AMC Kips Bay 15 to close Jan. 3 after lease termination

By Marcus Bennett

AMC Kips Bay 15 will close on Jan. 3 after the building owner terminated its lease, AMC CEO Adam Aron said in a letter to the Kips Bay community.

Variety reported on Aug. 24 that the 15-screen theater at 570 Second Avenue in Manhattan would close at the end of 2026, ending a 27-year run. Its report said AMC took over the site in 2006 and operated the chain’s second-largest New York City multiplex, behind the Empire 25 in Times Square. Variety also reported that a Fairway supermarket and a bank in the building were expected to close.

The lease dispute

Aron wrote: “AMC Theatres does not want to go. Not one little bit. AMC Theatres wants to stay in Kips Bay.” He said nearby NYU Langone Health planned to expand and appeared to be buying the building. Aron wrote: “The nearby NYU Langone Health facility wants to expand, seems to be in the process of buying the building in which your (our) theatre now operates, and it wants us gone.”

The building owner terminated the lease in anticipation of a transfer to NYU Langone, according to Aron. He said NYU Langone had not engaged with AMC’s proposals. AMC proposed enlarging the current low-rise building for the hospital while retaining a theater. The company also offered to reduce the theater to a smaller operation. Aron said every variation had fallen on closed minds. He asked NYU Langone to devise a plan combining expanded, world-class medical facilities with a fully functional AMC Theatre on Second Avenue. The letter included no response from NYU Langone.

The theater opened May 14, 1999, and had operated continuously for more than 25 years, Aron said. He called it a cultural icon and entertainment lifeline for nearby residents. He also said monthly rent had once risen high enough to threaten the theater’s viability under its long-term lease. AMC addressed those concerns in recent years, he said, and could secure a bright future if it could remain.

Aron placed cinema-going within a Manhattan tradition extending more than a century. He invoked a proverb about will and possible ways, dating its first publication to 1640 and describing it as 386 years old, to argue for a negotiated solution benefiting the neighborhood. He argued that cinemas play a central role in New Yorkers’ lives and thanked moviegoers, neighbors, elected officials and theater staff for supporting the cinema. He credited Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and New York State Assembly Member Keith Powers with bringing attention to the closure. He said AMC had served the community since 1999 and hoped to remain.

Variety reported that local residents staged a September protest to prevent the closure. Aron said thousands of guests attended every day. On several days during the previous summer, the theater ranked among the 10 most-attended cinemas in the United States, Aron said. He also said AMC operated more than 500 theaters nationally. The timing left roughly two and a half months to comply with the terminated lease, he said.

What changes for Kips Bay moviegoers?

For moviegoers, the practical change is immediate: Jan. 3 becomes the cinema’s final operating deadline. Variety said residents could still see “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part III” at Kips Bay before the closure. The same report put the domestic summer box office at a record $4.67 billion and cited “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “The Odyssey” and “Toy Story 5.” Those figures sharpen the loss if no agreement revives the venue.

Without a deal, Kips Bay will lose its 15-screen movie theater. Variety reported that the building’s Fairway supermarket and bank were also expected to close. AMC’s proposals could preserve at least a smaller cinema or allow the hospital expansion while retaining a theater, but NYU Langone had not accepted them when Aron wrote. The next test comes before lease compliance on Jan. 3: whether the two sides return to the table.