By Sarina Trangle
The landlord yelled cut on a Forest Hills movie theater’s final act earlier this month.
The Heskel Group Inc., which purchased the UA Brandons Cinema, at 70-20 Austin St., in 1975 and later renamed it, said the theater closed two weeks ago.
Heskel Elias said he decided to bring in a pediatric urgent care facility because it would provide his company with more stable finances. Before inking a deal with PM Pediatrics, Heskel Group considered closing the Midway Theater, a few blocks away at 108-22 Queens Blvd., but decided against it.
“It can draw over 30,000 to 40,000 people a year and if it’s captured properly it will be a destination point for people, and while they’re there they can visit the restaurants and retail groups,” Elias said.
PM Pediatrics is slated to open in late September. It will see patients from noon to midnight Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to midnight Sundays and some holidays, according to a press release.
But not everyone has welcomed the tenant turnover.
City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) said she was concerned a few medical groups planning to open on Austin Street threaten the strip’s traditional commerce community.
“When you walk down Austin Street, you should feel sick because there’s plenty of places you can go,” she said.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
