![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8696-1.jpg\")
Emelyn Stuart launched a movie-themed concession stand at Moore Street Market in Williamsburg as she works toward opening a new Stuart Cinema in Brownsville.Photo courtesy of Dre\u2019s House Media<\/p>\nIn a world filled with watch parties in recent weeks, Emelyn Stuart used one not just to mark the close of the FIFA World Cup, but as the opening of a mini movie theater \u2014 or at least a new movie-watching space.<\/p>\n
Stuart, who ran the Stuart Cinema & Caf\u00e9 in Greenpoint, launched a concession stand on July 19 at Moore Street Market in Williamsburg. The space, designed with movie theater seats and a small screen, marks the beginning of her Brooklyn comeback, featuring food, movie trailers and plans to show \u201cexciting\u201d content.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have one of the bigger stalls toward the entrance,\u201d Stuart said of Moore Street Market. \u201cThe stall has a mini six seat movie theater mockup. Think about a tiny cinema with six seats \u2014 three in front, three behind \u2014 and a screen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emelyn Stuart launched a movie-themed concession stand at Moore Street Market in Williamsburg as she works toward opening a new Stuart Cinema in Brownsville.Photo courtesy of Dre\u2019s House Media<\/p>\n
The concession stand is just one small step in Stuart\u2019s larger plans for movies in Brooklyn. She is also launching a new Stuart Cinema and Caf\u00e9 in Brownsville with the support of La\u2019Shawn Allen-Muhammad, executive director of the Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, as part of a neighborhood development plan.<\/p>\n
In an industry where sequels are common on movie screens, this theater sequel is a big project for Brooklyn.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMovie theaters bring foot traffic,\u201d Stuart said of their importance to the neighborhood. \u201cThey give families a place to go. They give young people and seniors something to do.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
As work continues in Brownsville, Stuart strolled through the smaller, completed project that opened in Williamsburg.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to play trailers, behind the scenes stuff. We\u2019ll run movie trivia from here,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cAt the market you can buy food and sit and watch upcoming attractions. You\u2019ll be able to get discounted tickets for Stuart Cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n
The market is mostly frequented by older shoppers, Stuart said, with some retirees spending the day eating, sitting and enjoying air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is bring young people into the market,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cMany seniors spend the day in the market.\u201d
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC09159.jpeg\")
Soccer fans gather at Moore Street Market in Williamsburg for a FIFA World Cup watch party hosted by Emelyn Stuart, who used the event to preview her latest Stuart Cinema project.Photo courtesy of Dre\u2019s House Media\n<\/p>\n
At the FIFA event, Stuart gave out free food, including nachos, popcorn, hot dogs and chicken fingers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have activations, a day where we show a popular movie in the big, open area,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cWe can use that area as well for get-togethers, and different community activities.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
If two movie projects in Brooklyn seem like a lot, there\u2019s a reason Stuart is making the borough her backyard. Born in Brooklyn, Stuart grew up in Sunset Park before her family moved to Bay Ridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first movie I saw in a movie theater was \u2018Godzilla\u2019 in Spanish in a small movie theater on Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park,\u201d she said. \u201cI remember being fascinated by the images and sound. My mom and stepdad were on a date and they brought me to the movies. It stayed with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stuart majored in business at Baruch College and later worked in corporate America before producing independent films.\n<\/p>\n
She eventually decided to go into business running her own movie theater, self-funding the project because, even when banks wouldn\u2019t initially support her, she believed in herself.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t get a loan,\u201d Stuart said. \u201c\u2018What are you going to do with a movie theater?\u2019 her banker said. \u2018You\u2019re a corporate girl.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n
She opened the first Afro-Latina-owned cinema in the state, which she ran until the building\u2019s owners sold the property, giving commercial tenants 60 days to leave.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all had to move,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cThey were going to build condominiums on the water. They didn\u2019t want any business on the ground floor. They were going to build amenities for the building on the first floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/stuart-cinema-and-cafee-brownsville-rendering.jpg\")
A rendering shows the planned Stuart Cinema & Caf\u00e9 in Brownsville, where Emelyn Stuart hopes to bring a new movie theater and community gathering space to the neighborhood.Rendering courtesy of Stuart Cinema<\/p>\n
She searched for new spaces before finding one in Long Island City, Queens, where she opened a Stuart Cinema & Caf\u00e9 in May.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, she has been laying the groundwork for a new cinema in Brownsville. Delays came after the building at 64 Belmont Ave. did not have the ceiling height required for a movie theater.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully,\u201d Stuart said, Assembly Member Latrice Walker provided a $200,000 grant to raise the roof, which has been completed. Construction will begin soon, she added.\n<\/p>\n
Cornbread, a restaurant, is opening as their neighbor, with the goal of adding not just a new eatery and cinema, but a new era as affordable housing is built in the area.\n<\/p>\n
While opening and running a movie theater is not easy, Stuart has made it work twice. She believes Brownsville could be a case of three\u2019s a charm.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI still think there aren\u2019t enough movie theaters. So many have closed. Every year they kill us off. Streaming comes, you\u2019re dead. Blockbuster, Netflix, COVID, you\u2019re dead,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cWe\u2019re still here. You\u2019re going to see a lot of smaller theaters. People really want that community feeling when they go to the movies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a world filled with watch parties in recent weeks, Emelyn Stuart used one not just to mark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2571,98,100,99,6616,2554,64673,749,116079,116080,158,9,24,12,370,63,1424],"class_list":["post-306739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brownsville","tag-cinema","tag-emelyn-stuart","tag-film","tag-mini-theater","tag-moore-street-market","tag-movies","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-williamsburg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}