
Kips Bay Residents and Elected Officials Rally to Save Manhattan’s Last Major East Side Movie Theater
More than 100 residents, elected officials, and community organizers rallied outside the AMC Kips Bay 15 on Sunday, September 21, demanding that NYU Langone Health reverse plans that would close the 15-screen multiplex at 570 Second Avenue by the end of 2026. The theater is the only remaining major cinema on Manhattan’s East Side. Key Takeaways Over 100 protesters gathered in the rain on Sunday outside AMC Kips Bay 15, organized by the Eleanor Roosevelt Independent Democrats, calling on NYU Langone Health to preserve the theater. NYU Langone quietly purchased the approximately 193,000-square-foot retail complex at 570 Second Avenue more than a year ago, a transaction elected officials said they were not notified about until August 2026. The property owner, Kips Bay Development Limited Partnership, exercised a contractual right to terminate the theater’s lease before its May 2027 expiration, forcing a closure by year’s end. Seven elected officials, including Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, U.S. Representative Jerrold





































