Just before sunset, a 1962 Chevy Bel Air station wagon turned off Rt. 303 into the Nyack Drive-in. Inside, kids in pajamas, mom with homemade popcorn, and dad with a cigarette eagerly await a double feature. Nearby, children squeal in the playground as goofy countdown cartoons play before the main feature. This scene, repeated throughout America at some 4,000 drive-ins in the 1950s and ’60s, evokes a powerful nostalgia.
The Nyack Drive-In, located in Blauvelt just over the village line on Rt. 303, was the last drive-in to open in Rockland County in 1962 and continued operating until 1987. As the “newcomer,” Nyack Drive-In promised the “world’s brightest screen.”
Rockland Drive-Ins
Rockland’s first drive-in, the Rockland Drive-In in Monsey on Rt. 59, opened on September 8, 1955, with space for 1,500 cars. Built by local businessman Harry Applebaum, the theater featured a cafeteria-style snack bar that sold hotdogs, pizza, and more to 500 people during the 15-minute intermission. Nearby patio-style seating and an onsite playground provided additional amenities. At its opening, speakers and heaters for cold weather were distributed at the 4-lane ticket booths, and a rear exit eased traffic congestion.
The 303 Drive-In, perhaps Rockland’s most famous, opened on August 2, 1956, in Orangeburg on Rt. 303. This Skouras Company-owned theater accommodated 1,800 cars and opened at 6:30 p.m. so kids could enjoy a large playground with a motor-driven Ferris wheel and carousel. Although the theater often played the main feature twice with a second feature in between, ads for the opening only mentioned one show: “The King and I,” starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. The theater closed in 1988, but its famous marquee sign on Rt. 303 survives as a marquee for the 303 Nursery.
The Nyack Drive-In
As the last to open and located midway between the 303 and Rockland Drive-Ins, the Nyack Drive-In set itself apart by promising the brightest screen in the world. Owners Harry and Joe Applebaum incorporated a pre-existing 9-hole, par-3 golf course into their 45-acre grounds, which could accommodate 1,250 cars. Two separate entrance roads off Rt. 303 merged into a long, wide entrance ramp leading to ticket booths 30 feet above the actual theater floor. The tree-lined roads, reflecting pool, and golf course enhanced the aesthetic.
A central concession stand offered 40 different items on opening day, and the playground featured a little train (inoperable by 1970). The theater also provided a dial-in movie listing with 24/7 times, which could be booked by dialing EL 8-184. Later, United Artists Theater Company managed the theater.
Opening Night
On April 17, 1962, the Nyack Drive-In opened, featuring the 1961 epic “The King of Kings,” with Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus. All cars on the first night and the first 500 cars during the rest of the opening week received free doughnuts, ice cream, coffee, and a gift.
An X-Rated Controversy
As family audiences declined in the late ’70s, the theater began showing more adult fare to attract a different audience. Some diners at Joe and Joe II, located across from the theater, complained about visible nudity while dining. The Rockland County chapter of Morality in Media attacked the theater for violating the state penal code prohibiting the showing of sexually explicit films in public places. The district attorney planned to investigate with the intention of eliminating X-rated films, not R-rated films.
Larry Martello, the 28-year-old manager of the Nyack Drive-In, refuted debunked the myth that a hard-core version of an X-rated film had been sent by mistake. During the winter months, the Nyack Drive-In continued to show soft-core X-rated films.
More Young People, Fewer Families
As the family-friendly days of Walt Disney movies and “From Russia With Love” faded, young people became the main market. By 1980, Nyack Drive-In showed double features like “The Sensuous Nurse” and “Private Lessons” or “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “I Drink Your Blood.” Teenagers would hide friends in the trunk to avoid fees when a per-head ticket price replaced a per-car price. Others would speed through the ticket booth and attempt to hide among the other cars to avoid paying.
Drive-in managers, familiar with these antics, had a love-hate relationship with the younger crowd. At the Rockland Drive-In, staff were instructed to rap on the window if no one was visible in the car, fearing carbon monoxide poisoning on cold nights. Near its end in 1987, the Nyack Drive-In became a meeting place for 18- to 30-year-olds, with young people standing around smoking and drinking, much to the annoyance of other customers.
Nyack’s Last Drive-In Picture Show
The Nyack Drive-In, along with many of its counterparts across the county and nation, closed in the 1980s due to changing interests and new technology. Movies drifted away from family fare, and the advent of the VCR and cable television further eroded the audience for this old-time entertainment. The world’s brightest theater went dark in September 1987 after 25 years. Although the last picture showing isn’t recorded, the last ad featured Saturday and Sunday showings on September 5 of the rom-coms “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Outrageous Fortune” starring Bette Midler.
Around the same time, Orangetown considered the site for a possible Rockland County trash incineration plant, which was eventually located elsewhere. The theater’s golf course survived as a driving range and miniature golf course for many years.
FedEx built a distribution facility over much of the theater grounds. For a long time, the screen and parking area with speaker poles remained visible .Today, part of the old entrance, now called Al Foxie Way, commemorates a fireman who died trying to save his son from a fire and who owned a restaurant near the entrance to the Nyack Drive-In.
Drive-In Movie Memories
For many who grew up in that mid-century era, childhood memories of clip-on speakers, the smell of popcorn, playing with other kids before the movie started, watching a movie out of the back of the station wagon, and falling asleep during the second feature blend in with teen memories of hiding in the trunk to get in and sipping cokes on a date.
Mike Hays is a 38-year resident of the Nyacks. He worked for McGraw-Hill Education in New York City for many years. Hays serves as President of the Historical Society of the Nyacks, and Vice-President of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center. Married to Bernie Richey, he enjoys cycling and winters in Florida. You can follow him on Instagram as UpperNyackMike.
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Sun River Health and Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty. Sun River Health is a network of 43 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) providing primary, dental, pediatric, OB-GYN, and behavioral health care to over 245,000 patients annually. Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty is the lower Hudson Valley’s Leader in Luxury. Located in the charming Hudson River village of Nyack, approximately 22 miles from New York City. Our agents are passionate about listing and selling extraordinary properties in the Lower Hudson Valley, including Rockland and Orange Counties, New York.
