Photo by Sasha Charnin Morrison.
The Metro Theater on Broadway between 99th and 100th street is one step closer to becoming a gym. Builders filed permits to turn the old gutted space into a gym, according to NY Yimby. We broke the news last year that discount gym chain Planet Fitness had agreed to lease the space.
“Stephen Cohan’s Stelco Restoration and Technology is handling the renovation. The 10,260-square-foot building has two floors and a mezzanine between them, and Planet Fitness will occupy all three levels. They inked a 15-year lease on the property in October 2015, with an option to extend for another five years.”
The Metro opened in 1933 and became a beloved moviehouse, but it closed in 2005 and has been vacant ever since. The Texas theater chain Alamo Drafthouse attempted to revive it, but gave up as construction costs rose.
This won’t be the first time the Metro hosts sweaty people attempting to accept the shame of their own bodies — it was briefly a porno theater! (Hey, we’re allowed one joke on a Friday.)
The Metro Theater in its heyday.
Aw love the pic, and remember those days…
I really was holding out hope Alamo would have a change of heart as it would’ve really brought up the neighborhood. At this point though, it’ll just be good to have something there, even if it is the worst gym chain in America.
Unfortunately it seems the best we can hope for these days is, “it could be worse.” Many of us are still stinging from the backing out of the Alamo Brewhouse. I’m happy the façade will be saved, and in my opinion, a gym is way more preferable than a bank, pharmacy, or urgent care clinic. Hopefully it will breathe some life into that block.
wow, that was very funny but I am so disappointed thta a gorgeous historic site will become an awful second-rate gym with awful equipment….c’mon, the UWS has lotsa great gyms, save the integrity and lush history of our city, please….
Oh wow before that awful building was built next door. This neighborhood was ruined I’m sorry, 2002 was the last year that this neighborhood held out. Two movie theaters gone and replaced by vapid buildings full of empty people. This is also one of the grimiest blocks around, that gym will have a lot of “eyes” watching from the outside.
Maybe the gym can double as a methadone clinic for the people who hang around on that block.
There still aren’t any permits filed on the DOB site as of today.
You just described every block from 93rd to 100th.
I was holding out for Alamo too. Too bad. It will at least be nice for it to be repaired.
I, for one, am thrilled to have a gym in the neighborhood. We need a place where neighbors have the chance of meeting each other in a healthy environment (i.e. not a bar or ubiquitous coffee shop!). From the lack of commercial successes in this neighborhood it appears to me that locals don’t like to spend money. A fancy gym wouldn’t work financially so we get what we’re will ing to pay for! The gym at 106th and Bway is very pricey for what it is and Equinox on West 92nd is just a few too many blocks away to be convenient.
And please remember the reality of the METRO movie theatre the most uncomfortable seats ever! And it always seems kind of dirty. Great movies, though. I remember having nightmares for weeks after seeing the original “Freaks” there.
Good News: 1.) The facade has been landmarked and will remain. 2.) We aren’t welcoming another bank or Duane Reade
Having belonged to both of those gyms, I agree. Money is tight right now and my routines are much better suited to a no-frills gym.
Why are there so many negative comments about urgent care clinics on this forum? Isn’t it preferable to an emergency room? I know so many people who have benefited from them, and many of our GPs have joined concierge programs so it seems like a good option to me.
Grandmasterbeta your pun is disgusting.
I think it’s kind of funny. Lighten up Sean.
What a shame. We can use more theatre on the UWS, not more gyms.
BOOOOOO
Wish it were a Blink Fitness branch, but much better than nothing.
arch, well, either that or Duane Read, urgent care or of course Another place to work out!
Glad that this is getting closer to happening. Would rather it be a gym than remain in disrepair. The neighborhood can use an affordable gym – Body Strength has great classes (so I hear anyway) but the equipment is barely a half notch above a hotel gym…. although at $700/year, I guess it’s more affordable than, say, Equinox (which, last time I checked was somewhere around $150/month).
I currently go to Blink – sometimes on 116 and sometimes on 40th… but at $25/month, fantastic equipment, and really great customer service, it’s hard to complain about the schlep. Don’t really know much about the Planet Fitness chain but having something in the space and on that block will be a welcome relief from the depressing amount of closed businesses between 96 and 106.
I remember when the gutting of the theater started. The inside was destroyed, it seemed, in a single day. It is sad for those of us who knew the interior. It really doesn’t matter what goes in there now since it has been reduced to just another commercial space on Broadway–gym machines, shelves for clothing, whatever. At least we still can enjoy the exterior.
Not only is there no info on DOB’s site about the “supposed” work to be done, but the lease documents have not been filed.
If they do plan to go forward great, but the only thing left of the build on leaking, sagging in roof and four walls. The entire 4 story insides were gutted in expectation of Urban Outfitters coming in back in 2009. As late as Nov 2015 DIB cited them for “failure to maintain the building in non hazardous manner”.
Several other organizations have looked at the property over the past couple of years but due to its detoriated condition and the added cost and/or of the usual UWS community complaints, as well as the landmark issues, have made all walk away. These 3 things are why Alamo walked away.
The folks in this project really are milking the PR. They keep rewriting the same information into a different press release, in a slightly different format.
Here’s hopping they do something with it.
BeFit on Broadway between 104 and 105 is small but super friendly, clean and often not crowded. Membership cost is pretty good too if you’re looking for a place!