Kips Bay Plaza Bank Announces Closure As NYU Langone AMC Deal Remains Murky

Another Kips Bay Plaza business has confirmed it will be vacating the space this year as backlash against potential NYU Langone development mounts. The Bank of America, located at 560 2nd Ave., will be closing on October 15.

The bank is the only remaining business in the Kips Bay Plaza besides the AMC and Fairway Market. In a message posted on its door, the bank announced it would be relocating to 300 E. 23rd St.

It is currently unknown whether the Fairway Market on the corner of the plaza will also be closing. However, in 2012, the grocery store began a 20-year lease in the location with renewal options to extend to 2052, according to the St. Vartan Park Conservancy Newsletter.

The update comes days after the news of the Kips Bay AMC 15’s closure broke. Assemblymember Keith Powers later confirmed that NYU Langone has owned the “site” of the AMC for over a year.

Powers, along with six other local officials, sent a letter to the health system requesting a conversation and further details on the deal, which has only gotten increasingly murky.

“We were disappointed to learn that this acquisition took place without any notification of, or engagement with, local elected officials or residents,” the statement reads.

Despite allegedly occurring over a year ago, the deal has yet to appear in city records. Instead, city records still list the owner of the building and lot as Kips Bay Development Limited Partnership. This entity obtained ownership of the lot, which spans from 30th to 32nd Streets on 2nd Avenue, in 1997.

It is unclear exactly what NYU Langone owns. In an empty storefront in the plaza, a for-lease sign is posted in the window, suggesting the agency, Colliers, is still leasing out the nearby retail space. The Colliers salesperson and brokers listed in the sign did not respond to an attempt to reach them.

The sign advertises “expansive space” and “expansive possibilities.” It also states “retail space available for lease.”

It is also unknown how much NYU Langone paid for the “site.” A previous issue of the St. Vartan Park Conservancy Newsletter dug into AMC Entertainment’s SEC files and found that AMC received $13 million in 2023 from an undisclosed landlord who was seeking the right to terminate the lease of one theater early.

While it is unclear whether it is the same theater, much of the language lines up with the statement from AMC confirming the Kips Bay location’s closure.

According to a statement provided to Variety, the decision came “following the property owner’s decision to exercise its contractual right to terminate the theatre’s lease before its scheduled expiration.”

However, signage in the windowfront of the AMC from the New York State Liquor Authority shows that the theater applied for a liquor license in May 2025. Given that liquor licenses last two years, it raises doubt about whether the theater was aware of a buyout deal at this point.

The AMC is scheduled to close by the end of the year. Earlier this year, a TD Bank also closed. NYU Langone did not respond to Straus News’ multiple requests for clarification.

Petitions and a resident-led campaign, Save Kips Bay, have sprung up condemning a potential new development and arguing to save the plaza.

“Kips Bay needs restaurants, stores, entertainment and places for residents to actually enjoy their neighborhood, not block after block of institutional medical space,” Save Kips Bay’s website reads.