Is It Time For Movie Theaters to Reopen in The Capital Region?

Most people around the state, or even around the nation, would agree that New York’s Governor Cuomo has done a pretty good job with handling the COVID-19 crisis. His decision to keep movie theaters shuttered has recently come under scrutiny.

Albany’s mayor, Kathy Sheehan, recently appeared on News10 lending her support to movie theaters for reopening. Mayor Sheehan acknowledged the outstanding job that Governor Cuomo has been doing to curtail the spread of COVID-19. She did say, however, that the time has come to explore the reopening of the movie theaters. She made a comparison to the reopening of gyms and fitness centers. It is her belief that if fitness centers can re-open safely, with proper planning, so can movie theaters.

According to Times Union, movie theater owners have come up with plans to try and re-open their establishments safely. They intend to install new and improved airflow systems, reduce capacity to 50%, stagger showtimes, disinfect all commonly used areas, require masks for employees and patrons as well as installing new seating configurations to enforce social distancing.

Because patrons have always been discouraged from talking during movies, owners believe that the likelihood of spreading the virus would be less than actually sitting in a restaurant.

Assemblymember Patricia Fahy noted that zero cases of COVID-19 can be traced back to movie theaters that have opened in other states.

I understand the need to get our economy growing again, but I certainly do not want to see New York lose our battle against COVID-19. I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable going into a packed movie theater with the threat of COVID-19. Big buildings just seem like one big germ factory. Not to mention people who might be coughing and sneezing inside the movie theater, while people eat popcorn filled with germ particles. That may sound a little extra but that is exactly what happens in the movie theater. Who wants to watch a movie with a mask on the entire time? What are your thoughts, are you ready to go into a movie theater?