Westbury Drive-In

The Westbury Drive-In in Westbury, New York, opened on June 23, 1954, at Jericho Turnpike and Brush Hollow Road, with River of No Return and Loophole. Saul Lerner, who already ran drive-ins at Hempstead, Commack and Massapequa, built it on 28 acres. A trade paper put the project at $600,000, with room for 2,024 cars, and said it was thought to be the largest single-tower theater in the country.

The early plans went well past a screen and a snack bar. They called for a playground for about 500 children, a nursery supervised by a matron, a dining area, car repair facilities and a personal telephone service for professional people. Out front, a neon rosette sat at the tip of a comet-shaped band of bulbs that arced over the letter board. A later manager said the bulbs worked like a shooting star and gave so much trouble that United Artists stopped fixing them.

Skouras Theatres was running it by 1955, and United Artists took over later. On June 15, 1979, it reopened with three screens, with an ad making a point of the number. Later listings gave it 1,189 cars, and a 1976 ad had it open all year with in-car heaters. One former pupil at the elementary school across the street remembered a fine view of it from class.

By the 1990s it was the last drive-in on Long Island and in the New York area. It went dark in November 1997 and came back in late May 1998 for one final season. The last night was October 24, 1998, with Practical Magic, Bride of Chucky and Antz. A United Artists multiplex and a BJ's Wholesale Club now stand on the land.