About Us

FROM FIRE HOUSE (1898) TO MOVIE HOUSE (1964)

Cinema Village is the oldest continuously operated cinema in Greenwich Village and one of the longest-running art houses in New York City.

Built in 1898 as a firehouse by the firm Horgan & Slattery, the building was converted in 1964 by architect Alexander Zamshnick into a 310-seat movie theater. It opened on October 5, 1964 with Ingmar Bergman’s All These Women.

Through much of its first three decades, Cinema Village was one of Manhattan’s repertory cinemas, screening vintage classics, cult favorites, and contemporary critical hits on ever-changing double bills. Long before home video, repertory houses like Cinema Village, the Thalia, and the Bleecker Street Cinema were film schools for autodidacts and havens for cinephiles.

By the 1980s, repertory cinema was undermined by home video, corporate buyouts, and real estate pressures. Yet Cinema Village survived by shifting to alternative first-run programming and legendary midnight shows. David Lynch’s Eraserhead ran here for a full year after midnight impresario Ben Barenholtz told him: “David, I won’t have to spend money. I’ll open it at the Cinema Village, and within two months there will be lines around the block.”

The 1990s cemented the theater’s reputation as a hub for international cinema, especially Hong Kong’s golden age, hosting stars such as Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-Fat, and director Wong Kar Wai.

On March 5, 1999, the theater was expanded into three screens by architect John Schimenti, reopening as a thoroughly modernized facility while preserving its independent soul. With state-of-the-art presentation, Cinema Village hosted extraordinary long runs for landmark films (Mulholland Drive – 18 weeks, Yi Yi – 21 weeks, The Piano Teacher – 28 weeks). In 2001, it became one of the first NYC art houses to introduce digital video projection, making it possible to screen independent features without expensive film prints.

Cinema Village also stood firm on matters of free expression. In 2014, it was the only theater in New York City to screen The Interview despite threats of violence, refusing to bow to fear and affirming the principle that freedom of expression must never be suppressed.

In 2020, Village Preservation honored Cinema Village for maintaining its programming philosophy, so emblematic of the ethos of the Village. A true Village institution, Cinema Village was recognized not just for its longevity, but for its steadfast commitment to showcasing diverse, independent, and international voices.

Today, Cinema Village continues to bring independent, foreign, and documentary films to the heart of America’s number one film market. It proudly hosts a wide range of festivals — including the Manhattan Film Festival, Workers Unite, SR Socially Relevant Film Festival, Winter Film Awards International, African Diaspora International, Kino! from Germany, The Other Israel, and many others.

Now entering its seventh decade, Cinema Village is proud of its longevity and thankful to have survived the pitfalls that have taken down so many other independent cinemas. Our ability to endure is testimony entirely to the New York City audience — the most diverse, cosmopolitan, and cine-aware in the world. Cinema Village could only exist where it does: in Greenwich Village, at the center of a city that lives and breathes cinema.