Petition Started To Revive Long-Shuttered Metro Theater On UWS

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Storefront vacancy on the Upper West Side has been a long-growing issue in the community, and there may be no greater symbol of the neighborhood's vacancy blight than the shuttered Metro Theater.

The historic theater located on Broadway between 99th and 100th Streets has been closed since 2006, after it had remained open on the Upper West Side since its opening in 1933.

There have been a handful of efforts in the past 15 years to push the city to reopen the theater, most recently in 2018 when a GoFundMe campaign exceeded its $3,600 goal to help the arts establishment get back on its feet.

However, the creator of the fundraiser ended up returning the funds to donors after the costs needed to make an impact exceeded fundraising possibilities.

On Tuesday, a new effort was started in the hopes of reopening the Metro Theater. It is a petition launched on change.org calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to help reopen the historic venue.

ILoveTheUpperWestSide was the first to report on the new petition.

"This petition is to ask the Mayor (who has an ex-officio seat on the board of MoMA) to use the great powers of the Mayor’s Office to bring the Upper West Side’s Art Deco theater back in a beautiful way," writes the creator of the petition Jennifer Johnson. "We are a gifted and talented community. Let’s come together with our love of the arts and architecture to reimagine this gutted landmark as a beautiful gathering place for young and old in the 21st Century."

The owner of the building, Albert Bialek, told the West Side Rag in June 2020 that he was gearing up to do something "big" with the theater. However, nothing ever came out of the teasing quote.

You can check out the new petition here.