By Gus Saltonstall
The Metro Theater’s liquor license moved closer toward approval last week, when it received a Conditional Approval letter from the New York State Liquor Authority.
The theater, on West 100th Street and Broadway, is in the process of reopening as an “upscale Alamo Drafthouse dine-in movie theater,” which first applied for a two-year liquor license in September 2022. The application received a favorable recommendation from Community Board 7 at the time, but the State Liquor Authority’s approval process has dragged along in the months since.
On September 13, though, the theater’s application went from “Pending,” to “Conditional Letter of Approval Issued.” The status means Metro Theater’s liquor license will be approved as long as one or more of the conditions handed down by the State Liquor Authority over the next six months are satisfied. The state agency can rethink its approval if these conditions aren’t met within the time frame.
The change in liquor license status is a positive sign for the long-awaited reopening of the historic Upper West Side theater, which has been closed since 2005.
(Thanks to Matt L. for the tip!)
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Update: 9/14, 2 p.m.: The New York State Liquor Authority provided the West Side Rag with the conditional letter of approval it issued the Metro Theater. Among the conditions the theater must meet before it opens, include a business phone number, a lease amendment to add a commencement date, and interior photos showing the business ready to open and operate with a customer bar, theaters, a kitchen, mezzanine lounge, interior access to the second floor, and alcohol storage.
This is so exciting but I am so afraid to get my hopes up again!
Hurrah for the (hopefully) soon reopening of the Metro!
A boy can dream!
Maybe I’m confused, but my understanding is that the interior is a total rat-infested wreck, and as far as I know, no work has begun. So, if the liquor license is approved, would it just be put on hold until the renovation is completed? (Which I’m assuming, perhaps incorrectly, will take quite a few months.) In other words, this seems like putting the bar cart before the horse… (sorry, couldn’t resist…)
Agree. When these updates started to come out a year and change ago (or longer?), there was a very short period of construction work going on inside the building and there were multiple WARNING/DANGER: ASBESTOS signs inside. I unfortunately also have no faith this will be completed within any reasonable time period, or at all
Wouldn’t you want to know you had a liquor license before you spent all this time and money renovating a completely derelict interior?
Sam,
This is likely the ownership group confirming that they will be able to have a liquor license prior to investing a ton of money on renovations, hiring and training staff, and provisioning. Anyone who has been in the restaurant biz knows that selling liquor is a large part of your profit in a generally small margin business.
I agree. this seems to be an extreme case of “cart before the horse”.
I am not aware of a design for the renovation, a construction permit to do the work, and certainly not a certificate of occupancy – If anyone knows of these boxes being checked, that would be welcome information.
If design, permit, construction contract award, are in place, maybe this opens in late 2024. If none of those are there, 2025 and beyond…
Well, could it be that the liquor license is the horse itself, and not the cart?
That is, perhaps the business model is such that if there wasn’t going to be license for whatever reason, then the renovations wouldn’t be supportable? Costs far less to get a license than to renovate a theatre ….
But I speculate
You’re correct, of course. If this place doesn’t have a liquor license, the project is dead.
I walked by the Metro a few weeks ago and could swear the “Space Available” sign was still there. But maybe it had been there so long that I just thought I saw it.
Won’t believe it until I see construction start
So true.
Now if only the Thalia was the Thalia
First date with my wife at The Thalia in October 1973. Last Tango. We’re still together. Must have been the flick.
I loved that place!! The double features were my respite.
I wonder if the magnificent art deco interior is still intact, or if rapacious contractors destroyed it?
Long gone 🙁
I recently peered inside when the door was open (they’ve been performing asbestos abatement), and it is thoroughly gutted.
Not the contractors, the own did it on his own, thinking he could convince urban outfitters to move in. But then Landmarks and the NIMBY’s got involved Remember they killed the last liquor lisc for Alamo . After threating to tie the project up with lawsuits Alamo went elsewhere.
The same “self-appointed” community leaders went to Landmarks and got them to rule that nothing could be attached and/or put in front of the facade.
Thats why Urban Outfitters gave on the location and opened across the street
The interior was gutted many, many years ago.
The interior was gutted around 18-20 years ago.
I’m hazy on details after all these years, but in the early 200Xs, new theater management were trying to turn the place into a destination arthouse theater. They may have been consolidated what had been an awkward duplex back into a single screen theater. They were showing as best I recall movies like The Motorcycle Diaries.
That didn’t work out, and they gave up. Not long after that the place was gutted. Never clear to me at the time whether the management took their toys and went home or if building owners were responsible for that.
I’ve been going to that theater since I was a kid, and it was disappointing when I found out that it had closed. I’m excited that it’s opening back up, but I won’t be convinced until it actually happens.
I walked past it in early spring. The front door was open. I peeked in, there was a man with the look of a contractor. He turned and smiled at me. It was not still gutted. Light was shining in from a back entrance and there was framing that had been done. Definitely work had been done.
That smiling person could have been me. There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. Do not give up hope. As a resident of the hood myself, I have a very personal interest in seeing this move forward. Fingers crossed
Please reopen. The city and local politicians should make this a priority.
This feels like the Second Avenue subway. Sure, it eventually came to fruition, but it took decades.
I don’t think that this will be ready anytime soon. To prevent Landmarking, the theater was gutted. That structurally damaged the building. They can rebuild all they want, and I hope they do. However, do not expect to see the same old Metro Theatre that we knew. Don’t even expect to see the Midtown. I did see a photo after the place was gutted and there is not a whole lot left of the original.
I’m so disappointed that the high points of UWS Life involves Smoke Shops and liquor licenses.