Kips Bay Plaza Is Losing Its Anchors on Three Different Clocks

AMC Kips Bay 15 at 570 Second Avenue has showtimes scheduled through January 3, 2027. The Bank of America next door at 560 Second Avenue was scheduled to close on October 15 and move to 300 East 23rd Street. Fairway Market, at the corner of the plaza, has roughly five years left on its lease. NYU Langone has not committed to keeping it after that.

Those three businesses were the last ones operating in the plaza, which runs along Second Avenue from 30th to 32nd Street. Our Town reported in September that apart from the AMC and Fairway, the bank was the only business still there, and a Colliers sign in an empty storefront was still advertising retail space for lease. Each of the three is on a different clock for a different reason, and the difference matters to anyone who uses the block every week.

Three tenants, three timelines

The theater's last day is not formally announced. AMC has said showtimes are scheduled through Jan. 3. In its Oct. 9 report, Our Town put the last showtime on offer one day later, Jan. 4. Both dates describe a showtime schedule, not an announced closing date. For bank customers, Bank of America's branch locator listed the 300 East 23rd Street location as "Coming Soon!" for both financial center and ATM hours as of mid-October.

Fairway has the longest clock. Our Town, citing the St. Vartan Park Conservancy newsletter, reported that the store began a 20-year lease in 2012 with renewal options running to 2052. A 2012 start and a 20-year term fit Assembly Member Keith Powers' estimate of about five years remaining. Powers told The City Reporter that Fairway "can't be evicted during that time," and that NYU Langone would not commit to keeping the market once the lease ends.

The theater's exit was written into a pandemic-era lease

Most of the public argument has been about whether AMC wanted to leave. The lease answers the more practical question. NYU Langone's account, as reported by the New York Post, is that AMC and the landlord earlier agreed to "substantially" reduce AMC's rent in exchange for a mutual right for either side to terminate at any time. The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association describes it as a pandemic-era agreement, and AMC confirmed that the landlord, not the theater, used that right.

AMC spokesperson Ryan Noonan's statement, carried by both The City Reporter and the Post, is unusually direct for a national chain:

"To be clear, we want to stay. Under the terms of our current lease, the theatre is operating successfully, and we would like to continue serving moviegoers for years to come."

The same statement says the decision "is ultimately not ours to make" and that the theater "remains open and operating as usual." AMC lists the location with IMAX with Laser, and the Save Kips Bay campaign describes it as a 15-screen house. Because the lease terms let the landlord end the tenancy, community pressure can change what replaces the theater, but it cannot extend the current lease.

The lever everyone is pointing at may never come into play

Residents organized quickly. On August 31, the Save Kips Bay Coalition sent a letter to NYU Langone CEO Alec Kimmelman. amNY reported that the signers included the St. Vartan Park Conservancy, the Alliance for Kips Bay and the Waterside Plaza Tenants Association. A rally followed on September 20 outside 570 Second Avenue. The Eleanor Roosevelt Independent Democrats hosted it, and the announced speakers were State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Powers and Council Member Virginia Maloney. The Post reported that thousands of people signed a petition asking for the theater to stay.

The strongest public commitment so far is conditional. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said that if NYU Langone seeks any rezoning at 570 Second Avenue, he will "fight for a new cinema and affordable grocery store by predicating my approval of a land-use application on the inclusion of these two important neighborhood institutions."

That pledge only matters if a land-use application is filed. The City Reporter reported that NYU Langone has described its plans as a "clinical outpatient center," and that the elected officials at the October 8 meeting said it was not yet clear whether the project would need a rezoning. George Janes, a zoning consultant, told the outlet that a rezoning "may not be necessary for the site, depending on what Langone actually plans on building." The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association reached a similar conclusion: the site could be converted to medical offices without rezoning, which would limit formal public review.

In short, the theater's departure is already settled, and Fairway's future after its current lease, which began in 2012 with a 20-year term, is unknown. The public's formal say over the whole block depends on a filing that may never be required. NYU Langone has said its purchase "remains under contract" and is expected to close early in 2027. It has not shared detailed plans.

The same pattern, one avenue west

The plaza is not the only large storefront heading toward medical use. The City Reporter reported that the former COCO-MAT store, which takes up much of the Lexington Avenue block between East 31st and 32nd Streets, now has window signs reading "Future home of NYU Langone Health." The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association responded on social media, asking, "How much of our neighborhood's street-level space should become part of one medical institution's growing footprint?"

NYU Langone's argument rests on demand. In its statement to Community Board 6, the health system said average daily visits to its emergency department have risen 11% since Mount Sinai Beth Israel closed in April 2025. It said more nearby outpatient care would give patients options other than the ER for some conditions. Senator Gonzalez cited a state study that, in her account, did not identify a need for additional medical space in the area. Council Member Maloney described the theater as "an anchor institution to the community, and we need to see something comparable or retain it."

What opened on the side streets meanwhile

Smaller storefronts have kept filling in while the plaza empties. Taftoon, a Persian street-food restaurant, opened on July 28 at 388 Third Avenue at East 28th Street, according to Eater New York. On August 21, Corgi Cafe opened its first New York location at 121 East 27th Street near Lexington Avenue. It runs 24 hours a day and has study pods. A little north, Westville has signed a lease for about 4,100 square feet at 540 Third Avenue at East 36th Street. The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association reports that no opening date has been announced.

None of these replaces a 15-screen IMAX theater or a full-service grocery store. They do show that small-format food and cafe spaces in Kips Bay are still turning over to new tenants, even as the largest site on Second Avenue moves toward a single institutional owner.

Where movie night goes after January

These theaters are all within reach of Kips Bay, and each one's own site was listing current showtimes in mid-October:

• AMC 34th Street 14, 312 West 34th Street. This is the closest match for anyone who used Kips Bay for big-format releases. AMC lists it with both IMAX with Laser and Dolby Cinema.
• Regal Union Square, 850 Broadway, with current showtimes and tickets on Regal's site.
• Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, a smaller house with its current lineup posted online.
• Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, with daily schedules posted.

For the next ten weeks, Kips Bay 15 is still the nearest option. AMC says it is "operating as usual."

Dates on the calendar

1. Monday, October 26, 6:30 p.m. Community Board 6's Land Use, Waterfront & Landmarks Committee meets at Bellevue Hospital. Its posted agenda covers Bellevue Hospital coastal resiliency and an East Side Coastal Resiliency update, not the plaza.
2. Wednesday, November 18, 7:00 p.m. CB6 Full Board meeting. The agenda is listed as TBD on the board's calendar.
3. Sunday, January 3, 2027. The last date on AMC Kips Bay's published showtime schedule.
4. Early 2027. NYU Langone expects to close on its purchase of the site.

The Save Kips Bay site posts updates on the campaign, including Borough President Hoylman-Sigal's statement and the October 8 hearing.

If you own or are thinking about buying near Kips Bay Plaza and want to talk through how a change like this has affected nearby buildings before, The Bracha Group can walk you through it. Work With Us.