AMC Kips Bay 15, the multiplex at 570 Second Avenue in Manhattan, is scheduled to close on Jan. 3, 2027, after the building’s owner terminated AMC’s lease. NYU Langone Health is under contract to buy the property to expand outpatient care. AMC CEO Adam Aron says the chain wants to stay. If you are wondering what happened to AMC Kips Bay, here is what AMC, NYU Langone and local officials have said so far.
Key facts
- Closing date: Jan. 3, 2027, unless a new arrangement is reached, according to Aron’s open letter.
- Why: The building’s owner ended AMC’s lease ahead of a planned sale to NYU Langone, Aron wrote.
- NYU Langone: Says the purchase is under contract and expected to close early next year.
- Theater history: Open since May 14, 1999; AMC took it over in 2006, Variety and Deadline reported.
What happened to AMC Kips Bay
On Oct. 24, Aron published an open letter to the Kips Bay community, reported in full by Variety and Deadline. “AMC Theatres does not want to go. Not one little bit. AMC Theatres wants to stay in Kips Bay,” he wrote.
Aron said the decision is not AMC’s to make. According to the letter, NYU Langone “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 wrote that AMC had proposed alternatives, including enlarging the current low-rise building so it could hold both a medical facility and a theater, or shrinking the theater. “Sadly, any and all variations that we have proposed have fallen on closed minds,” he wrote. Unless NYU Langone allows otherwise, he said, the theater will close on Jan. 3. ABC7 New York also reported the letter and the Jan. 3 date.
What NYU Langone has said
NYU Langone has given a different account of AMC’s position. In a statement to Spectrum News NY1 in September, the health system said that years before it entered into a contract to buy the building, “AMC and the landlord entered into a lease granting either party a right to terminate the lease at any time.” It said that provision predated its interest in the property.
In a statement read at an Oct. 8 Community Board 6 meeting, NYU Langone said AMC had “expressed interest in leaving” years before the health system became involved, according to The City Reporter. The statement said the property owner approached NYU Langone about a sale and that “the purchase remains under contract and is not expected to close until early next year.” NYU Langone said it wants to improve access to outpatient care nearby, citing an 11% rise in average daily emergency department visits since Mount Sinai Beth Israel closed in April 2025.
Reports differ on the status of the sale. Deadline wrote that NYU Langone purchased the property last year, while NYU Langone’s own statement, as reported by The City Reporter, says the deal is still under contract and expected to close in early 2027.
Timeline
- May 14, 1999: The theater opens, according to Aron’s letter.
- 2006: AMC takes over the theater, Variety and Deadline reported.
- Aug. 24, 2026: Variety reports the theater will close at the end of 2026.
- Sept. 9: Residents speak out against the closure at a Community Board 6 meeting, NY1 reported. A petition to keep it open had more than 9,000 signatures at the time.
- Oct. 8: NYU Langone does not send a representative to a community board meeting; a statement is read instead, The City Reporter reported.
- Oct. 24: Aron publishes his open letter and sets Jan. 3 as the closing date.
- Jan. 3, 2027: Scheduled final day of operations.
What about Fairway?
The building also houses a Fairway Market. Accounts differ here too. Variety reported that the supermarket and a bank in the building are also expected to close. However, NY1 reported that Community Board 6 confirmed Fairway holds a long-term lease, and Assembly Member Keith Powers said at the October meeting that the store has roughly five years left on its lease, according to The City Reporter. Powers said NYU Langone would not commit to keeping Fairway after that lease ends.
Why it matters
AMC says the theater is busy. Aron wrote that on several days this past summer, Kips Bay 15 was among the 10 most attended of AMC’s more than 500 U.S. theaters. Variety reported it is AMC’s second-largest multiplex in New York City after the Empire 25 in Times Square. Deadline reported AMC operates nine multiplexes in Manhattan.
Local officials have also gotten involved. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, according to ABC7, that “any proposed rezoning must deliver what this neighborhood needs: a movie theater, a supermarket, and housing.” The City Reporter reported that it is not yet clear whether NYU Langone will need a rezoning for its planned clinical outpatient center.
What’s next
An AMC spokesperson told The City Reporter that showtimes at Kips Bay are scheduled through Jan. 3, 2027. Whether the theater survives depends on whether NYU Langone agrees to any of AMC’s alternatives, and on whether the project needs land-use approvals that local officials say they will tie to keeping a cinema and grocery store. We will update this explainer if AMC or NYU Langone announces a change. For more stories people are following today, visit our Trending News page.
FAQ
Is AMC Kips Bay closing?
Yes, it is scheduled to close on Jan. 3, 2027, unless a new solution is reached, according to AMC CEO Adam Aron.
Why is AMC Kips Bay closing?
The building’s owner terminated AMC’s lease ahead of a planned sale to NYU Langone Health, which plans to expand outpatient care there.
Does AMC want to leave?
AMC says no. NYU Langone has said AMC expressed interest in leaving years ago and that the lease let either party terminate at any time.
Is Fairway in Kips Bay closing too?
Reports conflict. Local officials say Fairway has about five years left on its lease, but NYU Langone has not committed to keeping it afterward.
Where is AMC Kips Bay?
At 570 Second Avenue in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood.
Updated October 26, 2026