Metro Theater (New York City)

Although the theater's interior was demolished after it was closed in 2005, the original facade remains intact and is a New York City designated landmark.[2] The theater's facade uses rose-colored and black terracotta, an inexpensive decorative element at the time of the Metro's construction, when funding was scarce.The outermost portion of the ground story contains aluminum doors with vertical grooves, flanked by horizontal gray and black bands.[15] The central part of the upper facade is demarcated by black pilasters with maroon borders on either side, which protrude from the wall and curve above the roofline.[10][16][17] The medallion has a lavender background and a horizontal yellow band with two off-white or beige figures, which appear to be holding blue and gray masks.[5] The proscenium arch, at the front of the theater, was flanked by niches containing statues of nude women holding glowing dishes.[22] As such, most of New York City's Art Deco-style theaters, built during this time period, were small-scale cinemas serving local neighborhoods.[9] Just prior to the construction of what became the Midtown Theater, the site at 2624–2626 Broadway was occupied by a seven-story apartment building, which the Welton estate sold to Irving I. Lewine in November 1930.[27] The A. C. and H. M. Hall Realty Company bought the vacant apartment building in June 1931, with plans to replace it with a two-story commercial structure.[6] Brohall Realty, led by Arlington C. Hall, leased the theater to Lee A. Ochs of Midway Theatre Inc. for 21 years beginning in March 1933, with annual rent that would gradually increase from $17,500 to $22,500.[15] Crain's New York magazine wrote that the Midtown "showed Marx Brothers comedies and romances starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn" at the peak of its popularity.[43] At the time, the stretch of Broadway between 96th and 110th Streets had experienced significant social decline and contained numerous single room occupancy buildings.[46] Dan Talbot, an operator of multiple cinemas on the Upper West Side, acquired the Midtown Theater in August 1982[47] and stopped showing porn movies there.[52] After the renovation, Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote: "The seats are comfortable and the long, comparatively narrow auditorium is such that I don't think it will ever be possible for anyone to 'twin it'" (i.e. convert the Metro into a two-screen theater).[59] Talbot received hundreds of letters criticizing the first-run format[55] and, after six months, changed the Metro back to a repertory theater.[55][60] Despite the increasing prevalence of videocassette recorders in the 1980s, Talbot was optimistic that "something like video ultimately isn't going to deter people from going to places like the Metro".The Metro's lease was not set to expire for 75 years, amid concerns that movie theaters along Broadway could be replaced with new development.[64] Cineplex Odeon failed to apply for an operating license for the Metro, leading city officials to close it temporarily in May 1989.[7] Under Cineplex Odeon's operation, the Metro Twin sold cheaper tickets than comparable New York City cinemas that also screened first-run films.[5] During late 2004, local residents protested the closure so vehemently that Gristedes CEO John Catsimatidis printed leaflets denying his company's involvement in the theater.[73] Elson renovated the theater for $240,000 and reopened it in November 2004 as the Embassy's New Metro Twin, showing indie and foreign films there.[73] The change in format failed to attract patrons, even though the theater had lower ticket and concession prices than comparable cinemas showing mainstream films.[14] Additionally, the facade could not be modified because of landmark regulations, and the structure's protruding marquee created a large shadow that deterred potential tenants.[81] After Albert Bialek took over the theater building in January 2011, he wished to lease the Metro to a single tenant to "maintain [its] integrity".[86] Alamo Drafthouse planned to renovate the facade and convert the interior into a five-screen multiplex with a kitchen to serve dinners to patrons.[89] Some construction work had taken place by early 2013,[90] and local blog West Side Rag had interviewed Alamo Drafthouse's CEO in advance of the planned conversion.[74] Alamo Drafthouse canceled its plans to renovate the Metro Theater in October 2013, citing high costs and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York;[91][92] they instead opened a location in Downtown Brooklyn.[109] Ira Deutchman and Adeline Monzier established the Upper West Side Cinema Center in July 2024 in an attempt to buy the Metro Theater.[112] In November 2024, the Upper West Side Cinema Center agreed to buy the theater from the Bialek family for $7 million.