An unfamiliar new contraption has risen in the parking lot of Vespa Italian Chophouse in Northport: A giant wooden panel mounted about 10 feet off the ground and painted white. On Thursday night, after the sun goes down, the opening scene of the 1995 film "Jumanji" will start flickering on its face as carloads of people watch, eating pizza and popcorn and sipping milkshakes.

This week ushers in inaugural drive-in movie nights at Vespa Italian Chophouse in Northport, the Sayville Athletic Club in Sayville and at least one other New York-area spot, the Bel Aire Diner in Astoria, Queens. The events have been springing up across the country since late April, one of the more novel solutions restaurants have rolled out to weather the coronavirus-driven closures.