New Luxury Movie Theater Opens in Hudson Valley Mall
Kingston, N.Y. — The wait for the Hudson Valley’s newest luxury movie theater is finally over.
The NCG Cinema multiplex is now open in the Hudson Valley Mall. After a ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Thursday, April 18, the new theater officially opened the following day. The theater replaces the Regal Cinemas that previously occupied the space.
According to a press release by Hull Property Group, the owner of the Hudson Valley Mall, the new theater will include several notable amenities. These include luxury reclining chairs, new sound and projection systems, free refills on popcorn and soda of all sizes, select $5 movie tickets on Tuesdays and a loyalty program for customers. The seating capacities of the theaters range from about 100 to 300. Regular ticket prices are $10 or $11, plus a $2 additional charge for reclining seats with a heating option.
“We are dedicated to providing customers with a quality moving going experience. NCG Cinema is a first-class addition to the Mall,” said Jim Hull, Managing Principal of Hull Property Group, in the press release. “The addition of the new theater coupled with the recent renovation of the mall’s interior are indicators that we will be a good long-term steward of this important property.”
The theater opened just ahead of the release of highly anticipated blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame”, which hit theaters on Friday, April 26. Due to the popularity of the film, NCG showed the film, which made a record setting $1.2 billion worldwide over its opening weekend, on five of its 12 screens Friday.
“We definitely wanted to open our doors in time for the release of Avengers,” said Tom Murphy, assistant manager at the theater. “We knew that it would be one of the biggest box office movies of the year, so we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to show it.”
NCG held a job fair on March 29 and March 30 to recruit enough employees before the grand opening. In total, the theater brought in over 40 employees, including many high school students. The opening of “Avengers: Endgame” was a quick test for the theater and its new staff to handle.
“It was crazy. I’ve never seen that many people show up for a movie in my life,” said Jake Nelson, who worked at the theater’s concession stand on Friday. “This is my first job at a movie theater, so dealing with so many people at once in my first week was pretty tough. But I think we all handled it really well.”
“It was a lot to ask of our new staff to handle the release of such a big film right away, but I think everyone did a phenomenal job,” Murphy said.
While the Hudson Valley Mall has been struggling in recent years with store closures and a reduced number of shoppers, the addition of NCG could bring more people to the mall and help retailers attract more customers. With the success of the opening weekend for “Avengers: Endgame”, the theater is off to a great start.
