Imagine a movie theater that features small films produced by independent filmmakers as well as big Hollywood motion pictures, with the option of chowing down on buttermilk chicken fingers – all in Brownsville.
This fall, that vision will come alive at 84 Belmont Ave. with Stuart Cinema & Cafe, where movie goers can endulge themselves with food from Cornbread, a modern soul food restaurant.
Emelyn Stuart, the founder and chief executive officer of Stuart Cinema and Cafe, wants to ensure the local community can reap the benefits of movie entertainment at an affordable price. The planned Brownsville theater will provide many of the same offerings seen at her existing location in Greenpoint, such as $8 Wednesdays and discounts for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
“If you receive SNAP, your kids can watch movies for $5 once a month,” said Stuart, who also mentioned a senior discount program for $10, plus free popcorn.
The new theater will also have a “mystery day,” which features an undisclosed Black film every last Thursday of the month.
“At least you’re guaranteed to watch something with people who look like you, watching something that has people that look like you on the screen,” said Stuart. “That’s how this started – I wanted to decide what people watch, and I wanted to decide who has access.”
The $4 million project started out as a cold call and email between Stuart Cinema and Cafe, the Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation and Eda Henries, a partner at Cornbread, which has a Crown Heights location and several others in New Jersey.
La’Shawn Allen-Muhammad, the executive director of CBEDC, said she was originally looking to host a screening of Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, a documentary about Shirley Chilsolm, and came across Stuart Cinema in her search for venues. This led to an informal conversation between Stuart and Allen-Muhammad about expanding the theater company.
Allen-Muhammad, a Brownsville native, spoke about the importance of business incubation, keeping money in the community and revitalizing a block that was once a bustling commercial strip.
“We created this model where either through an existing business, they would create a joint venture, or create a franchise opportunity,” said Allen-Muhammad, explaining that at the time, Cornbread was looking to franchise.
Funds to construct the theater derive from a variety of sources, including a $2.9 million contribution from the financial institution Momentus Capital, Cornbread and assistance from Assemblymember Latrice Walker, who committed $200,000.
"I wasn’t even alive when the neighborhood last had a movie theater," said Walker, a Brownsville native, in a statement. "I’m a big fan of business and entertainment opportunities to my community, so I enthusiastically jumped on board when approached by La’Shawn and Emelyn. This will be great for Brownsville.”
If you go into a Cornbread location, you can visibly see "that we’re not just coming to sell and take money out of the community, it’s to actually make an investment in the community,” said Henries, who is also Cornbread's Chief Financial Officer.
“So when you have public resources that can come alongside you to do that, it’s huge, and you don’t see that enough on the small business side.”
As one of the last parts of central Brooklyn to experience gentrification, Brownsville carries the responsibility of ensuring the community feels seen when new businesses open, said Allen-Muhammad.
"For the past two years, we’ve been hosting monthly meetups for community members to be informed, so that they know this is being built for them,” she said. “Community development is not just [about] infrastructure because if you don’t have people, you don’t have a place."
Construction on Stuart Cinema and Cornbread is set to begin on May 16.
