The Fate of Kips Bay Plaza Runs Through Its Leases. The Theater's Gave Way First.

"AMC Theatres does not want to go. Not one little bit." That is how AMC Entertainment's chairman and CEO, Adam Aron, put it in the open letter he published October 24, which the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association reprinted in full. NYU Langone Health described the same lease very differently in a statement read to Community Board 6 on October 8. According to Our Town, it said AMC worked with the landlord on an agreement that "substantially reduced their rent in exchange for the mutual right for either party to terminate at any time, reflecting the flexibility that both the landlord and AMC wanted going forward."

Both accounts describe one piece of paper. That paper is the reason AMC Kips Bay 15 at 570 Second Avenue is scheduled to show its last films on January 3, 2027. A different lease is the reason Fairway, across the same plaza, says it plans to stay for years. What a Kips Bay resident can expect from this block over the next few years comes down to who signed what, and when.

A plaza, tenant by tenant

Kips Bay Plaza has been thinning out for a while. Here is where each named tenant stands, based on news reporting since late August.

Deadline broke the closure on August 24. It quoted AMC confirming the theater would close at the end of 2026 because the landlord had exercised an early lease-termination right. In his letter, Aron explains how the theater got there. At one point the rent had climbed so high that the theater's "long-term viability was uncertain." AMC addressed those concerns "in recent years," and he says the theater now has a bright future. NYU Langone's statement describes the same period. The rent came down, and in exchange either side got the right to end the lease at any time.

The two accounts disagree about what AMC wants today. They line up on the mechanics. The lower rent kept the screens running through a hard stretch for theaters, and the termination right is what let the owner clear the space before a sale. At a September rally, NYU Langone also said its own agreement with AMC let either party terminate the lease at any time, Our Town reported.

Assembly Member Keith Powers has offered a reading of the empty storefronts that fits the same pattern. "I do firmly believe the other empty storefronts that have been there for a while are also part of an approach to try to totally wholesale sell this property off to NYU otherwise," he told Our Town. "You can't really do that when everything's tied up in their leases."

What the theater actually was

The loss is bigger than the address suggests. Aron's letter says the theater opened May 14, 1999. Variety reports that AMC took it over in 2006 and that the 15-screen house is AMC's second-largest New York City multiplex after Empire 25 in Times Square. AMC's own theater page lists IMAX with Laser among its features. Aron also writes that on several days this past summer, the theater ranked among the ten most attended of the more than 500 AMC operates nationally.

That attendance is the backdrop for AMC's offers. Aron says the company proposed that NYU Langone enlarge the current low-rise building so it could hold both medical space and a theater. Failing that, AMC offered to shrink the theater so something would remain.

Who owns it, and when that changes

It matters who controls the site on a given date, because that party decides whether anything changes. Early coverage said NYU Langone had already bought the complex. In a Gothamist story from early September, Powers said NYU Langone had told officials it purchased the property "over a year ago." He added that it was unclear whether that meant a completed purchase or an agreement still working through the formalities.

Later reporting settled that question. The Real Deal found no sale or lease in city records. According to Our Town, city records still name Kips Bay Development Limited Partnership as owner of the building and lot. The Real Deal describes that partnership as affiliated with JD Carlisle Development. NYU Langone's own statement says the purchase is under contract and won't close until early 2027, "when NYU Langone and the seller are both obligated to complete the transaction." Powers has put the expected handover at February.

As for the site's future use, an NYU Langone spokesperson told The Real Deal that it is intended for "clinical space for patient care." Washington Square News reported that NYU said it planned outpatient and ambulatory care, was not seeking a rezoning, and had not finalized plans. NYU Langone has linked the expansion to demand that rose after Mount Sinai Beth Israel closed. At the October 8 meeting, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez said that is not the state's position.

The rezoning point matters because it limits one of the community's tools. On October 5, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, "I will not approve any prospective rezoning of the Kips Bay AMC 15 site without the inclusion of a cinema." That pledge only applies if a rezoning comes before him.

Fairway holds the longest lease

Fairway is what the neighborhood coalition worried about most after the theater. The Save Kips Bay Coalition's letter to NYU Langone warned that losing both businesses "would mean losing our main local grocery store and a place where neighbors go to relax and spend time together." A Fairway representative told Community Board 6 that the store has a long-term lease and looks forward to staying "for many years to come," Gothamist reported.

That lease is the plaza's longest timeline. Powers notes it ends in 2032, and after that the new owner would have no obligation to renew. Reports also mention extension options through 2052. For the grocery store, the terms of that lease will matter more than any rally.

The dates ahead

Neighbors have shown up in force. Gothamist counted more than 8,000 signatures on the Save Kips Bay petition by early September. Washington Square News reported that about 100 people attended CB6's September 9 hearing, and all 47 written testimonials opposed the closure. Eleanor Roosevelt Independent Democrats organized a September 20 rally. Paddy Reilly's, the pub across Second Avenue, helped promote it with a free drink for attendees. Here are the dates still on the calendar:

1. Now through early January. AMC is still selling tickets, and its theater page lists current films.
2. January 3, 2027. This is the scheduled final day under the terminated lease, per Aron's letter. On October 9, Our Town reported that the ticketing system showed a last showtime of January 4, so check AMC's site before planning a final visit.
3. Early 2027, possibly February. This is the expected closing of NYU Langone's purchase, when the party with final say over the building changes.
4. 2032. Fairway's reported lease end, unless its options carry it further.

Aron's letter leaves the door open "unless NYU Langone Health lets us delight the Kips Bay community beyond then," so the January date could still change if the two sides reach an agreement.

Where movie nights go after January

The nearest replacements are all within a subway ride or a long walk, and each official site showed current 2026 schedules this fall:

• AMC 19th St. East 6, 890 Broadway, the closest AMC to the south.
• Regal Union Square, 850 Broadway.
• AMC Village 7, 66 Third Avenue at 11th Street.
• AMC 34th Street 14, 312 West 34th Street, a straight crosstown trip.
• AMC Empire 25, 234 West 42nd Street, the nearest option for premium formats, with IMAX with Laser, Dolby Cinema and PRIME.
• Repertory and independent screens: Film Forum, IFC Center, the Paris Theater, and Metrograph at 7 Ludlow, all programming into late 2026.

Cinépolis Chelsea is not on the list. It closed for good on January 8, 2023.

Ground-floor leases like these shape a block for years, often more than anything happening upstairs. If you own near Kips Bay Plaza and want to talk through what a change at 570 Second Avenue could mean for your building or your plans, Phyllis M Mehalakes is glad to go through it with you calmly and with the facts in hand. Let's Connect.