On March 5, Pelham Picture House reopened for the first time in 51 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first movie shown was Raya and the Last Dragon which will be shown in the main hall up until March 11. 

The state first began allowing movie theaters to reopen in early November as long as certain guidelines were met. At that time, theaters could operate at 25% capacity, with no more than 50 people in each theater, with masks and social distancing protocols in place, but only in counties that have a COVID-19 positivity rate of more than 2 percent on a 14-day average. At that time, Pelham Picture House could not reopen because the infection rate in Westchester was above 2%. After numbers shot up in December, the guidelines were changed. 

“With the vaccine becoming more and more available as well as more and more new movies being released we decided to open,” Clayton Bushong, Director of Programming, Marketing, and Theater Operations said.  

The Picture House is currently operating under the NY State Guidelines for reopening a movie theater. Capacity will be reduced to 25%, masks and social distancing are required, along with following the air filtration and purification standards.