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The Metro Theater in New York City has been purchased by the newly formed nonprofit Upper West Side Cinema Center for $6.9 million.
The purchase was supported by $3.5 million from Gov. Kathy Hochul and $500,000 from the New York State Legislature, along with additional money from private donors. Since the center faced a January deadline to close on property acquisition, the grant allowed them to extend the deadline and make the official purchase.
“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,” Hochul said in a statement. “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. Working with my friend Assembly member Lasher and Senator Hoylman-Sigal, we’re going to give Upper West Siders a new cultural institution that stands the test of time.”
Led by president and co-founder Ira Deutchman and Adeline Monsieur, the UWS Cinema Center was founded to restore the Metro Theater into a five-screen art house cinema, which will include screenings of classics, foreign films and first-run independent projects. This especially became important in the wake of the nearby Lincoln Plaza Cinema closing in 2018.
“The outpouring of support for this project has been astounding, considering it was a huge leap of faith to donate to something that was so speculative,” Deutchman said in a statement. “I’ve never been involved in anything that had such universal appeal.”
Following the purchase, the UWS Cinema Center will now work on raising the necessary funds to build the facility and restore the façade.
