East 86th St. Cinema

Living in this neighborhood and being unemployed equals find cheap movies. Especially in winter or on a rainy day! For a while this theater offered the cheaper option. They called it «The Early Bird».
Most of the time the employees are emotionless. Just do their job and get back to chatting with each other.
The bathrooms are always clean. The theater sometimes concerns me as far as cleanliness. I try not to look to close!
This location is convenient to trains and bus. The neighborhood has plenty of dining options for before or after a movie. I personally would not buy food at this theater. I wait until after the show.
If you are in the neighborhood or live close by, go. Let me know what you think…:)

I used to like this theater, when it was newer and cleaner, and didn’t know better– new (or renovated) theaters with great seats and reserved seating… Here– obviously the seats aren’t even cleaned between showings– popcorn/​candy on many seats, and it smells like a pile of dirty laundry in theater. They have let this place go to sh*t. ;-(

I’m not one to simply write a bad review for the fun of it, actually I use Unilocal most of the time to write good reviews because I don’t think people leave positive reviews enough. Unfortunately, many people only write reviews when they have a bad experience.
However, sometimes bad reviews are helpful to steer people away from a bad experience. This is why I’m writing this review today.
First let me say I see movies very often, almost weekly. I’ve been to almost every AMC, Regal, United Artists, and Bow Tie Cinemas in the city. This theatre isn’t horrible. As in, the screen is decent, and the seats are actually pretty comfortable. Hence the 2-​stars. But the employees I’ve encountered miserable people.
I’m decently upbeat, especially when I’m excited to see a movie. I walked up to buy my ticket, no one was at the counter outside. Waited a minute or so and a girl walked up. I said hi, she barely responded, didn’t smile, basically didn’t emote at all. Her only emotion was seeming miserable honestly.
Unfortunately, I’ve had better and friendlier service from computer movie ticket kiosks.
After purchasing, I approached the women waiting to take my ticket. I asked how her day was, she seemed pretty miserable also, answered me and I went on my way.
Let me note that this was 2:15p on a Tuesday (8÷25÷15). I’ve worked in retail and customer service my entire life, and get you cant be happy all the time especially if you’re crazy busy — but they were not. The movie I was in had 8 people watching it.
I had time to wait for my theater to open (it was at 3:00p) so I plugged my phone in where they said to stand. Now, I’m not someone who uses a bathroom at a coffee shop unless I’m buying something or use an outlet if I’m not giving business to the establishment. I don’t know why but that stuff buys me when people do it. But I figured, well I see a plug, I have to stand here to wait. Almost no other customers are in the building, and I did purchase I ticket (was thinking about purchasing food/​drink).
The women who sold me ticket walks by me and say, without looking at me, «you can’t charge your phone here.» No excuse me, no «I’m sorry but our policy.» Just «no.» I was confused. I said «that seems like an stupid rule, it’s not like I didn’t purchase anything or not waiting to go into the theater…» She kept her miserable demeanor and while walking away from me and said, without looking at me «you’ll be alright.» And continued on her way.
How sad.
Now, it’s funny because I didn’t desperately need a charger (I had an external battery pack I used to charger my phone during the movie instead) so it wasn’t life or death to charge my phone, just poor customer service/​people skills. (It’s also safe to say I stopped caring the purchase food or drink.)
I wouldn’t recommend this theatre, considering AMC is down the street and there are many other theaters in NYC.
It’s nice to not go to a big chain theatre, but not to be treated badly.

I like that they play some variety all day long beside what other movie theaters are playing.
It’s just a regular/​average place but I don’t have any complaint about the sound that is the most important thing in a theater and the resolution of the movies.
Popcorn, sodas, icees and all those stuff are standard, so who cares?! They taste the same everywhere… I complaint if the popcorn taste old or it’s cold, or the food.
Seats are comfy and their service is good all the times I been there.
If they can fix the place in some areas would be better for us and our kids. :-)
Prices are good.

You’d think that reverse stadium seating is the worst possible thing a movie theater could ever do,(yes reverse, it’s slight but the rows are actually higher the closer you get to the screen) but their operations and standard movie going customer service are somehow even worse.
Don’t go, ever, for any reason. Even if you knew the entire theater would be empty, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Small cramped seats, old theatre, popcorn and concessions SUCK (pre-​made chewy old popcorn).
Friendly people at concessions though.

This movie theater is alright as far as nyc movie theaters go. I’m a little bummed that they don’t have stadium seating and that the aisle goes down the center of the theater so that most seats are kind of at an angle relative to the screen. However, this place usually does show some great titles and it’s also a short jaunt from my apartment, as well as the 4÷5÷6, so it’s very convenient to get to. Also, one of the guys that takes tickets is always in a hilariously pissed off mood — probably due to having to deal with the throngs of pushy old people that frequent this place.

I used to always take my students to this theatre for movie trips. However, now I cannot trust their group sales! I was all confirmed to take my 8^th graders to see Selma for free as per the recent promotion from the film company. My students were so excited. Then the theatre called me late last night simply to say «sorry but we are canceling group sales for Friday.» I am livid. My students deserve to see this and were extremely excited to be able to go this friday. Permission slips are out and now I have to go in Monday and tell them the trip is off. How unprofessional and a horrible message for my students. Will not be trusting this theatre in the future.

I’m going to stop short of giving it 4 stars because it’s not really above average (toilet seat and bathroom water were ice cold), but it’s better than the 2.5 star average would have you believe. If I could, I’d give it 3.5 stars.
The theater was practically empty for last night’s showing of St. Vincent. It was the late showing at 10:20, I know, but still. It seems to be the kind of theater where you can go as the movie is starting and easily get a seat, whereas most of the theaters I frequent (specifically AMC Loews Lincoln Square and IFC Center) commonly fill up and sell out by the time the previews have begun. So City Cinemas was a nice change of pace, where getting there the same amount of time early as I normally do, my girlfriend and I got our pick of where to sit.
The seats are fine; I don’t get what people are complaining about. And the concessions we bought were fine. I appreciate that they’re one of the last theaters in town still playing St. Vincent, which my girlfriend and I liked a lot. They do seem to have a good movie selection.
In short, I wouldn’t go out of my way to see a movie here instead of one of my favorite theaters, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to avoid the theater if they had a movie I wanted to see.

Decent selection of movies. Subpar theaters. Standard annoying previews. Fine concession stands. And the seats don’t tilt. But its one of two theaters in Yorkville, so we deal with it.

City Cinemas is in SERIOUS need of a face lift, but it’s fine if you literally want to just go and check out a movie without any thrills and frills. It’s a tough business to be in when you’re competing with the big dogs, like AMC and Regal.
There is ONE digital vending machine inside, ONE mens and ONE womens restroom, and a couple of screening rooms. The rooms aren’t large or ascending but there are enough seats where you’re not on top of other patrons. You won’t be able to move your arm rest or recline your seat, however.
Also, there is one concession stand and prices are pretty normal for movie theater food. Expensive for crap that’s not all that great for you.
I’ve gone here a couple of times on and off for the last decade, but things have pretty much remained consistent. There haven’t been any major changes to this theater.
It doesn’t stand out as being one of the best theaters out there, but it certainly isn’t the worst either.

I love the City Cinemas on 60^th and 3^rd, and this one was SO MUCH BETTER. Very cool building, with a great selection of movies. I can’t speak to their concessions, as we came directly from dinner, but the theater itself was totally comfortable and the staff was really sweet. Can’t wait to make the trek up here again. We were lucky that Fairway was open after our movie, so we even snuck in a quick grocery trip before going back to Astoria.

I don’t know why there are so many complaints! Some people just have the highest expectations for everything.
Yes, the theater is small but the location is very convenient. They often feature indie movies along with large blockbuster films. I went to see Malificent in this theater. No complaints. The screen was large and the seating was comfortable.
If you are near 86^th street and want to avoid the large tourist areas and the movie you want to see is being featured here, I recommend you come to this theater!
I did not try any of the popcorn or soda, so I cannot comment on the quality of that, however, there are a lot of great food places around the theater so grab something to eat before or after!

The kindness of the people working here cannot atone for the poor quality of the screens, stale candy and faint smell of pee in the theater. I’m not trying to be rude, but please yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

It’s a shame no one ever gives theaters any better reviews, but for the city, this place is A-​OK. The little brother to the Loews Orpheum just around the corner, City Cinemas was not crowded, had no lines for popcorn and empty seats on an opening night. The staff is fairly non-​existent and when you do see someone, they will gruffly take your order, scan your ticket and will not respond if you tell them to have a good night. I’d tell you about how it’s overpriced, but if you’ve ever been to a movie theater in NYC, you already know. Eat a lot beforehand, you can make it for 2 hours without starving, I promise.
The biggest issue I found was the seating. The rows are actually angled at an up-​slant when you walk into the theater, meaning the further back you sit, the harder it will be to see. Was it opposite day when the engineer designed these plans?
The bathrooms are dismal at best. Very small and cramped and if you visit after a G-​rated movie has just ended, you’ll probably end up in a stall with a small child on your lap. Where are their leashes, parents???
Overall though, not a bad place to view a flick if you don’t want to deal with the typical third avenue crowd.

The renovations in this theatre stopped at the auditorium doors. The seats are cramped and old (like most of the guests). The floor has a huge dip, putting the front seats higher than those in the middle, so you’re sure to miss everything.

This theater is fine. Not as horrendous as some of the other Upper East Side theaters, but nowhere as good as the major chain theaters.
Like all other theaters around here, there is no stadium seating, which is just the worst. The seating situation is especially worthless if you get stuck near some crusty old ladies, which is about 99% probable since they make up about 100% of the clientele here. You’ve never heard so much shushing before the trailers are even done.
The one good thing is that it’s part of the City Cinemas chain, which has some of the best popcorn of all theaters (just like at Angelika and Village East). Inexplicably though, this location only has refills on popcorn and not on soda. They need to get on that self-​serve soda like their sister theaters.
If you are in this area, it’s still worth going way across town to the AMC on 84^th on the west side, which is currently the best theater in the city.

Better than some theaters I’ve been to. I’d take this over anything ostentatious in Times Square, that’s for damn sure.
I like their mix of blockbusters coupled with more independent films. Nice to be able to amble through the Upper East Side with an aunt and pick up tickets to see «Frances Ha» without hoofing it downtown. Seemed clean enough. Staff seemed amiable enough. Works for me.
One key thing they need to remember? Turn on the houselights prior to showing a film. We were blinding looking for seats even before the movie began. It gets DARK. *phew*

$ 6 movies before noon? Sign me up!
It was early Sunday morning and a friend and I needed something to do. She quickly found out that City Cinemas offers $ 6 movies before noon! How can you go wrong with that?!
We headed over to the theater for the 11 AM showing of the movie that we wanted to see. The theater itself is relatively small, yet comfortable. The seats don’t flip up so if someone wants to pass you in your row, you need to slide out. There is one concession stand that appeared to be closed when we arrived, no biggie, we snuck bagels in.
The movie started right on time, however, about 90 minutes in there was a technical difficulty which resulted in the audio going out. A few people ran to the office to let them know and the issue was resolved within a matter of minutes. They even rewound the reel so we could hear what we had missed.
Definitely a great place to catch a flick for a cheap price.

A cool industrial interior design for an small independent movie theater of four screens, thereby proving big is not always better.
With a friend, I ventured cautiously to see «Batman: Dark Knight Rises» which the seats are slanted but not stadium style of levels. Commercials are audible by sound only without vision of a radio-​like format, but visuals are in full effect come previews. Seats are comfortable amid the numerous big heads that blockage my view, being short of height limitations. For an utter dismay $ 13.50 per adult movie ticket, you’d hope for better seats at least stadium style for multiple levels – not at City Cinemas. Ushers are courteous and are clicking away at their mobile phones of Facebook and other off-​the-​job nonsense rather than doing actual work.
No comment on food nor concession stands as our party of two did not utilize. Floor map was confusing as we were confused for locating the facilities. Nevertheless, facilities are clean amid one stall room per gender.