Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, the art-house theater on Broadway and 62nd Street, is set to close next month after 35 years, according to multiple news reports.
The six-screen movie theater is one of the few remaining places to watch indie and foreign movies in the area, and it’s debuted major independent films including Fahrenheit 911 over the years.
“In an interview with Deadline, Toby Talbot seemed resigned to the likely fate of the theatre. She said she and her husband “did everything we could to ask for the lease to be extended.” [Building owner Milstein Properties], she added, “is looking to get everything he can. He’s looking to make money.”
Pix11 reported that the theater owners were hoping for a lease extension.
“It’s not for lack of business we’re closing,” said General Manager Ewnetu Admassu.
But now, the lease is up.
“It was expiring at the end of the year we wanted an extension,” Admassau said. “Seems like they have another plan…unfortunately we have to come out.”
The landlord has apparently not been returning press calls, but Indiewire had more of the backstory:
“Multiple sources told IndieWire that Howard Milstein, chairman of Milstein Properties, had been seeking a buyer for Lincoln Plaza in recent months. Dan Talbot has reportedly been in poor health over the past year; he did not attend this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where he has regularly scouted for films for decades.”
A closing event is planned for January 21, Indiewire reported.
It’s not entirely clear that this is a 100% done deal. We’ll keep our ears out for any efforts to keep the theater open.
Update: Milstein Properties emailed us a statement. We’ve followed up with them with more questions and will update the community as we hear more.
“Milstein Properties built 30 Lincoln Plaza in 1978, we are long-term members of this community and have played a central role in nurturing this special theater. 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, and will begin now that the cinema’s lease has expired. At the completion of this work, we expect to re-open the space as a cinema that will maintain its cultural legacy far into the future.”
Photo via Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Facebook page.
Terrible news. This was the only movie in the area showing good movies. Feel really sad about its closing, this is the most heartbreaking closing among multiple others. Walter Reade has something decent once in a while, but this theater always played several movies worth watching. Now we are stuck with mainstream junk played by AMC theaters. Younger generation already doesn’t know good cinema.
Now now, I think it’s a bit unfair to blame this on the younger generation. Perhaps we do have good taste, it’s just that we’ve migrated to TV (where the best things are happening anyway) and choose to spend our money elsewhere. After all, when it costs $15-18 to see a single film in a cinema and only $9.99 (soon to be $10.99) a month to access Netflix, which would you choose?
Now that Net-Neutrality is gone we can expect Netflix prices to rise HIGH !
I’m a senior & pay a discounted entry fee & actually like to get out & watch movies on the big screen! I’d suggest that owners are only interested in making the most money they can with the least variety!
It’s a disgrace that elected city officials go along with all these closings! (For one Helen Rosenthal doesn’t care at all about long time West siders!
The problem with people is that they want everything for free now aways..True the cost of going to the movies have increased but it is also an experience to to these theaters..Instead of being at home..
We will soon become a people hiding out at home with zero social skills and with children who have no ability to communicate with the outside world or with people that are not there family..Making for fewer friend and colleagues..and a world of isolation..There are definitely pros and cons to watching shows at home as opposed to going to the movies/theaters..
But in this instance i think the owner is out to make Money..
With the increase of construction in and around the city is it not a surprise that the owner is looking to make a lot of money out of a prime location.We probably will see a condominium in its place soon enough.It is the same thing happening all around the Brooklyn area.
Well, if by “we” you mean you are part of that generation, and then you essentially acknowledge that it’s all about price with no consideration to how films were intended to be watched (in a communal setting where the screen is large enough to appreciate the acting, technical, and cinematographic experience), then I think you have just demonstrated Jen’s point.
They are not closing from lack of business. They are closing because of the unreasonable demands of the landlord.
Gulia, try Moviepass!! It’s amazing! $9.99 for the movies unlimited 🙂
If the movies that were played at Lincoln Cinemas were available on Netflix, I would choose Neflix. I have a lot of streaming channels including Netflix but they do not provide access to the best cinema.
And younger generation doesn’t understand what good cinema is not because of Netflix, streaming and prices. Idiotic action movies were shoven down their throat by cable and mainstream movie theaters.
I honestly don’t understand your question and logic. If somebody thinks McDonalds is the best food because, hey, it is only $5, and the Coke is the best drink because it comes free with it, finer cuisines are overpriced? Also AMC theater playing crap are not short of business.
All finer things are an acquired taste. But if someone watches whatever is played at AMC, whatever is available on cable, they can’t develop a good taste.
Sure, let’s blame Millennials. It’s all us old people know how to do.
Hmm, this is a bummer, but it doesn’t sound like all is lost. The Indiewire story in particular suggests that the theater will eventually reopen and that it may well keep showing arthouse flicks.
Honestly, I’m not sure it would make financial sense to turn it into a completely mainstream theater, given that AMC is practically next door and offers much larger screens. Hoping for the best.
NO CAN NOT CLOSE THIS THEATER!!!
NO NO NO
WE CAN’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Too bad we can’t curb the rapaciousness of greedy landlords!
What you can do? You can go there at least twice a week and spend $17 on one (1) movie. Can you do that?
Just another decline in our society. Who cares about thinking? The only theatre where it was difficult to choose amongst so many fabulous films. While the staff was always less than friendly, I put up with them because of the great films being shown.
Another example of greedy greedy landlords and the total demise of independent movie going opportunities on the upper west side. Where can the independent movie goer go? Maybe AMC 84th will change its policy from hard core adventure/horror films to independent films. Ha! Dream on!
Ugh! Lincoln Plaza is such an important part of our neighborhood. They are almost always showing one quality movie or more. Not that I believe it will do much good, but whom can we contact?
Landlords’ greediness continues to destroy the neighborhood.
$17-$18 for 1 ticket is greed, too, don’t you think? They would have bigger crowds if they made going to the movies – not really exclusive luxury one-time happening – priced reasonably. THAT’s greed.
I wrote to Milstien Properties.
Please do that too.
info@milsteinproperties.com
This about as sad a bit of cultural news for this City since the shock, decades ago, when it was announced that Carnegie Hall was to be demolished. THAT story had a happy ending.
Does not appear this one will.
For almost 4 decades, this theater has been BRILLIANT in finding moves that no one else would take-often leading to follow up screening at major theaters which had noticed the sell out performances for weeks at The Plaza…
Current example: Loving Vincent. See it before the theater goes away. No one else has touched this MOST original and marvelous film in years. The Plaza has kept it LONG after it was scheduled to rotate out-they understood how special it is, and kept it for weeks after they had planned something else. Flexible, brilliant, supporter of the arts. One of the unique keys to making New York a livable city. Gone for greed! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
Landlords and developers are destroying the UWS one block at a time. They are forcing out successful business for chains who man never come to pay rent that is stratospheric and they get a tax break and the smalll business gets screwed! Amazing how developers get City money and all sorts of perks when they buy an over priced property and want a variance to make more money but the City can’t figure out a way to help small business.
There are now entire blocks on the UWS that are dark at night because all of the small businesses have been kick out and thenlandlords are waiting for their golden goose while they take tax write offs. It’s appalling.
No eyes on the street, no lights at nigh makes for a creepy and ultimately unsafe neighborhood.
Maybe our city council member will step up?!🤔🤔🤔
For better or worse and it could be a lot worse, just look around the world, we have a capitalistic system in this country. The main reason they can not afford the increase is the very small size of the theaters.
“we have a capitalistic system in this country.”
More like a grotesque, malignant hybrid. Rigged, corrupt crony capitalism/ predatory usury financial racket; profit privatized, risk socialized. The rich play, knowing that the workers will pay. What would Adam Smith say?
Totally agree Independent! A number of commenters seem to believe the theater is closing because of lack of business. NOT! They have had plenty of business. The landlord will not renew the lease, and if he were to I’m sure it would be astronomical. He’s already got vacant stores in Lincoln Plaza that have been empty for months. These landlords care not one whit for NY communities. Only about money. If you do care about this closing call and write Helen Rosenthal’s and Gale Brewer’s offices NOW!
Welcome to the real world. Like it or not this is the system we have. They got a sweetheart deal based on the fact that when the building went up it was very hard to attract retail that did not have any street level presence
Now they can charge market rate rather then below market rate
Welcome to the real world. Like it or not this is the system we have. They were given a sweetheart deal for 35 years as getting any retail with no street level presence was extremely hard years ago. Now the neighborhood has improved enough that it can be rent at market rate not below
Noooo!. Say it ain’t so!
OMG!! This is our favorite movie theater….They show the best films!!😰😰
Say it isn’t so!
What do you wanna bet that the new leasee has ties to the White House and will be screening red (Republican) propaganda newsreels and fake news?
I’m only being half sarcastic…
Hell in a hand basket, I tell ya!
It may make you feel righteous to take shots at our current President but an objective examination would reveal that no matter which Party has the Presidency or the Legislature, there are at least three entities that always win: The War industry; Big Finance and the Cheap Labor (mass immigration) Lobby. In the big picture, Democrats and Republicans are but two wings of the same bird-of-prey.
This is when our local politicians should be showing up and trying to help..but where are they?
This is the best movie complex in the neighborhood and to see it succumb to greed is heartbreaking
Takes a lot these days to rock my world, but this news certainly did. No other theater showed such consistently solid films week in and week out. I live close to the long defunct Metro Theater at B’way & 100th Sf. I know it’s a pipe dream, but wish that Lincoln Plaza could relocate into that neglected space.
Thankfully, we still have Eleanor Bunin Monroe, but Lincoln Plaza closing is a bitter pill to swallow. My uncle once remarked that you could see a film there every day for a year and not see a bad one. He was so right, what a loss for the UWS.
The Eleanor Bunin theatre can’t be compared to Lincoln Plaza. Its choices are eccentric. Not solid, as you yourself say of LPlaza. the Talbots had and have incredible taste in film!
This comment is worth repeating!
I would urge all of us to contact our elected officials to intervene. This is the worst news!
Landlords and developers are destroying the UWS one block at a time. They are forcing out successful business for chains who man never come to pay rent that is stratospheric and they get a tax break and the smalll business gets screwed! Amazing how developers get City money and all sorts of perks when they buy an over priced property and want a variance to make more money but the City can’t figure out a way to help small business.
There are now entire blocks on the UWS that are dark at night because all of the small businesses have been kick out and thenlandlords are waiting for their golden goose while they take tax write offs. It’s appalling.
No eyes on the street, no lights at nigh makes for a creepy and ultimately unsafe neighborhood.
Maybe our city council member will step up?!🤔🤔🤔
You mean Useless Helen? Don’t bother.
Oh shit!
There is a vacant movie house…the old Metro at 99 th and .Broadway. New York needs our indie movie houses
Lincoln Plaza Cinama has been a large part of my life for years. I wish there was some way to organize the community to help the owner of the property realize what harm will result in the theater’s closing –
I agree with Dona. There ought to be a way for the community to register a protest with the landlord. More effective would be a protest by all the real estate brokers and their companies; they stand to lose a lot when they try to attract buyers with descriptions of the culturally rich, sophisticated and diverse attractions of the upper West Side.
Awful news.
Wonder if the old Metro near 100St. is a possible new location?
Mammon wins again.
so sad . We love the type of films shown at Lincoln Plaza and are frequent attendees.
where can we go now? the theater was also close for us!
i guess NYC is pretty much about making “more money”!
A real blow to the UWS.
Shameful, sad. It’s my most frequented, favorite theater and the last incarnation of the old New Yorker Theater. I will sorely miss it! I feel bad for its employees, many of whom have been there for decades. Soon NYC will be nothing but a giant shopping mall filled with cineplexes, banks and franchises.
Please, Milsteins. Do not close this neighborhood treasure. You support cultural events on PBS, don’t you? Please continue support for this cultural landmark on the UWS.
Please post what action we can take to help keep it open!!!!
Thank you.
You can go there twice weekly and pay the exorbitant $17 for one ticket. Everyone blames landlords – who invested in property and expect to be profitable – but nobody asks how the price of movie tickets is justified. Ask that question and you’ll be surprised by answers or dead silence.
So sad. A tremendous loss to NYC
Can’t our local elected officials get involved? Greed seems to be the only driving force in all the major West Side closings – of which there have been many in the last 12 months alone. Quality of life, and community interests are ignored – all for greed!
Please, elected officials and Community Leaders, HELP!!!
Get involved how? The landlord doesn’t want the lessee there anymore – it’s that simple. The landlord doesn’t need to justify to anyone what he wants to do with his property. The lease is up and he can do what he wants.
It’s a little overblown to say LPC showed films “no one else” would since pretty much all their films show in other theaters. Granted, not on the UWS. And it is a loss for serious cinema. But it’s not the end of the world. There’s still Film Society of Lincoln Ctr right there and half a dozen what used to be called “art houses” a short subway ride away.
I’m 60 years old and still able to move about with no difficulty, but many people I see at LCP are older and somewhat infirmed. Taking even a ‘short subway ride’ is not always possible, especially when the weather is bad. Not to mention the danger of heading home on the subway at midnight, after the movie gets out.
It is so discouraging that money always wins over the will of the people, and that those who have it have no understanding of the impact that their wanting more and more of it can have on the lives of others.
Can someone please tell me what the Lincoln Center Business Improvement does? They have a section of what’s new in the neighborhood that doesn’t include empty store fronts. It’s time for this faux organization that uses our tax dollars to be closed down. Monica Blum has nothing to say ever about street safety, pedestrian safety or the movie theatre being closed. They just serve no purpose. https://www.lincolnbid.org/about-us/about-the-bid/board-and-staff
Not sure how much the Business Improvement District is funded by, as you say, “tax dollars.” I think the funding comes largely from the businesses in the district.
BIDs are funded by special assessments to owners of commercial property. It is the property owners that pay for the extra trash collections and the “security”.
BID is funded by real estate. Just look at their board. It’s all the big players who contribute to all the empty stores. https://www.lincolnbid.org/about-us/about-the-bid/current-supporters
we can’t allow this to happen. What ab’t getting together demonstrations?
Another example where greed trumps
all other considerations! We need
independent voices in the arts and cultures!
This is what has defined progress in
democracy, and in our great city
historically.
Marty Rosenblatt
Good!
I’ve been hearing these complaints for 30 or more years. It seems that many New Yorkers want to make money, but they don’t want landlords to make more than an approved (by them) amount. It’s fun to be generous with others’ money, and it makes you feel noble besides!
Nobody said we want to make money by taking other people hostage. And that’s exactly what UWS landlords do. Despicable morality. Making money by getting good education and provided services to people based on that is one thing. Grabbing properties and taking everyone hostage is a totally different and disgusting morality alltogethe.
“Jen”, I have no idea what you are trying to saying, but negotiation between two private parties isn’t hostage taking. If you are forcing one side (retail owners) to win the negotiation, as you seem to suggest, sounds more in line with hostage taking than otherwise.
Shameful, sad news! Lincoln Plaza is my most frequented favorite theater and the last incarnation of the old New Yorker Theater. It will be sorely missed! I feel bad for its employees, many of whom have been there for decades. Soon NYC will be nothing but a giant shopping mall filled with cineplexes, banks and franchises.
Oh no! is right. A suggestion: make the January 21 closing (sob!) event a tribute to Dan Talbot. Show his favorite films (maybe on all 6 screens) and after have a movie-themed party in the lobby.
What a tragedy!
A shame for the cinema culture on the upper west side
I will have to move again, I just move around here for the easy access to good movies especially foreign films.
Not everything good is American despite what we heart.
This is a bad bad news and politically incorrect.
This is terrible! Lincoln Plaza is beloved by west siders.
Please help!
Lincoln Plaza, like Zabar’s, is an essential part of UWS life. We are hoping, praying and begging that it somehow survives and that another unwanted, underground chain isn’t in the offing. We thank the current owners for their years of doing good.
🍀🎄🍀🎄
I am desolated. It is a part of our life, the only movie theatre with the kind of films we love in the neighborhood. It may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but what makes NY so great is that there is the best of the best for so many small groups, rather than just the one thing most people love. It’s so sad.
Where is Gail Brewer and Helen Rosenthal on this??
This cannot be happening. #resist
What do you expect them to do? Private property means freedom of choice. Are you going to pass a restrictive (and unconstitutional) law to regulate every aspect of our lives whenever a private property owner offends you?
The more I read the Rag, the more I find many of my fellow UWS’ers to be simple-minded and not the enlightened and intelligent group they profess to be. At best, they’re hypocritical; at worst, they’re idiotic.
Yes Woody you must be from the part of town where they worship Ayn Rand-where they wouldn’t dare allow low income housing or worse yet, a homeless shelter. The UWS is known for welcoming all kinds of people because we have concern for a common good. It’s quite interesting that you equate good business with a lack of interest in the community surrounding that business, and a lack of civil character as well. The Milsteins of New York have been made rich by the people in these communities. Their rental and condominium properties benefit by having things like movie theaters that show movies that intelligent people want to watch. I suspect that if you were to investigate the education level and the I.Q. of people living on the Upper West Side it would put your theories to shame. But agreed-we’re not so big on Ayn Rand. We’ll leave that for other parts of town.
I hear you Woody. Just remember that the professional NIMBYs that infect this site are only a few of the thousands of people on the UWS. Most of the UWS are very welcoming of new people and new things.
They are nowhere. Helen or her crew were very responsive during election season. Mo action whatsoever regarding anything since she was elected.
This is, indeed, very disappointing news. Please let us know what we can do to avert this closing. This theater is in itself a star!
Look around at our fellow UWSers. Most of them have their faces buried in their phones and don’t pay attention to anything or anyone.
Why should we surprised that many of them would want to put down those phones and focus on something like a film? In that 90-180 minutes, they might miss an important text or a posting of someone’s lunch.
How many people on the subway do you see reading books or newspapers? Almost none.
The smartphone is king and rules the spectacular mediocrity of the average public and consumes their average brains.
For like the tenth time here, the theater is very successful! They do not suffer for lack of business because of people who don’t look up from their cellphones. Their movies are often sold out. The Landlord has refused to renew the lease. And if he did he would probably quadruple the rent. No movie theater could pay that.
Keep in mind that many of us are reading digital newspapers and books on those phones. It is easier than schlepping the paper around. Some even buy their movie tickets on their phones for that matter.
Most are not reading books or papers. It’s remarkably easy to see people’s screens (albeit it requires the you actually look up from your phone to do this).
People play Candy Crush. They look at social media. They text (and text and text and text).
And it’s not just on the subway. It’s on the subway steps. It’s on the sidewalk. It’s while walking their dog/child/spouse. It’s while sitting in a restaurant or theater.
The mediocre are the mediocre, and we have a lot of them here in this neighborhood.
[…]It’s [preoccupation with “smartphones”] on the sidewalk.[…]
Worse yet, while crossing the street and driving…
Very true. Pop-culture supersedes culture. I try my best to teach my son better than that but there’s peer pressure and cheesefest surrounding him.
There is nothing to say but what a gigantic loss to art and our community. The Millstein family needs more money? Not as much as the community needs this venue for these wonderful non mainstream movies. Shame on them. Aren’t the new tax giveaways they’re getting enough of our blood. To steal our simple pleasure is a shonda in the words on my Bubbe.
It’s none of your business how much money the Milsteins need. They don’t exist to give you something for nothing. If you think what they do is so easy, then try doing it yourself. Many of you schnorrers have gotten used to sponging off others without any regard to the complexities of the real estate market.
Well put with an amusing tone!
I agree with you, but wish there was some way to temper this in a fashion to that so many would not lose something they love.
What can we do to stop this? Anyone have an email address for Milstein Properties? I tried to find one but came up empty. Thanks.
damn landlords. damn real estate prices.
Yes, but can you help me get the highest price for my co-op?