AMC Theatres Says Kips Bay 15 Will Close January 3 Unless NYU Langone Reverses Lease Termination

AMC Theatres said its Kips Bay 15 multiplex in Manhattan will close on January 3 unless NYU Langone Health allows the cinema to keep operating, after the building's owner terminated the lease. The company's chief executive, Adam Aron, made the statement in an open letter, which Yahoo published.

AMC's Open Letter on the Kips Bay Lease

AMC Theatres is the world's largest movie theater chain, operating 855+ theatres and 9,640+ screens globally through U.S. AMC and international ODEON brands. NYU Langone Health is one of New York's major health care systems and privately purchased the property on which the multiplex sits last year.

Aron wrote that AMC has engaged with NYU Langone on alternatives that would let the multiplex continue in some form, and that the proposals were not accepted. "AMC Theatres does not want to go," Aron wrote. "Not one little bit. AMC Theatres wants to stay in Kips Bay."

According to Aron, NYU Langone wants to expand and wants AMC gone, and the current building's owner terminated the lease in anticipation of a transfer to NYU Langone. The multiplex has been a commercial hub since 1999, and AMC took over the venue in 2006. AMC announced in August that the purchase would likely mean the closure of the multiplex by the end of this year, prompting an outcry and protests from residents and other businesses in the area. Following direct engagement from Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Aron issued the open letter concurring that the neighborhood needs amenities such as a movie theater, supermarket and housing. AMC currently operates nine multiplexes in Manhattan.

AMC's Scale and Recent Moves

According to akta.pro company records, AMC serves over 250 million guests annually across its global theater footprint. The same records show AMC closed a $200 million registered direct offering of 95.25 million shares in June 2026, primarily to redeem $125.5 million of 6.125% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2027 and reduce annual cash interest by approximately $7.7 million. In April 2026, AMC partnered with National CineMedia and Creative Realities to deploy a premium in-lobby digital media network with multiple 75-inch screens across 285 theater locations nationwide.

Earlier Moves Around the Kips Bay Site

On October 11, 2026, the New York Post reported that NYU Langone was refusing to back down on its takeover of the Kips Bay AMC site, while Hoylman-Sigal vowed to block rezoning unless a cinema was included. On October 12, 2026, Becker's Hospital Review reported that NYU Langone Health opened a 28,000-square-foot imaging center in Manhattan. On October 22, 2026, Yahoo reported that AMC is closing its Mount Lebanon 6 location in the Galleria of Mount Lebanon after Sunday business hours, with guests directed to the South Hills Village 10 location.

Kips Bay Closing Date

Aron said that to comply with the terminated lease, the lights on AMC Kips Bay 15 will see their final sunset on January 3, a mere two and a half months from the letter.