Ziegfeld Theater, iconic New York movie theater, to close in a few weeks

Ziegfeld Theater is expected to shut its doors in a few weeks.

The curtain is going down for good on New York’s iconic Ziegfeld Theater.

The massive Art Deco movie theater, which opened in 1969 and is now showing, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” is expected to shut its doors in just a few weeks.

The theater is expected to reopen in the fall of 2017 as the Ziegfeld Ballroom — a high-end event space for corporate events.

“There’s a full renovation that's going to occur,” said Allan Kurtz, managing director of Gotham Hall, the special events company that will be moving in.

“The timeline isn’t finalized yet.”

Kurtz, who once served as the managing director of Tavern on the Green, said he has a 20-year lease for the column-free space on W. 54th St.

The new Ziegfeld will pay homage to its history by keeping a large silver screen.

“We hope to do movie screenings,” Kurtz said.

In its current incarnation, the 1,131-seat theater is estimated to have been losing up to $1 million a year.

“There was not a profitable business there,” he said. “They were losing money, the economics no longer work as a single-screen movie theater.”

 

The movie palace is the largest single-screen cinema in New York and was home to hundreds of red carpet premieres.

Film fan Elizabeth Perez, 40, from Jersey City lamented, “No matter what it becomes, the ghosts will still there, the history will still be there”

Cablevision, the famed movie house’s leaseholder, said Wednesday that theater landlord Fisher Brothers had notified the company it would not be renewing its lease.

“The owners of the Ziegfeld Theatre notified us that they have a new tenant for the location and, therefore, we will be exiting our lease in the coming weeks to accommodate the new tenant,” Cablevision officials said in a statement.

Terms of the lease termination with Fisher Brothers were not disclosed.

Movie buffs were already mourning the loss Wednesday.

“This is really sad,” said Maggie Yee of Manhattan. “I saw the original ‘Star Wars’ here in 1977. Now I'll have to make a pilgrimage to see one last movie there.”