Make New York Post a Preferred Source The show isn’t over.
The Kips Bay AMC broke its silence after weeks of drama with NYU Langone, insisting the theater “wants to stay” at its longtime Manhattan home — but it is being pushed out to make way for the medical university.
The Second Avenue cinema claimed NYU Langone is simply acting the part of the savior after the healthcare behemoth publicly declared that AMC had been trying to leave for years.
“To be clear, we want to stay. Under the terms of our current lease, the theatre is operating successfully, and we would like to continue serving moviegoers for years to come. We believe keeping this theatre open would be the best outcome for our guests and for the Kips Bay community,” Ryan Noonan, a spokesperson for AMC Theatres, said in a statement.
“The decision about whether AMC can continue operating at Kips Bay is ultimately not ours to make. While the landlord has exercised its contractual right to terminate the lease, and we must prepare accordingly, the theatre remains open and operating as usual.”
The movie giant said it was “incredibly grateful” for the support from elected officials and moviegoers — thousands of whom signed a petition demanding the AMC remain at the site — and that showtimes would continue through Jan. 3, 2027.
The statement is the first time AMC has addressed the ongoing saga, other than its initial notice in the spring confirming the closure “following the property owner’s decision to exercise its contractual right to terminate the theatre’s lease before its scheduled expiration.”
It comes just one day after NYU Langone argued to The Post that the soon-to-be-shuttered cinema had already been considering dropping the curtain on itself years before NYU Langone set its sights on the property.
NYU Langone claimed that the consortium of owners of the Second Avenue property in Manhattan sought out the medical university to take over the site.
“Years before our involvement, AMC expressed interest in leaving,” said Steve Ritea of NYU Langone Health.
“They worked with the landlord to reach an agreement that substantially reduced AMC’s rent in exchange for a mutual right for either party to terminate at any time, reflecting the flexibility that both the landlord and AMC wanted going forward.”
Representatives for the apparent property landlord previously refused to answer questions from The Post.
The community has clearly stated their opposition to NYU Langone claiming another site in the neighborhood — especially considering the university has 56 other sites and three hospitals in Kip’s Bay, its location directory shows.
The tension has only grown worse between locals and NYU Langone after the hospital promised to attend a Community Board meeting on the issue last week but flaked just 24 hours before.
Instead, they submitted the same statement it provided The Post, claiming AMC had been looking to leave.
“It is unfortunate for the main event to decide not to show up simply even just to answer questions or provide us a little more context. And I think in this particular example, we have seen a complete lack of community, engagement or dialogue, unwillingness to answer some basic questions from us,” Assemblymember Keith Powers Powers fumed at the Thursday meeting.
In a call with The Post, Powers slammed NUY Langone as “wildly disingenuous” for hiding behind the landlord.
Powers is one of many elected officials fighting for the AMC and the neighborhood Fairway Supermarket to stay at the site, but revealed at the meeting that he has little faith NYU Langone will honor either request.
Last week, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal vowed to block any rezoning applications from NYU Langone if they fail to include a “cinema.”
