Rumors Swirl as Kips Bay AMC To Close By End of Year

In a decision that has upset the city’s cinephiles and residents of Kips Bay, AMC confirmed that it would be closing its AMC Kips Bay 15 location by the end of the year.

The decision came “following the property owner’s decision to exercise its contractual right to terminate the theatre’s lease before its scheduled expiration,” according to a statement from AMC provided to Variety.

The theater, which is located at 570 2nd Ave near East 31st Street opened in 1999 and has become a fixture of the neighborhood.

The location features 15 screens, making it the second-largest of the nine AMC locations in Manhattan, behind the 25-screen Times Square location. It also includes an IMAX theater—one of the few in Manhattan and the only one on the East Side.

On the Reddit page r/nyc, commenters lamented the loss of the widely beloved theater.

“Truly a loss to the community,” one commenter said. “This was my go-to movie theater, and now there’s barely any left on the east side.”

State Assemblymember Keith Powers said residents called to express their wishes that the theater stay open as the news broke to the public on Aug. 24.

“I’ve heard from many, many, many residents from Stuyvesant Town to Kips Bay to Murray Hill to honestly further than that,” Powers told Straus News. “I talked to an employee at NYU who told me that that’s where many of the employees go after work to go see a movie.”

The announcement resulted in a wave of questions over what will happen to the property.

“We want to know what’s happening with the space, and I think many of us who have relied on that theater want to see it stay,” said Powers, who has been going to this location since it opened.

Powers has reached out to AMC and the property owner, Kips Bay Development Limited Partnership, to try to figure out what the reason for the departure is. However, he said it has been to no avail.

Early reports have speculated that NYU Langone may be buying the property for new development. The company announced it was planning an $83 million hospital expansion in Kips Bay last year.

If the property is being bought by NYU Langone for development, it would likely mean the Fairway Market to the right of the AMC will also be closing.

Neither AMC nor NYU Langone responded to Straus News’ requests for clarification.

The potential development would come on the heels of the Science Park and Research Campus Kips Bay project, a science hub that former mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul announced in December 2025.

The project reflects city and state officials’ intention to foster the neighborhood’s growing science and health sector.

Despite there being no confirmation, the speculation, which has spread across forums and campaigns, has caused ire in some.

“At some point is NYU just going to buy all of Manhattan,” one Reddit user asked.

Petitions and a resident-led campaign, Save Kips Bay, have already sprung up with hopes of halting this potential outcome.

“Kips Bay needs restaurants, stores, entertainment and places for residents to actually enjoy their neighborhood, not block after block of institutional medical space,” Save Kips Bay’s website reads.

In an X post weighing in on the announcement, Powers said that he was talking with colleagues to prevent the closure.

On how he plans to achieve this, Powers said: “Number one, we want to signal to the property owner this is a beloved community movie theater that is going to cause a lot of concern amongst the people living in the neighborhood and beyond about it closing.”