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Home > New York Drive-ins by Region > Long Island Region > Nassau County Drive-ins > Sunrise Drive-in

Sunrise Drive-in
Status: Demolished
Location: 750 W. Sunrise Hwy, Valley Stream, NY 11580
Screens: 1
Capacity: 500 cars
Original owner: Built by Michael Redstone, which became Redstone Theatres, and then National Amusements.
Opening date: August 10, 1938
Final season: 1978
What's there now: Sunrise Multiplex Cinemas.

This page was last updated on January 3, 2023.

The Sunrise Drive-in Theatre, built by Michael Redstone, opened on August 10, 1938, in Valley Stream, New York. This was New York state's first drive-in theatre, and the 15th drive-in built in the entire United States.

The Sunrise Drive-in was the cornerstone for the foundation of Redstone Theatres, a chain of drive-in theatres in the northeast which evolved into Northeast Theater Corporation, and then National Amusements, Incorporated.

Michael Redstone's son, Sumner Redstone, would lead National Amusements into global media by acquiring Viacom Communications, Paramount Studios, and CBS Television, and in the process became one of the largest media conglomerates in the world.

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Click on image to view at full size. Click on image to view at full size. Click on image to view at full size.
Topo Map from 1979, courtesy of TerraServer USA. Aerial image from 1966, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com. Aerial image from 2006, courtesy of Google Earth. Aerial close-up image from 2006, courtesy of Google Earth.
Click on image to view at full size.
Opening soon article from the Gibson Herald on August 5, 1938. Opening soon ad from the Gibson Herald on August 5, 1938. Grand opening tonight ad from the Broklyn Daily Eagle on August 10, 1938. Grand opening tonight ad from the Gibson Herald on August 10, 1938.
Click on image to view at full size. Click on image to view at full size.
Article from the Broklyn Daily Eagle on August 14, 1938. Article from the Broklyn Daily Eagle on August 21, 1938. Article from the Broklyn Daily Eagle on September 4, 1938. Ad for both the Sunrise and its sister drive-in, the Whitestone Bridge, from the Long Island Star Journal on May 18, 1964.
Click on image to view at full size. Click on image to view at full size. ?
Sunrise Drive-in screen tower, courtesy of Domonic Scalzo. Sunrise Drive-in neon screen tower lighting from 1974, courtesy of Nicki Capparelli. Sunrise Drive-in postcard with ticket stubs, courtesy of Bruce Lacoste. ?

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