The Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, an art house movie staple in NYC for 30 years, is at the end of its lease and is scheduled to close next month, Deadline is reporting.
Others are apparently exploring ways to step in to preserve the location as a movie theatre, but if the six-screen multiplex goes dark, it would be not be a good sign for the specialty film business.
It has been long operated by Dan Talbot, France’s Gaumont banner and the building owner Milstein Properties. But the space, in the basement of a residential building on the corner of Broadway and 62nd Street, has gotten a little scruffy and run-down over the years.
Still, the place draws solid crowds because of its location and the quality of films it shows due to Talbot and wife of 68 years, Toby’s taste. The Lincoln Plaza is just the latest stalwart hit by a confluence of forces, including the streaming boom and New York City gentrification. Landmark’s once high-flying Sunshine earlier this year said it would close to make way for a high-rise development.
The Talbots were regulars on the festival circuit and courted by filmmakers and distributors with commercial ambitions, they also maintained an old-fashioned love for cinema. Today said,
“We had the luxury of choosing films that we knew were not going to be successful commercially, and we could put them on our screens. We were able to do what we wanted to do.”
I guess not anymore. Aw, well they had a good run. Nothing lasts forever, especially in New York these days. (Photo, Wikimedia; via Deadline)
