Upper West Side’s beloved Lincoln Plaza Cinemas set to close in January

New York City is about to lose yet another one of its beloved institutions. The Upper West Side’s Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, located on the lower level of a residential building along Broadway and 62nd Street, is set to close in January due to its lease expiring, reports Deadline.

The theater has had a successful 35-year run and is highly regarded within the indie cinema scene, serving as one of the city’s go-to places for the debut of specialty films like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11.

In an interview with Deadline, owner Dan Talbot and his wife said that they have done “everything we could ask for the lease to be extended,” but building owner, Milstein Properties, is only “looking to make money.”

If the theater isn’t successful in securing an extension on its lease, the doors will close for good on January 21. Per Indiewire, “multiple sources” say that Howard Milstein, chairman of Milstein Properties, has been looking to sell Lincoln Plaza so if true, a lease extension is probably unlikely.

In a statement to Curbed, a spokesperson for Milstein Properties stated that the company has “played a central role in nurturing this special theater” and that there is “vital structural work needed to repair and waterproof the plaza surrounding the building that cannot be completed while the space is in use.” The development firm also said that they expect to re-open the space as a cinema in the future.

• New York’s Famed Lincoln Plaza Art House Theatre Scheduled To Close In January [Deadline]
• Manhattan’s Beloved Lincoln Plaza Cinema Will Close for Good in January 2018 [Indiewire]