The fate of a beloved local movie theater is playing out with some silver-screen melodrama on the East Side: Does the Kips Bay AMC want to stay or go?
The health behemoth slated to take over the space, NYU Langone, says the movie chain wanted out of the neighborhood years ago, according to local elected officials. But the theater’s allies and defenders say it actually wants to stay. And the Manhattan borough president says he would vote against any would-be land-use changes NYU tries to make that do not include a theater and grocery store.
At a community board meeting in Kips Bay on Thursday evening, residents packed into a cramped room expecting a conversation with an NYU Langone representative who could explain why the AMC movie theater, which rents the Second Avenue space, must close its doors by the end of the year.
But Langone was a no-show, with the community board finding out only the night before that a representative was no longer coming. Instead, the board read aloud a statement the hospital provided, which alleged “AMC expressed interest in leaving” years before the health system became involved in negotiations over the property.
“While a representative from NYU Langone was not able to attend yesterday evening, we were also disappointed that no one checked with us before promoting our attendance,” Arielle Sklar, an NYU Langone spokesperson, told The City Reporter in a statement Friday.
State Assemblymember Keith Powers said at the meeting that he spoke with AMC representatives, who told him they “would like to stay and they would like to be part of this community for as long as they are welcome to be here.”
“Look, they are up,” said Powers, who represents the area. “This is a better year than many other years of record profits for the movie theaters.”
AMC announced strong profitability trends and the highest quarterly revenue in its history this summer. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Powers said the Fairway Market that also leases space at the property has roughly five years left on its lease and can’t be evicted during that time. “But we asked very firmly at NYU whether they would commit to keeping Fairway at the end of the lease, and they would not make any commitment to us of that,” he added.
Fairway did not respond to a request for comment Friday. In her statement, Sklar did not address Powers’ claims.
The rift comes as NYU Langone, which has its flagship campus nearby on First Avenue, closes in on another large storefront in the neighborhood: The former COCO-MAT mattress store occupying much of a block on Lexington Avenue between East 31st and 32nd streets. It now has signs on its windows that read, “Future home of NYU Langone Health.”
“How much of our neighborhood’s street-level space should become part of one medical institution’s growing footprint?” the nonprofit Murray Hill Neighborhood Association wrote in a Facebook post this week.
Jessica Lavoie, chair of MHNA’s quality-of-life committee, said she’s concerned about the loss of shops and restaurants in the neighborhood.
“We know New York City is always changing, but there has to be a good balance of businesses so Murray Hill and Kips Bay remain places where people can live, shop, work and enjoy the community,” she told The City Reporter in a statement.
Health Needs
NYU Langone’s statement to Manhattan Community Board 6 also cited a trend the health system said it hopes to address: It has absorbed more emergency visits since the April 2025 closure of the Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital on the East Side. Average daily visits to NYU Langone’s emergency department are up 11% since then, according to that statement.
“Improving access to care nearby will allow more flexibility to many patients currently seeking care in our [emergency department] for issues that can also be addressed in an outpatient setting,” the statement read.
Beth Israel closed its doors after years of losing money and patients. In a yearslong legal battle, community groups sued to keep it open, but ultimately lost in an appeals court.
“The owner of the Second Avenue property originally approached us regarding a potential sale, and we recognize that the site’s proximity to our hospital could help support these long-term community healthcare needs,” NYU Langone’s statement to the board continued. “The purchase remains under contract and is not expected to close until early next year, when NYU Langone and the seller are both obligated to complete the transaction.”
Local lawmakers in attendance — including Powers, State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and City Councilmember Virginia Maloney — reaffirmed it’s not yet clear whether NYU Langone will need a rezoning to build what the health system has said will be a “clinical outpatient center,” according to Powers.
Still, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said he won’t approve any “prospective rezoning” that doesn’t ensure the movie theater and Fairway stay put.
“In the event of any rezoning changes sought by NYU Langone Health at 570 Second Ave., I will fight for a new cinema and affordable grocery store by predicating my approval of a land-use application on the inclusion of these two important neighborhood institutions,” he wrote in a statement Monday.
George Janes, founder of a New York City urban planning and consulting firm specializing in zoning, told The City Reporter that a rezoning may not be necessary for the site, depending on what Langone actually plans on building.
“If they’re going to do a big bulky building or if they’re going to have commercial co-tenants, they’re going to need either rezoning or a special permit,” Janes said. But if they’re “just occupying the space,” it won’t be necessary.
“NYU really should be a good neighbor, and I’m hoping at the end of all of our advocacy together, we’ll come away with a lot more insight and color on what a positive vision for this site should be,” Maloney told the crowd at the community board meeting.
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The post AMC Wants To Stay in Kips Bay Despite NYU’s Claim, But No Guarantee for Fairway, Pols Say appeared first on The City Reporter.
