AMC Kips Bay theater set to close January 3 as CEO urges NYU Langone to consider alternatives

AMC Kips Bay 15 in Manhattan is scheduled to close on January 3, according to Variety, which reported on October 24 that chief executive Adam Aron had appealed for a way to keep the theater open. The 15-screen cinema serves a neighborhood where its building also houses a supermarket and bank expected to close.

Aron said in a letter to the Kips Bay community that AMC wants to stay, but the building’s current owner has terminated its lease in anticipation of a sale to NYU Langone Health. His letter says the theater will close on January 3 unless an arrangement allows it to continue operating.

What AMC has proposed for the Kips Bay theater

In an earlier statement summarized on its website, NYU Langone said the landlord had approached it about a potential sale and that AMC’s lease allowed either party to terminate it at any time. NYU Langone said the purchase was not expected to close until early 2027. That statement preceded Aron’s October 24 letter and did not address his account of the proposed alternatives.

A more specific closing date for a longtime cinema

Variety had previously reported that the theater would close at the end of 2026. The January 3 date gives patrons and staff a more specific timetable, although Aron’s letter leaves open the possibility of an agreement that keeps the cinema operating. It does not announce one.

The theater opened at 570 Second Avenue in 1999, and AMC took it over in 2006, Variety reported. Residents protested the planned closure in September. Aron thanked the community for its support and called on NYU Langone to find a solution that would allow both expanded medical facilities and a theater to remain in Kips Bay.