Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke Involved in Latest Metro Theater Revival Attempt

At 2626 Broadway between 99th and 100th streets, the once-glamorous Metro Theater has stood disused for years. Since it shuttered in 2005, repeated attempts to give it a new lease on life have failed. From dine-in movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse to budget gym Planet Fitness, not one of the takeover efforts has come to fruition.

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A well-connected team, led by film producer and passionate independent film advocate Ira Deutchman, has created an ambitious plan to reinvent the Metro Theater, IndieWire was first to report. Deutchman and co-founder Adeline Monzier formed an organization, The Upper West Side Cinema Center (UWSCC), to spearhead their vision to turn the Metro Theater into a not-for-profit institution.

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According to the UWSCC website, the proposed new five-screen art house will be “dedicated to screening art film releases…as well as classic films and special events. The facility will [also] include an Education and Community Center and a Lobby Lounge/Cafe open to the street and available for events.” The team is actively in talks to secure ownership from the estate of Albert Bialek.

The New Friends of Metro Theater (NFoMT), another organization dedicated to reviving the theater, announced their support for the project in a July 17 press release. The UWSCC advisory board also boasts some heavy hitters. The 20-person board includes director Martin Scorsese, actor Ethan Hawke, as well as actor and filmmaker John Turturro. Members also include prominent figures from the Woodstock Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and Landmark Theaters.

Ira Deutchman has long been a fierce advocate of independent cinema on the Upper West Side, which he says is underserved compared to downtown Manhattan. We actually spoke with Deutchman last year when he started plotting a five-screen cinema somewhere on the UWS; this was before he zeroed in on the Metro, as plans to revive it were already in the works.

The loss of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in 2018 was a particularly heavy blow to the UWS film scene. “People have forgotten these places even existed,” Deutchman remarked. “Remember that the Upper West was one of two real hotbeds of art film activity in NYC, the other being the Upper East Side, which is equally a cinema desert now. One could never have anticipated the decline in venues would have been so dramatic in such a short period.”

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Once open, Deutchman hopes the new Metro Theater will serve as an anchor destination for the film community and have a halo effect. “There are certain types of institutions that draw people from other neighborhoods. We’re living in this post-pandemic world where there’s a lot of retail space that is either underutilized or not utilized at all. Something like this could transform the neighborhood. Who doesn’t want more restaurants, more businesses, more street life, more pedestrian traffic to invigorate a neighborhood?” Deutchman asked.

Deutchman told ILTUWS that since the revival project has gone public, community support has been flowing in.

“There’s a hunger for this,” Deutchman said. “Even just the response that I’ve gotten since the story hit…people are saying, please, what can I do to help? It’s clear the neighborhood wants something like this.”

It’s still early days, but Deutchman expressed excitement for the momentum behind the project: “It’s been less than 24 hours since the news got out…but what I can say is that the immediate outpouring is making me optimistic.”

The Metro Theater has a colorful 90-year history, during which it transformed from a thriving cultural institution to empty real estate. It originally opened as the Midtown Theater in 1933, designed by American architectural firm Boak & Paris. It screened both first-run, foreign and art-house films through the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, including films by directors du jour Godard, Buñuel, and Polanski. It had a saucy stint screening porn films in the 1970s and early ’80s, but in 1982, it returned to screening repertory films under the lease of Dan Talbot.

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The theater facade received landmark status in 1989, and about ten years later, Cablevision (a parent company of Clearview Cinemas) took over, but the theater eventually closed in 2003. In 2004, it enjoyed a brief resurrection as the Embassy’s New Metro Twin but closed again in 2005.

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In 2006, the interiors were sadly gutted, removing the bulk of the original fixtures. Deutchman received a recommendation for architects Voith and Mactavish, who have special expertise in restoring and expanding existing cinema venues. While there’s “no way to recreate” the original design, the new design is inspired by the original architecture and will be a modern homage to the building’s splendor. The facade will be rejuvenated, Deutchman promised. “The facade is gorgeous and all it needs is a little buffing up. And the marquee is not in great shape. It’s going to require some structural work to get rid of those unsightly poles.”

As with all major renovation projects, the Metro Theater needs significant financial investment. “Contributions are coming in. That’s the really good news at the moment because that’s the biggest need– the resources to make this happen,” Deutchman told us. UWSCC is actively seeking support from donors big and small, with the tantalizing promise of naming rights for donors with deep pockets. All of the screening theaters’ names are up for grabs in exchange for million-dollar donations, as well as the marquee itself for a cool $500,000.

We asked Deutchman if there was anything extra he would like to share with the community about the project, and he reiterated the need for community support and funds. “The thing I can stress right now is that we need financial support. That’s really where we need to put our emphasis because having the resources is going to put us in a position where all this becomes possible. The theater, in its best possible version, is not only successful for the neighborhood but also successful as a laboratory for these types of institutions everywhere.”

“We’re still a media capital,” Deutchman said proudly. “We’re still the place that sets the trends and the tones for the rest of the country. And there’s been a severe lack of ability to do that sort of thing in New York, especially since Lincoln Plaza closed. People still crave these kinds of activities. We want to be that anchor, not just for the neighborhood, but for the entire art film business.”