NYU Langone skips Kips Bay meeting as neighbors fight to keep the AMC theater

Residents packed a Kips Bay community board meeting Thursday night to hear NYU Langone explain why the AMC Kips Bay 15 has to close at the end of the year. The hospital system didn't show up.

The board learned only the night before that no NYU Langone representative would attend, THE CITY and Washington Square News reported. Instead, members read a statement from the health system saying "AMC expressed interest in leaving" the Second Avenue site years before NYU Langone got involved. A spokesperson later said the hospital was disappointed that no one had checked with it before promoting its attendance.

Does AMC want to stay?

Assembly Member Keith Powers, who represents the area, told the crowd that AMC representatives told him they "would like to stay." He pointed to the chain's strong recent results, THE CITY reported. According to NYU Langone, AMC and the landlord signed a lease years ago that lets either side end it at any time. Powers said that pandemic-era deal doesn't reflect what the theater wants now, and that once NYU Langone owns the building, it will be up to the hospital whether to go through with the eviction, Washington Square News reported.

The Fairway Market in the same two-story building has roughly five years left on its lease and can't be forced out before then, Powers said. But NYU would not commit to keeping it after that, he added.

The rezoning question

NYU Langone has the property under contract, and the sale is expected to close early next year. The hospital has said it plans a "clinical outpatient center" there and has cited an 11% rise in average daily visits to its emergency department since Mount Sinai Beth Israel closed in April 2025.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said this week that he will not approve any rezoning of the site that leaves out a movie theater, and that he would also push for an affordable grocery store. But his own statement notes that the building could be turned into outpatient medical offices without any public land-use review. Powers told the meeting that NYU Langone has said it is "not seeking a rezoning," Washington Square News reported, which would take away the community's strongest leverage. State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and Council Member Virginia Maloney pointed to other city approvals the hospital may still need, such as street-safety changes if the site brings more traffic.

A bigger footprint

NYU Langone is also moving into the former COCO-MAT store on Lexington Avenue between East 31st and 32nd streets, THE CITY reported. The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association asked how much of the area's street-level space should go to a single medical institution. Neighborhood organizers say they plan another event with elected officials after a September rally.