The summer blockbuster is enjoyable for a myriad of reasons, one of which is that it gets moviegoers out of the heat and humidity and into a haven of crisp air conditioning. To spare you the search for the coldest cinema in New York, CULTURED asked 14 movie theaters for an honest look at their thermostat dial. Text your favorite cinephile, clear your schedule, and get ready to beat the summer heat across the boroughs. Who knows, you might even need a sweater.
1. Syndicated (Bushwick)
Temperature setting: 73º
Coolest corner: The top rows of the theater and the bar
Best cold concession: A frozen cocktail. Choose from a Painkiller, Strawberry Daiquiri, or Miami Vice.
2. Film Forum (Greenwich Village)
Temperature setting: 72º
Best cold concession: Film Forum egg cream
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: La Piscine, Days and Night in the Forest, and No Picnic.
3. Firehouse Cinema (Chinatown)
Temperature setting: 72º
Best cold concession: Nomadica’s Orange Wine
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: The Hottest August
4. Brooklyn Academy of Music (Downtown Brooklyn)
Temperature setting: 72º on weekdays; 70º on the weekends.
Coolest corner: The brand new cinema spaces in the Karen Brooks Hopkins Center
Best cold concession: Mexican frozen treats from La Newyorkina
5. United Palace (Washington Heights)
Temperature setting: 69º to 73º
Most common temperature-related complaint: “For a 3,400 seat large single-room theater, being ‘too cold’ is a compliment.”
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: The Princess Bride
6. Museum of Modern Art (Midtown)
Temperature setting: 70º
Coolest corner: Titus 2 theater
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: Hot Dogs at the Met
7. The Cinemas (Financial District)
Temperature setting: 70º
Most common temperature-related complaint: “One guest says it’s too hot, while another insists it’s too cold—at the very same time, in the very same auditorium.”
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: Any film in a theater where you can share in the collective laughter, gasps, and applause
8. Quad Cinema (Union Square)
Temperature setting: 66º to 74º
Coolest corner: Theater Q
Summer showings to look out for: A Sad and Beautiful World, Franz, and Boorman and the Devil
Perfect movies for a hot summer night: Floaters, The Booster, and Tuner
9. Alamo Drafthouse, Lower Manhattan (Financial District)
Temperature setting: 69º
Summer showings to look out for: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt.
Best cold concession: For kids: milkshakes. For adults: milkshakes. And local drafts on tap
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: Jaws
10. Japan Society (Midtown East)
Temperature setting: 69º
Summer showings to look out for: Burn, The Master of Shiatsu, and Charisma
Best cold concession: A Pocari Sweat
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: Summer Vacation and August in the Water
11. Kew Gardens Cinemas (Kew Gardens)
Temperature setting: 68º to 70º
Best cold concession: Dibs ice cream or frozen crunch bites
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: Any film—as long as it’s in a theater
12. The Paris Theater (Midtown)
Temperature setting: 68º
Most common temperature-related complaint: “I can’t tell if it’s just me or not, but I’m hot/cold.”
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: Lawrence of Arabia, playing in 70mm this summer
13. Museum of the Moving Image (Astoria)
Temperature setting: 68º
Most common temperature-related complaint: “Ten minutes after someone says it’s too warm, someone else will say it’s too cold.”
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: 2001: Space Odyssey
14. Film at Lincoln Center (Lincoln Square)
Temperature setting: 67º to 68º
Coolest corner: All three theaters are kept the same, so no cinephile is losing out on AC during the summer months.
Best cold concession: Ice cream sandwiches and watermelon popsicles. You can even discover what bites your favorite filmmakers prefer for movie night at the theater’s The Concessions Counter series.
Perfect movie for a hot summer night: Shaolin Soccer, The Hole, and The Samurai and the Prisoner
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