The show might finally go on for Manhattan’s Metro Theater.
After being put up for sale by the estate of its former owner, this uptown Art Deco gem, which sat vacant since 2005, is in the home stretch of being sold to the perfect buyer.
The Upper West Side Cinema Center, a 6-month-old nonprofit formed to revive the neighborhood’s indie film scene, signed an agreement earlier this month to purchase the 10,260-square-foot building at 2626 Broadway for $7 million cash. To seal the deal, the center just needs to raise another $4.5 million by Jan. 10, 2025.
“That’s the drop-dead date,” Ira Deutchman, who co-founded the center, told The Post.
It’s been a long story for the Metro Theater, which had screened movies since the 1930s.
Albert Bialek, a commercial real estate broker who bought it in the 1980s, tried to lease the space out after closing the business in 2005. Deal after deal fell through, however, with the wake of potential tenants including Planet Fitness, Urban Outfitters and Alamo Drafthouse.
“Bialek drove a hard bargain and a lot of prospective tenants walked away because they felt his [lease] terms were unrealistic,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who’s been invested in the saga since his first City Council term in 2014, told The Post. “It felt like every time, inches from the end zone, it fell apart.”
Bialek’s decisions to sell the air rights above the building and gut the interior likely made the space less desirable, Levine added. And while its treasured terracotta facade is landmarked, the designation restricts updates.
Bialek passed away in November 2023, and the theater’s future brightened when his estate chose to sell.
“To have a nonprofit arthouse is absolutely a dream come true,” Levine said of the buyer it attracted. “It’s better than I would have dared to hope.”
Deutchman and his cofounder, producer Adeline Monzier, started scouting for an indie film house site in 2018. They first heard of the Metro Theater in 2022 when the Alamo Drafthouse planned to lease it. When the space came up for sale, Deutchman called his pal, Alamo Drafthouse cofounder Tim League.
“Tim steered me to the right people and I just fell in love with the idea,” Deutchman said.
The center’s endeavor started off strong, securing a $100,000 down payment in the first 10 days, mainly from the community, and $2.5 million total since launching its fundraiser a month ago.
Deutchman said he’d rather the nonprofit avoid debt, but having officially formed in May, it lacks credentials for a bank loan anyway.
His team is optimistic, though. Influential Upper West Siders are hosting house parties to support the cause, and donors may feel generous in the holiday spirit, Deutchman said.
If and when the January deadline is met, the theater will still need a renovation to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Fortunately, it will likely receive substantial public funding from officials who hope to see it thrive again, Levine noted.
Deutchman said his new cinema will offer international films, documentaries and other genres typically seen in downtown theaters, plus festivals and education programs.
“We’re really strong believers that, as Roger Ebert once put it, movies are empathy machines,” Deutchman said. “To lock young kids into the idea that they can sit with other people and experience other cultures and travel the world, that’s what we hope to bring.”