AMC CEO Adam Aron has spoken out on the closure of New York City’s popular AMC Kips Bay 15 movie theater, which will shutter on Jan. 3.
Aron wrote a letter to the Kips Bay community and addressed how the nearby hospital NYU Langone, which plans to grow its medical facility, has not engaged with any of AMC’s alternatives to share the space. In addition to the 15-screen AMC theater, the building also houses a Fairway supermarket and bank, which are also expected to close.
“Unfortunately, the decision to retain or end AMC’s tenure in Kips Bay is not ours to make. 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. In anticipation of such a transfer to NYU Langone, the current building’s owner has terminated our lease,” Aron writes. “We have engaged with NYU Langone, suggesting any number of alternatives — including that it enlarge the current low-rise building to satisfy its desires for a growth of its medical facility but also leaving a theatre in place for you. Or alternatively, we offered that our theatre could get smaller, so that at the very least we could leave something remaining in place to continue to serve you. Sadly, any and all variations that we have proposed have fallen on closed minds.”
On Aug. 24, Variety reported that the Kips Bay theater would close at the end of 2026, ending a 27-year run at the location. AMC took over the theater in 2006, which became the chain’s second-largest multiplex in the city (after Times Square’s Empire 25 theater). The Kips Bay location has become adored by local residents, who staged a protest in September in an attempt to stop the closure.
“Every day, thousands of guests watch a movie at AMC Kips Bay 15,” Aron wrote. “It has become so popular of late that on several days this past summer, AMC Kips Bay 15 was repeatedly among the 10 most attended movie theaters across the entire United States, out of the more than 500 theaters operated by AMC nationally.”
The theater closure comes after a record-breaking summer box office, which saw movies like “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “The Odyssey,” “Toy Story 5” and more collectively gross $4.67 billion domestically. There are also major upcoming movies like “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part III,” which Kips Bay residents will now still get a chance to see at their beloved theater before it closes for good.
Read Aron’s full letter below.
“To the Kips Bay Community,
Since news first broke that our popular AMC Kips Bay 15-screen movie theatre located at 570 Second Avenue in Manhattan will soon be forced against our will to close its doors, I’ve been struck by the extraordinary support that this AMC theatre has received from within the local surrounding community.
So many moviegoers and neighbors, and importantly so many of your elected officials, have rallied around our theatre. (Given the central role that movie theatres play in the lives of so many New Yorkers, perhaps it is much better and more accurate to say that so many of you have rallied around YOUR theatre.)
On behalf of everyone at AMC, thank you. Your support means a great deal to us, and especially to our theatre team members at AMC Kips Bay 15 who work tirelessly day-in and day-out to put smiles on your faces.
In thinking about this theatre, which has been a cultural icon and entertainment lifeline to so many nearby residents for decades and decades since its opening on May 14 1999, I want to make one thing absolutely clear:
AMC Theatres does not want to go. Not one little bit. AMC Theatres wants to stay in Kips Bay.
Operating under long term leases, there was a time that the monies headed each month to the theatre’s landlord had risen to become so high that the theatre’s long-term viability was uncertain. But, we were fortunate to have been successful in addressing those concerns in recent years. Today this theatre (one which has been in continuous operation for more than 25 years) has a bright future — if we would be allowed to keep it.
Indeed, every day, thousands of guests watch a movie at AMC Kips Bay 15. It has become so popular of late that on several days this past summer, AMC Kips Bay 15 was repeatedly among the 10 most attended movie theatres across the entire United States, out of the more than 500 theatres operated by AMC nationally.
In that light, this is a theatre that should not be even close to a permanent shutting off of its lights.
Of course, AMC wants this AMC movie theatre to stay in place.
And remembering how much and how often Americans love watching movies in theatres, a tradition in Manhattan that dates back more than a full century, we have heard from so many of you that you too want us to stay open for your benefit.
Apparently, NYU Langone Health does not share that view, not ours or not yours.
Unfortunately, the decision to retain or end AMC’s tenure in Kips Bay is not ours to make. 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. In anticipation of such a transfer to NYU Langone, the current building’s owner has terminated our lease.
We have engaged with NYU Langone, suggesting any number of alternatives — including that it enlarge the current low-rise building to satisfy its desires for a growth of its medical facility but also leaving a theatre in place for you. Or alternatively, we offered that our theatre could get smaller, so that at the very least we could leave something remaining in place to continue to serve you. Sadly, any and all variations that we have proposed have fallen on closed minds.
We call on NYU Langone Health to open their minds, to think creatively, and come up with a solution that will give the Kips Bay community BOTH of the two things that is wanted most of all: expanded facilities offering the world class medical care that is the hallmark of NYU Langone Health AND a fully functional AMC Theatre on Second Avenue.
It isn’t true that New Yorkers can be prevented from having your cake and eating it too. Indeed you can. But only if people of goodwill think out of the box a bit. After all, the ubiquitous proverb “where there is a will, there is a way” is one that is believed to have first been published in the year 1640 — that’s three hundred eighty six years back to be precise.
Speaking of people of goodwill, I especially want to express gratitude to Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and New York State Assembly Member Keith Powers, for their leadership and tireless advocacy on this matter. Reinforcing and speaking for the local community’s clear desire, they have energetically brought attention to the importance of keeping an AMC movie theatre open and operating in Kips Bay.
In summary, this is a theatre that you in Kips Bay want to continue to be at your beck and call, and one that we at AMC unequivocally also want to be allowed to continue within our theatrical fleet.
But time is short. Unless NYU Langone Health lets us delight the Kips Bay community beyond then, to comply with our terminated lease, the lights on AMC Kips Bay 15 will forevermore see their final sunset on January 3, a mere two and a half months from now.
Hopefully, there is an outcome in which a wise workable solution is devised, one that will benefit and please the entire neighborhood. What say you NYU Langone Health?
Whatever happens, I want you to know how much AMC appreciates your support, your efforts and your voice. We are proud to have been part of the Kips Bay community since 1999, and I sincerely hope that we can continue to be part of it for years to come.
Sincerely,
Adam Aron, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer AMC Entertainment