Manhattan’s East Side loses another movie theater to development

Months after news broke that the Kips Bay AMC will shutter at year’s end, another East Side movie theater announced it has projected its last film.

Cinema 123 by Angelika closed on Oct. 30 after more than 60 years of business near the Queensboro Bridge on East 60th Street.

“As our final credits roll, we thank you for being part of our story,” the theater wrote in a social media farewell post with vintage photos of its 1976 marquee and line for “Rocky” and a 1986 photo that includes its former neighbor, the classic consumer electronics chain Crazy Eddie.

Cinema 123’s building was sold by owner Reading International to developer Roger Equities for $41 million in a deal that, according to public record, closed on the same day of the theater’s announcement.

Roger Equities currently plans to redevelop the approximately 8,000-square-foot, 1001 3rd Av. lot – located between East 59th and East 60th streets, and across from Bloomingdale’s flagship – into multifamily rental housing, the Commercial Observer reported .

A change of property ownership also caused the expected closure of the AMC Kips Bay 15, which was purchased by NYU Langone and is likely to be developed into a medical facility. That plan has prompted pushback from local elected officials who are seeking to preserve the theater.

Cinema 123’s sister locations, Angelika Film Center & Cafe on W. Houston St and Village East by Angelika on 2nd Ave. in the East Village remain open.

When Cinema 123 opened in 1962, it was the nation’s first ever twin-screen cinema. Following its initial success, it added a third screen in the 1980s. In more recent years it was beloved for still offering 70-millimeter film screenings.

Cinema 123’s closure will leave the AMC Orpheum 7 as the Upper East Side’s last remaining movie theater.