By Gus Saltonstall
The long-shuttered Metro Theater on the Upper West Side officially has a new owner.
On Sunday, a crowd gathered in front of the theater on Broadway between 99th and 100th streets, to celebrate the completion of a $6.9 million deal between the nonprofit, Upper West Side Cinema Center, and the Bialek estate, which is the former owner of the neighborhood theater.
The deal came together through a multitude of funding sources, including money raised by the nonprofit, a $3.5 million grant from Gov. Kathy Hochul as requested by recently elected Assemblymember Micah Lasher, who is the governor’s former director of policy, and $500,000 from State Senate funding secured by Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
The grant from the governor’s office allowed the Upper West Side Cinema Center to extend a previously agreed upon deal made last fall to complete the purchase of the building by January 2025, and then subsequently also close the deal.
The Metro Theater has been shuttered for 20 years.
Since it closed in 2005, it was to have become a dine-in theater, then a fitness center, then an upscale dine-in theater again, with the last plan falling apart in April of 2024, after Albert Bialek, the theater’s owner died in 2023.
“For far too long, the beloved Metro Theater has sat empty — waiting for leaders with the courage and conviction to bring it back to life,” Gov. Hochul said in a news release. “The Upper West Side community deserves another world-class venue for cinema and art, and that’s why I was proud to step in and allocate $3.5 million to make the new Metro Theater a reality.”
While the long-dormant Upper West Side building has a new owner, this does not mean that it is going to open tomorrow.
The nonprofit will now look to raise an additional $15 to $25 million to fully construct a new interior and completely clean both the inside and facade of the building.
Here’s how the Upper West Side Cinema Center, which is led by Ira Deutchman, a film producer, and Adeline Monzier, describes its vision for the building.
“We now embark on the next chapter of our story: transforming this architectural gem into a vibrant five-screen cinema arts and education center with a welcoming community bistro,” reads the Upper West Side Cinema Center’s website.
A new name has not yet been chosen for the theater.
Also in attendance on Sunday, along with Lasher and Hoylman-Sigal, were Upper West Side Councilmembers Shaun Abreu and Gale Brewer, along with Rep. Jerry Nadler.
“The Metro was the movie theater of my youth, but for twenty years it has epitomized the loss of treasured places and institutions in our neighborhood,” Lasher said in a news release. “After a decade of false starts, we are now on a path to create an extraordinary cultural destination in the heart of the Upper West Side, turning blight into brightness.”
You can find out more about the ongoing plans for the theater — HERE.
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Your tax dollars at work?
I’m thrilled. If you took a few minutes to think about the history of the entire world, just what is it that mankind leaves behind? Art and architecture, and the architecture has to strain to remain. Somewhere in the world at every single moment someone is performing or reading the works of William Shakespeare, but call me when anyone remembers who was Mayor of Stratford Upon Avon in the 1500s. “Anyone? Anyone?” Let’s hope film is forever. Not much else can claim to remain.
Who can forget the achievements of Mayor Thomas Barber in 1585? He established the first Renaissance Fair, or as they called it at the time, the Current Day Fair. He also set up the first congestion pricing scheme: if your sinuses were congested you had to pay a fee.
P.S. “John Shakespeare-William’s father was one of the noted Bailiffs (their name for Mayor at the time)…..thank you Google
Sam-Kudos-Glad you pointed out the importance of the Arts in our lives. For those of you out there who feel we don’t need the arts-try to imagine a colorless world everything bland and unimaginative-no TV, no theater, no movies, no internet,…….? no Tik Tok! …. every wall in every building painted off-white…for that matter all buildings looking like the designs of 1950’s Russian housing projects. No more Central Park- no more parks at all- for that matter. And you won’t have to complain about the cost of a donation at the Met because it won’t exist. Let’s just eliminate all design and creativity….and while we’re at it lets eliminate imagination…….which would probably include this post……you get the idea……
Where do you suppose tax dollars should go?
Hudson Yards and the like?
Wars of choice?
Tax cuts (so the reversal of tax dollars) to the already very well to do?
Public healthcare? Housing? It’s so hard to decide.
No, more money for Elon + 1960s rockets and exploding cobalt infused batteries. /s
That’s Hochul’s M.O. Always someone else’s money.
I say, thank you very much Governor Hochul. I don’t agree with everything you do, but this makes a wonderful difference. We need entertainment more than ever these stressful days.
Money has no owners, only spenders. The question is, what to spend it on.
What you call “someone else’s money”, invented, built and then nurtured the internet for 2 decades before it became part of everyday life.
No internet for you.
It is an investment in our neighborhood. I expect they will follow the Jacob Burns model up in Pleasantville, which still brings people from all over to see the films they show, which I’m sure all the local restaurants and other commercial venues appreciate.
Jacob Burns Ctr is one of the model art houses for the UWS Cinema Center plan… Also the Coolidge Ctr In Brookline, Mass, and many other successful art houses. And you’re absolutely right that we hope the UWS Cinema wi become a destination for art/culture that reinvigorstes the neighborhood by attracting more businesses to fill the empty storefronts. It’s because of this goal–to revitalize the neighborhood (as well as the arts) –that the plan is so vigorously endorsed by our electeds, including Gov Hochul, State Assemblyman Lasher, State Senator Hoylman-Sigal, and Councilman Abreu.
Many thanks, Micah Lasher et al.!
A new name for the theater? How about the Metro Theater?
Or maybe the New Metro Theater.
Great! Now let’s get to work bringing back Lincoln Plaza.
there is NEW PLAZA CINEMA which grew out of lincoln plaza cinema when it closed. 35 w. 67th st. great movies , some first run. check it out!
the new Plaza Cinema is in an insalubrious location.
Additional $15 – 25 mil needed. Ain’t going to be easy in this environment.
The interior was beautiful. I hope they restore, rather than renovate. It was a little gem.
There’s nothing inside to renovate. It is four walls, floor and ceiling. But it is structurally sound, according to engineers. The center will def be designed to invoke its original art deco history, and facade will be preserved. uwscinema.org
The interior is an empty cinderblock box.
Sadly, the interior is no more. Destroyed by flooding and other man made follies. Only thing left is the exterior.
And that gorgeous exterior was graffitied below the stunning medallion several years ago, yet another indignity for the structure. Please tell me that removing the vandalism is part of the plan!
Yes. Graffiti will be removed. All in good time and according to preservation guidelines.
Fingers crossed this is the time it makes it across the finish line.
Like it or not, but movie theaters are a dying business. It’s not a great use of $3.5M of public funds to buy a theater for an organization that has to turn around and raise millions more just to work on the building.
Wrong, movies are not a dying business–esp in the indie world. Arthouses around the country are enjoying a renaissance since covid–and owning the property makes it that much easier to thrive.
They’re not all dying, NPR reports.
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/04/nx-s1-5349621/cinemacon-movie-theaters-concessions
Success requires figuring out what your community needs/wants in addition to movies, and providing that for additional income streams; could be comedy, meet-ups, CourseHorse-type classes, baby-friendly screenings for new parents, extra venue for music/dance performances, family reunions, corporate retreats, etc. I think they’d also want to not compete directly with Symphony Space, but I think they have a decent shot if they think creatively.
I checked out the website. They intend to have art films, festival and repertory bookings, and some new releases. It’s not trying to compete with AMC. I think there’s a lot of potential for people like myself who want to see international, rare, or older movies that aren’t easily available. The location is also very convenient for those of us further north on the UWS, plus it’s pretty close to Columbia.
My last movie outing was a Cary Grant movie at the Village East, which can be a trek from here. I’d love to be able to see films like that within walking distance.
They had to shake down taxpayers for $3.5 million, BEFORE they could begin to raise $15-20 million for renovations.
Seriously, if they couldn’t empty the couch cushions for $3.5M, how are they going to raise $15-20M?
Has no one heard of watching old films AT HOME, over the INTERNET?
It’s a thing now, I hear.
There were many actors and producers who did not want to donate when it was an uncertain deal. Now that it is final, people will donate.
I watch lots of movies at home. I have a Criterion Collection subscription. There are also lots of movies that are not available on streaming services, plus there are movies that are more enjoyable in a theater. Forgive me for being excited for an option to do so in my neighborhood.
The state should have bought the whole building with that money years ago and torn it down and spared us two decades plus of blight. With many more to go apparently.
So it is going to be a theater with 5 movie screens and presumably 5 auditoriums and a bistro. I guess they will be able to roll up the screens and put anything on the stage. It does not sound like the kind of place that will have to make a profit to continue. Well good luck.
It’s going to need a continuous inflow of donations to keep it open. If it were a good location for a multiplex then one would have opened there a long time ago.
My donations will be in the form of ticket admissions and refreshment purchases.
On a related topic….why did Milstein Properties get rid of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and kept the space vacant all these years?
Am really grateful to the non-profit New Plaza Cinema which was created.
Still – don’t understand why the landlord benefits from vacant space.
I know!! I loved it, and the sign is still up and nothing has happened.
To WSR:
Could WSR research story of why Lincoln Plaza Cinemas space remains empty?
It’s criminal what they did.
$3.5m grant from the governor sounds like pandering to UWS residents for votes while that money could have been used for other urgent need or projects (schools, healthcare, housing/homeless aid, or any number of causes that require govt assistance operate). Then they need another $20m on top? What are the revenue expectations for this center?
Some quick rough math – $20/ticket x 10,000 tix sold per month (approx 335 tix per day strikes me as extremely generous as an assumption) = $200k revenue per month or $2.4m per year. So to renovate they are spending 10x revenue. If operating costs are say 90% of that (need full time employees, benefits, electric bills, marketing costs, content acquisition costs, etc), which is consistent with AMC Theater EBITDA margins, thats $240k/yr of approx cash before interest/debt repayment. Sounds like much of the cash being raised is mortgage debt to buy the space so that will easily eat up the $240k, which is likely why they needed all these grants to effectively make the state invest equity capital in a neighborhood pet project with no economics for the govt.
Sorry folks but this project is doomed to fail, even if they get the mortgage financing to buy/renovate. This is why government officials should not be involved in this nonsense. The $3.5m could have been used to serve the needy citizens of this city instead.
Same as above – it’s called priming the pump to help bring more vibrancy to our neighborhood. If you think it won’t work, why has Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville been going strong for 15 years now?
When the government gets involved in “priming the pump” it always leads to waste, corruption and a lack of accountability.
Imagine if a GOP governor set aside $3.5m for a shooting range for NY gun owners. Is that a legitimate use of state funds to restore a dilapidated space?
Just because I am democrat doesnt mean I endorse corruption when my guys are the ones doing it
Extraordinary amount of negativity for the most significant piece of positive news on the UWS in years. Don’t want to go to the movies? Fine, stay at home on your couch. Some of us actually leave the apartment in the evenings to see film, concerts, live theater, go to restaurants, bars, etc. It’s why we live in a city like New York. Congratulations, UWS Cinema Center. I, and so many others are thrilled at this news.
Well, the governor has just made everyone across the whole state pay $3.5M for a fraction of a movie theater that needs another $20M to renovate. So it’s not unfair for folks to have a POV on this.
You’re upset about 17 cents of your tax dollars going toward a community theater?
Yes, absolutely. Especially when there are legitimate uses for the money. Its this type of thinking that continues to plague our party and emboldens these DOGE idiots
It went toward buying an old abandoned building that’s not anywhere close to being a community theater and may never be.
Make no sense. Different owner, same funding problem. Who on earth is going to donate another 15-20 million on this project?!
Plenty of people. I’m one of them.
I go to a lot of museums. There are donor names all over the museum hallways and specific exhibits. Some are names of famous people and companies/organizations I know. Orhers I never heard of.
Personally, I think a $3.5 million government grant is a modest and wise investment in the community. The empty space has been a blight in the neighborhood for too long. The art deco exterior, when restored and preserved, will beautify and add character and charm to the neighborhood. Restaurants and shops in the area should benefit. And, other businesses may be attracted to the area, as well. Yes, it may be challenging, but it’s definitely a risk thats worth taking.
Once home to more than a dozen theaters, the UWS has not had a decent movie theater in decades.
I welcome this.
Now let’s bring back the Thallia!
The Thalia (L. Nimoy theatre now) has fantastic concerts. No, they’re not movies, but they bring in good audiences, and the entire Symphony Space adventure has a positive vibe.
Its a good model for the Metro theatre…some small-size live music, as well as movies.
Yeah, I just want to go to the movies.
Watching at home will never compete.
The UWS doesn’t need more taxpayer funded theaters that will probably go bust. Theater attendance continues to decline compared to alternative sources of entertainment. People want the theatrical experience, but they’re building those theaters at home.
I just want to go to the movies.
If people who prefer to staying home would realize that they can stay home much cheaper in places other than Manhattan, there wouldn’t be such a housing shortage.
You obviously haven’t been out recently, Boris.
I’m probably out more than most people but primarily for live entertainment experiences in theater, music, and dance that I can’t get at home. Movie theaters are competing with technology. Just look at the sales figures for TVs larger than 85″ which have exploded. The rate of cord cutting and selective streaming tells a lot, too.
This is great news. I hope they raise the money and renovate quickly.
Content aside, this is really clean, rigorous news writing.
Thank you mom.
Happy for this news, but after so many false starts, it’s hard not to think about Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown….
Whatever entertainment the powers-that-be decide will go into this theater space, I hope there’s room for live music.
I read a lot of critic in the comments, and while indeed nothing is perfect, and I wish the plans were better funded by now, I am delighted to know that this shuttered building now has a chance to resurrect itself – in one way or another – while still being an the direction of arts and culture, rather than, say, another bank or luxury apartment building. The way one uses movie theaters has changed over time, but it can still offer old movies, new screenings of better-seen-on-large-screen movies, and perhaps opportunities for drama and theater classes for youth and once-were-youth persons in the neighborhood and beyond. It is hard to overdose on art.
That’s so awesome I used to go their with my grandparents in the 60s to watch Spanish speaking movies