By Gus Saltonstall
On Monday night, more than two inches of rain fell in a single hour in Central Park, which made it the second wettest 60 minutes ever recorded in the five boroughs.
With all that rain, there was flooding across New York City and New Jersey, including at the Upper West Side’s largest movie theater.
Videos surfaced Monday night of water pouring out of the ceiling at the AMC Lincoln Square theater at 1998 Broadway, between 67th and 68th streets.
@thekarlajoan We come to this place for magic. We come to AMC theaters to laugh, to cry, to care…because we need that. #amctheaters #lincolnsquare ♬ Jet2 Advert – ✈️A7-BBH | MAN 🇬🇧
The theater was temporarily closed Monday evening and Tuesday morning, according to multiple reports, but reopened by midday Tuesday.
“We apologize for the inconvenience, but this theatre is temporarily closed for unforeseen maintenance,” read a message on the theater’s website that has since been removed, as first reported by PIX11.
AMC did not immediately respond to West Side Rag’s request for comment, but a spokesperson for the theater told Variety that the heavy rain caused damage to a roof pipe, leading to a “significant amount of water” entering the lower levels of the Upper West Side building.
“Impacted auditoriums and other affected areas of the theatre will remain closed as remediation work is underway,” AMC added in a statement on Tuesday morning to Variety. “Refunds will be issued automatically for tickets purchased to affected showtimes.”
It is unclear how long the affected theaters will remain closed, but we will update this story when and if we hear back from AMC. The Imax auditorium, which contains one of the largest Imax screens in the world, was not damaged, according to multiple reports, including The Hollywood Reporter.
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Guess no one checked the roof drains.
Oh please stop with the pointless snark! We had an apartment that flooded the one day of the year they drained the water tower for cleaning several floors above. A very controlled and supervised event that went out of control. You never know what incident will cause a pipe or joint to crack after a few decades, or what wall it will be behind, or where exactly the water will go when it does. The theater is at the base of a huge building with a complex roof (running track/ apartments, multiple levels, etc) Yes building mgt can check drains, but if something gives way behind a wall, under pressure of a lot of water, gravity wins. In our building , multiple apartments and connected hallway walls were affected – and that was a limited amount of water. The storm may not have been Ida, but there was tremendous amount of water at its height from an unusual direction (north and west). Not a usual stress on any a building system, i just hope the flood remediation/re-ventilation is 100% successful. Everything to avoid mildew/mold in a space like that.
You had an apartment that flooded because of incompetents draining a roof tank. You do know that those tanks should be cleaned annually, meaning the drains would be checked before hand by competent maintenance types?
You’ve made my point: It’s unlikely that AMC and building maintenance were doing basic checks of roof drains.
These theatres are not at the base of a tall tower, the are in part of the building with a roof largely only 1 or 2 floors above the theatres.
Or…the roof drains were fine, but not designed to handle this event. When the sky suddenly drops this much water, this quickly, things like this can happen. For example, there were six inches of water in our lobby on Monday evening. It rushed in right off the street. The drains outside are in good shape. They worked as designed. The system was simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water. Strange times.
Given that Ida didn’t cause the theatres to flood, I have to suspect that building management and AMC management just didn’t check.
Well, did the theatres flood after Ida? That was a lot more rain in an hour. I don’t remember reading anything about it.
Also, there are tens of thousands of flat roofed buildings in NYC, I’ve not seen reports of significant roof drain failures. They probably happened, but haven’t been reported, unlike with a very public movieplex. I admit I’m guessing that AMC and building services weren’t on it. It’s not like very heavy rain wasn’t predicted. They’re probably now blaming each other.
Side effects from the government and private corporations testing out weather altering tech.
Huh? I assume you’re talking about the subsidies the government gives to oil companies, yes?
LOL!
“Not”
Maybe this theater is better off closed.
Ever since the pandemic the theater has been run down.
And movies are not that great anymore they could see. 👎🤮
I totally disagree. If you live cinemas as it is meant to be experienced, a movie theater is where you can immerse yourself in the medium. AMC is clean and well maintained. Staff are warm and welcoming. It’s a neighborhood gem.
Agreed!
Movies are the worst then ever before, Not like it was 10/15 years ago even longer… Fake digital’s , “B” movie revivals, just tons of them. Just like Broadway,, no creativity, no more big productions all past hit ‘low budget’ revival’s and way too expensive.
Small tight crampy seating too .
They’ve installed really roomy and comfy seats and we’ve seen several amazing filns there of late. This flooding does worry me – seems like they might have reopened too soon. You need these things to really dry out as to mitigate mold.
Seeing SINNERS there in IMAX was one of my best moviegoing experiences of this decade. You’re missing out.
Since the pandemic, new roomy cushioned seats have been installed in a number of the theaters. The Dolby Theater has cushioned recliners and a wrap around LED screen as you enter. The snack bar offers a larger variety of food and drinks. Would not exactly classify that as “run down”.
For what it is worth, our family regularly see movies there.
We are very appreciative that it is there.
We did not think it was run down (unfortunately not fans of the new seats)
And the staff are very kind.
Interesting–because that looks like the IMAX level getting swamped! But I don’t know the rest of that theater so well.
(Hopefully it washed away the creeper with everything else?)
Has anyone seen “the creeper” since your WSR expose?
Since they ditched $5 Tuesdays they are getting what they deserve. AMC has killed the joy of movies on the big screen and deserves to drown.
The price of Tuesday tickets has steadily increased and is up to $8 now. Still quite a discount.
But why wish the demise of something that others enjoy?
Plus going to the movies is a “shared” experience.
AMC Stubs members get 50% off on Tuesdays AND Wednesdays. $5 rewards earned with accumulation of points. Worth it!
I am a Stubs member and the benefits are indeed terrific!
This theater needs renovation.
You definitely haven’t been there in a long time.
Maybe it was a promo for a new disaster movie? “Hurricane! From the folks who brought you The Poseidon Adventure” …
😀