I was like, Oh my God. It’s a free movie night. So, I came.
Yeah, it’s really cool. What’s the last movie you watched?
I think it was Clueless. It’s my favorite movie.
Hi-Way Drive-In Theatre
Located between Catskill and Coxsackie in Upstate New York, this theater is currently showing The Goonies, Jaws, The Shining, and other classics.
Taylor Hais (23) and Justin Gagner (24)
So, what movie are you guys here to see?
Taylor: We’re seeing The Exorcist.
Have you seen it before?
Taylor: No. Right? Yeah, no.
You guys like scary movies?
Taylor: I do.
Justin: Kind of….
How’d you hear about this place?
Taylor: I used to come here when I was a kid. He’s from Boston, so he’s just visiting.
Nice. What’s the last movie you watched?
Taylor: I think it was at the drive-in? Actually, we watched Howl’s Moving Castle today.
Erin Magee Bolduc, 41
What movies are you guys here to see?
ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Have your kids seen the movies before?
No. Actually—ET, yes. Close Encounters, no.
Cool. And how did you guys hear about this place?
We live two miles away. I’ve been coming here my whole life.
Wow. And what’s the last movie you guys watched?
Jurassic Park was the beginning of it. And Jaws! We saw the whole Jaws, from beginning to end, and that I’d never seen in a movie theater before. Parents of the year.
How have the last few weeks been for you guys?
The last two weeks have been good for us, because we’re both teachers, so this has been a break.
Anna Morris, 31
What movie are you here to see?
We’re going to see The Exorcist.
Do you like scary movies?
I do.
Have you been to this drive-in before?
Yeah. I’ve been the past couple of weeks—three times.
What’s the last movie you watched?
I saw Evil Dead. On that screen. It was really fun.
Skyline Drive-In NYC
Located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Skyline is currently showing a number of films including Moonlight, Black Panther, Grease, and Get Out.
Yaira Taveras, 29
How’d you hear about this place?
Well, actually, Google. We just searched for drive-ins because there’s no regular movie theaters to actually go to right now, and we needed to get out of the house.
Do you guys live nearby?
You could say that. We live in East New York, but I’m from Bushwick. Before all of this was converted to a theater, this was somewhere that we used to come and hang out to sit on the rocks by the water. It was really cool.
How have the last few weeks been for you?
They’ve been boring, you know? Staying at home, eating a lot of fast food. And just working. Being essential.
Shea Smith, 27
What movie are you here to see?
I believe it’s Terrified.
How’d you hear about it?
My sister. I’m from New Jersey, so she asked if I want to come see it. When I was a young girl and lived in California for a couple of years, they had drive-in movies, so when she told me, I was like, Yeah, let’s do it!
It’s really nice down here, too.
Yeah, you get the best of both worlds. You get a movie, and you get some water.
Kaitlyn Chen, 19 (and her date)
What did you do today?
We were just going on a date. Before this, we got food, and this is the end of our date.
That’s so nice. And what movie are you here to see?
We’re here to see Parasite.
Have you guys seen it before?
I’ve seen it before, but he hasn’t.
And how’d you hear about this drive-in?
My friend came here last week! And it’s on TikTok, too.
Chelsea Galindo, 25
What did you do today?
I celebrated my friend’s birthday in Battery Park, at a social distance.
Nice. What movie are you here to see?
I am here to see Parasite again.
How would you describe it to anyone who hasn’t seen it?
It’s honestly an incredible movie. Just the whole story, the plot line, everything is just incredible. I told my mom to watch it a billion times. She’s like, “Why are they winning all the awards?” I’m like, “Dude, just watch the movie,” so she’s going to watch it tonight.
Asad Siddiqi (37), Nada Siddiqi (33), and Shahbaz Siddiqi (2)
How’d you hear about this drive-in?
Asad: Well, it’s our anniversary.
Oh, happy anniversary!
Asad: So we were looking for pandemic-friendly things to do to celebrate, and this kind of popped up.
Wow. That’s really cool. And what’s the last movie you guys watched?
Nada: We watched Hamilton—
Did you like it?
Nada: Yeah, we loved it.
Shahbaz: We watch Hamilton!
And how have the last few weeks been for you?
Asad: They’ve been okay, yeah. Just getting into the new normal, right?
Bel Aire Diner
This Astoria diner recently transformed its car park into a drive-in movie theatre. In addition to movies, they’ve also been hosting drive-in stand-up comedy and trivia.
Mari, 26
What movie are you guys here to see?
Ice Age.
How have the last few weeks been for you?
I’m a nurse, so I’ve been out.
How has that been for you?
It sucks. It’s hard, but it’s good.
Jeff, 51 & Co.
How’d you hear about this drive-in?
We just did a Google search for drive-ins close to New York City, and this came up. All the other ones are upstate or whatever, about an hour and a half away. So we figured we’d give this a try.
What’s the last movie you watched?
What is it called? Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy—Bowfinger.
Oh, did you like it?
Oh yeah, it was hilarious. It was about a washed-up movie director and his last chance to make a movie.
Do you guys live nearby?
Yeah, we live in Rego Park.
How have the last few weeks been for you?
I didn’t see my kids for about four months, so I just saw them for the first time two weeks ago. They’re in New Jersey part-time. Now that I can see them, it’s been great.
Denise Cordova (33) and Kristyn Capito (33)
What movie are you here to see?
Both: Ice Age.
How would you describe Ice Age?
Denise: I would describe it as…
Kristyn: Survival of the fittest!
Denise: Yes! Survival of the fittest—for kids.
How’d you hear about this drive-in?
Denise: We saw it at the beginning of the pandemic.
Kristyn: On Instagram!
Denise: They [Bel Aire Diner] were showing pretty good classic movies, like from the ’80s, so that’s what pulled us in.
Kristyn: I just love going to movie theaters and obviously since it’s not safe right now, this is a good alternative.
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