The fight to keep the AMC Kips Bay movie theater open continued over the weekend, as elected officials and community groups rallied against the planned closure.<\/p>\n
Protesters gathered Sunday to call on NYU Langone to work with AMC to keep the theater open.<\/p>\n
\u201cSave our theater, save our theater,\u201d protesters chanted.<\/p>\n
The theater is the only major movie theater remaining on Manhattan\u2019s East Side, and residents say losing it would change the character of the Kips Bay neighborhood and hurt nearby businesses and restaurants.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur message is very clear to NYU Langone, you are responsible for what happens here and what the community wants is to save this movie theater,\u201d said Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who represents the area.<\/p>\n
One community protester said residents are concerned about NYU Langone\u2019s growing presence in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean NYU Langone already has pretty much all of First Avenue and I don’t want them to take over my neighborhood,\u201d the protester said.<\/p>\n
Another protester said NYU Langone could incorporate the theater into its plans for the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey could do a good job incorporating this theater, saving it, keeping as much as possible and let it be a win-win for everybody,\u201d the protester said.<\/p>\n
The theater is scheduled to close at the end of the year.<\/p>\n