BUFFALO, N.Y. — When calling movie theatres in Western New York, you'll find that many have recordings saying "at this time we are temporarily closed."
Movie theatres were able to reopen in New York back in October, but current orange zone restrictions in much of Erie County prevent them from serving concessions.
New York State's reopening guidance requires theatre capacity to be at 25% or 50 people.
National Association of Theatre Owners in New York President Joseph Masher said in addition to that, studios are not releasing new movies, which puts theater owners in a tough position.
"At our limited capacity for seating which in New York is 25% and the fact that we can't sell concessions many movie theatres didn't reopen or shut back down" he said.
The Aurora Theatre in East Aurora is the latest to announce its indefinite closure, posting on social media that they would no longer be showing movies.
"What we saw during the holiday season even with the ability to have 25% or 50 people, which was 48 for us, we were seeing much less than that," Aurora Theatre owner Lynn Kinsella said. "Then we opened 'Wonder Woman' and the attendance for that was extremely low, so we kind of took a look and had to make a decision about what we do at this point."
Kinsella said the Aurora Popcorn Shop will remain open, and she hopes to be able to show movies again in the spring.
The North Park Theater and Dipson Theatres closed temporarily in November.
Dipson Theatres President Michael Clement shared this statement with 2 On Your Side:
"Dipson Theatres is looking forward to reopening our locations as soon as it is deemed safe to do so. As the vaccination process for COVID-19 expands, we are confident in the coming months that we will be permitted to resume operations. We look forward to serving our customers in the very near future the way they have become accustomed to at our locations. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected by this pandemic. We appreciate and thank all those front line workers for their tireless work every day!"
Regal Theatres suspended operations at all U.S. theaters.
"One of the largest exhibitors Regal cinemas shut all 500 and something of their buildings back down, after reopening a few they just couldn't make a go of it with the product that was out and a lot of the mom and pop independents reopened and they are just struggling to get by" said Masher.
You can still see a movie in-person at AMC Maple Ridge 8 in Amherst and AMC Market Arcade 8 in Buffalo, you just can't buy snacks.