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Museum of the Moving Image, Which Closed Last March, to Reopen Later This Month

(Photo Courtesy of MOMI)

April 12, 2021 By Christina Santucci

Astoria’s Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI), which has been closed since the start of the pandemic, is reopening later this month.

Members – as well as those who bought tickets to the Envisioning 2001 exhibition before the building closed – will be able to visit on April 30, and the museum will welcome back the general public May 1.

MOMI will initially be open Fridays from 2 until 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 6 p.m. – following the year-long, in-person hiatus.

The museum – located at 36-01 35th Ave. – shuttered on March 13 last year after the COVID-19 virus was first detected in New York City.

“Though our in-person activity stopped in March of last year, we are proud to have spent the past year shifting our programs online,” said Carl Goodman, the museum’s executive director, in a statement.

Goodman said MOMI will continue offering online programming. Over the last year, the museum also served as a free meal distribution point and early voting site, and MOMI partnered with the New York Hall of Science and Rooftop Films to create the Queens Drive-In.

To prepare for reopening and to protect against the spread of COVID-19, the museum has instituted several health measures.

The HVAC air filters for the building have been upgraded, and the building’s capacity is restricted to 25 percent of the number of people allowed pre-pandemic. Face masks and social distancing are required, and multiple hand-sanitizing stations have been installed.

Visitors will be able to check out several exhibitions this spring – including Envisioning 2001, which focuses on Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey.

The exhibit, which had opened two months prior to the museum’s closure, has been extended through September. Other exhibits include The Jim Henson Exhibition – with historic puppets, original artwork and rare footage – and Behind the Screen, which delves into how films and TV shows are created.

Meanwhile, the museum’s 267-seat Redstone Theater will hold a retrospective of Stanley Kubrick as well as a series devoted to movies shot on 70mm film.

Those interested in visiting the museum can book a timed ticket online later this month.