‘New way of watching movies’: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema opens in New Dorp; check out the Wu-Tang Clan-inspired ambiance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island’s newest movie theater is now open, and it has a little Wu-Tang Clan flair.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in New Dorp held its soft opening on Friday night, where Tim League, founder and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, christened the new space by smashing open a bottle of Champagne with a saber as a dozen of team members clapped and cheered in celebration.

Hundreds of movie-goers turned out to see the expansive theater — the largest Alamo in New York City — that was partially inspired by Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, who partnered with the movie theater chain to design its signature bar-museum space. The Staten Island native and hip-hop legend’s passion for martial arts films paired with the wisdom he gained as a disciple under Shaolin warrior monk Shi Yan Ming can be felt when stepping foot inside of The Flying Guillotine bar, named after the Shaw Bros. classic, “Master of the Flying Guillotine.”

“The way this [Alamo] really stands out is our partnership with RZA,” said Mike Sampson, Alamo’s field marketing manager. “He’s been involved with this from the very get-go, so a lot of what you see around has come from our discussions with him.”

RZA is the first creative partner Alamo Drafthouse has had for its bar-museum area, according to Sampson. He’ll also be involved in programming for the Saturday Kung Fu Series at the theater, where he will pick the movie selection and give an intro to the movies.

“To partner with Wu-Tang on a theater in Staten Island, it’s wild… It’s a dream come true,” Sampson said.

‘NEW WAY OF WATCHING MOVIES’

At the soft opening, about a dozen customers were spotted gathered around the bar-museum, while others headed towards the theater for dinner and a film.

“This is definitely the new way of watching movies,” said Jimmy O’Melley of the new movie theater. O’Melley was sipping on a beer at the bar while he waited for the showing of the 1980s film “Escape From New York.”

Emmy Stamatelatos, sitting with O’Melley, added that the bar, scenery and the customer service were “beautiful and inviting.”

Staten Island’s first ever Alamo Drafthouse has been in the works since 2017, and is carefully curated from the custom-made wallpaper to lighting.

PAINSTAKING FOOD PREP

More than 500 tickets were sold for opening day, so a trained team of 25 cooks from all over the county were busy in the kitchen from 9 a.m. prepping the entire menu, including hamburgers, sandwiches and fresh dough for pizza. They also prepared vegan items, including the Alamo bowl (a blend of rice and quinoa, Serrano peppers, lime juice, sweet potatoes, black eyed peas, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes), Beyond Burgers, and vegan pizza.

“The whole team is really excited to serve guests for the first time,” said Jason Schwartz, the national operation chef at Alamo. “They’ve been making some really, really good looking food through training.” The team of cooks have been training for the past four days, where they were split into different stations with a dedicated trainer to prep items multiple times and taste it as a team, until they got the quality of the food down pat.

‘IT’S NICE…I DON’T HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR FOR A FILM’

Tabbed as “the biggest Alamo fan” by Alamo higher-ups, Mary, who declined to provide her last name, came all the way from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, via public transportation. She took the subway, hopped on a 45-minute bus ride, and made a 10 minute walk to be at the opening day for the Staten Island location.

An avid film fanatic, she visits the Alamo locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan two to three times a week and was happy to be in Staten Island for the occasion.

Richmondtown resident John, another customer who was there to watch Jordan Peele’s newest horror film “Nope,” has been living on Staten Island for 74 years.

“I’m glad with the years I have left, it’s nice that this year I don’t have to travel too far for a film,” he said.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT ALAMO

Filled with nine theaters ranging in size from 200 seats to 37, with a total of 893 fully-reclining seats in total, this outpost is one of 36 Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas throughout the United States and the fourth in New York state after Yonkers, Brooklyn and Manhattan. The biggest and most modern Alamo in NYC, the theater is equipped with Sony 4K Digital Laser projection and Dolby Atmos and 35mm capabilities.

If you’ve never Alamo’d before, the experience is decidedly different than other mainstream theaters. Here’s what to expect:

• No talking or texting. In order to preserve the movie-going experience, there is a strict no talking/no texting policy at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Each seat is equipped with a call button so that patrons can discreetly report violations of that rule. Guests who do violate the policy get one warning. Upon second offense they are asked to leave.
• Deliberately low-tech service. Alamo’s service model is deliberately low-tech — like pencil and paper low-tech — designed to be as unobtrusive as possible so that the process of getting your beer delivered to your seat doesn’t needlessly distract anyone from the film. Guests write their order using paper and pen provided (remember, no phones!), place it in a slot on their table and a server comes to retrieve it. A “ninja waiter” will deliver your food and beverage, refilling when necessary. About a half hour before the end of the show, the server will drop off the check.
• A full, very detailed menu of food and beverages. There’s seven kinds of pizza, a couple of burger options and hand-breaded chicken tenders. With its cobb salad and vegan choices, Alamo is more gourmet restaurant than it is a theater. Specialty cocktails and bottomless popcorn (with or without herb parmesan and truffle seasoning) are also a signature part of the Alamo experience. The food is not cheap though. Most entrees are priced between $15 and $18. Alcoholic drinks sell for about $13 each, while a draft beer will cost you $9.

Movie tickets, which range in price from $12 to $17.50, depending on time and movie quality, can now be officially purchased here.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is located on the top floor of The Boulevard shopping center in New Dorp.