This drama is reaching its climax.
NYU Langone is defiantly refusing to back down when it comes to taking over the Kips Bay AMC site to expand its medical empire, even as Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal is vowing to block the plan.
The healthcare behemoth argued to The Post that the soon-to-be-shuttered cinema had already been considering dropping the curtain on itself years before NYU Langone set its sights on the property.
NYU Langone also claimed that the consortium of owners of the Second Avenue property in Manhattan sought out the medical university to take over the site.
“As we have said, the owner of the Second Avenue property originally approached us regarding a potential sale, and we recognized that the site’s proximity to our hospital could help support these long-term community healthcare needs,” said Steve Ritea of NYU Langone Health.
“Years before our involvement, AMC expressed interest in leaving,” Ritea said. “They worked with the landlord to reach an agreement that substantially reduced AMC’s rent in exchange for a mutual right for either party to terminate at any time, reflecting the flexibility that both the landlord and AMC wanted going forward.”
AMC did not respond to a request for comment, while representatives for the property landlord refused to answer questions by The Post.
The healthcare giant’s purchase of the site remains under contract and is not expected to close until early next year, but it is on track to be completed — with both NYU and the seller contractually obligated to see the deal through.
Yet neither the imminent deal nor AMC’s apparent desire to vacate has stopped local elected officials and the community from desperately trying to save the iconic movie site.
Earlier this week, Hoylman-Sigal pledged to try to block any prospective rezoning of the location if its plans didn’t include a “cinema.”
He argued that the property is governed by an outdated zoning district established in 1961 — which he notes is the same year the film classic “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was released — that no longer reflects the neighborhood’s needs.
“Updating the zoning at this location could facilitate a higher-density mixed-use development that includes medical offices, affordable housing, a grocery store and a movie theater,” Hoylman-Sigal said.
“In the event of any rezoning changes sought by NYU Langone Health at 570 Second Avenue, I will fight for a new cinema and affordable grocery store by predicating my approval of a land use application on the inclusion of these two important neighborhood institutions,” the pol said.
“The residents of Kips Bay deserve a say in the future of their neighborhood, and it’s essential that a movie theater and supermarket be part of it.”
Other politicians had been demanding that NYU Langone keep an open dialogue with the community on the deal after engaging in what they claimed was a secretive property sale.
Thousands of locals also have signed onto a petition to save the theater, with organizers claiming the block doesn’t need another “institutional medical space.”
There are dozens of other movie theaters on Manhattan, including two AMCs within a mile radius, but movie lovers argue the Kips Bay location is the only one that supports IMAX.
The 570 Second Ave. address has been a cinema since 1962, when the Kips Bay Theater first raised its curtains, according to the St. Vartan Park Conservancy Newsletter.
