Micah Lasher

(One of Two) An Open Letter to the Kips Bay Community About the Future of AMC Kips Bay 15 in New York City “AMC Does Not Want to Go. We Want to Stay.” ——-/////——-/////——-   To the Kips Bay Community,   Since news first broke that our popular AMC Kips Bay 15-screen movie theatre located at 570 Second Avenue in Manhattan will soon be forced against our will to close its doors, I’ve been struck by the extraordinary support that this AMC theatre has received from within the local surrounding community.        So many moviegoers and neighbors, and importantly so many of your elected officials, have rallied around our theatre. (Given the central role that movie theatres play in the lives of so many New Yorkers, perhaps it is much better and more accurate to say that so many of you have rallied around YOUR theatre.)  On behalf of everyone at AMC, thank you. Your support means a great deal to us, and especially to our theatre team members at AMC Kips Bay 15 who work tirelessly day-in and day-out to put smiles on your faces.   In thinking about this theatre, which has been a cultural icon and entertainment lifeline to so many nearby residents for decades and decades since its opening on May 14 1999, I want to make one thing absolutely clear:   AMC Theatres does not want to go. Not one little bit. AMC Theatres wants to stay in Kips Bay.   Operating under long term leases, there was a time that the monies headed each month to the theatre’s landlord had risen to become so high that the theatre’s long-term viability was uncertain. But, we were fortunate to have been successful in addressing those concerns in recent years. Today this theatre (one which has been in continuous operation for more than twenty five years) has a bright future — if we would be allowed to keep it. Indeed, every day, thousands of guests watch a movie at AMC Kips Bay 15. It has become so popular of late that on several days this past summer, AMC Kips Bay 15 was repeatedly among the ten most attended movie theatres across the entire United States, out of the more than 500 theatres operated by AMC nationally. In that light, this is a theatre that should not be even close to a permanent shutting off of its lights. Of course, AMC wants this AMC movie theatre to stay in place. And remembering how much and how often Americans love watching movies in theatres, a tradition in Manhattan that dates back more than a full century, we have heard from so many of you that you too want us to stay open for your benefit. Apparently, NYU Langone Health does not share that view, not ours or not yours.  Unfortunately, the decision to retain or end AMC’s tenure in Kips Bay is not ours to make. The nearby NYU Langone Health facility 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. We have engaged with NYU Langone, suggesting any number of alternatives — including that it enlarge the current low-rise building to satisfy its desires for a growth of its medical facility but also leaving a theatre in place for you. Or alternatively, we offered that our theatre could get smaller, so that at the very least we could leave something remaining in place to continue to serve you. Sadly, any and all variations that we have proposed have fallen on closed minds.  We call on NYU Langone Health to open their minds, to think creatively, and come up with a solution that will give the Kips Bay community BOTH of the two things that is wanted most of all: expanded facilities offering the world class medical care that is the hallmark of NYU Langone Health AND a fully functional AMC Theatre on Second Avenue.