Filmmaker Creates Tribute To Closing Lincoln Plaza Cinemas

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Upper West Side's Lincoln Plaza Cinemas is set to close by the end of the month, and its long-time customers aren't happy.

Filmmaker Christopher Ming Ryan recently took his camera to the iconic art house theater to get reactions and thought on the theater's imminent closing. Those he asked lamented about the lack of original movie theaters and mourned the loss of a place that felt like home.

"I'm not taking the news of the imminent demise of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas well. I know I am not alone. For over 30 years, this movie theater has been the Upper West Side neighborhood place to see quality films in a friendly warm environment," Ryan wrote to described his tribute to Lincoln Plaza.

The theater's operators, married couple Dan and Toby Talbot, were unable to negotiate a lease extension with longtime landlord Milstein Properties. The Talbots opened the six-screen theater in 1981 on Broadway between West 62nd and 63rd streets and served as tastemakers of the New York City film scene.

A petition to save Lincoln Plaza Cinemas has garnered more than 11,000 signatures as of this writing.

Watch the tribute below:

Photo by Google Maps street view