AMC Empire 25
10am-12am Everyday
Now an AMC movie theater, this building was born in 1912 as the Eltinge 42nd Street Theater, named for the highly acclaimed actor of the time, Julian Eltinge. When hard times hit during the Depression, the theater entered the salacious world of burlesque and ultimately the perhaps tawdrier world of cinema. In 1954, the theater was renamed Empire Theatre, giving it recognition once again. Due to the decline of the area, the theater continued to face opposition as a “second-run movie house,” and was ultimately closed in the 1980s. Because of its New York City Landmark status, however, when real estate mogul Bruce Ratner began implementing his plans for a large redevelopment project in 1998, he was essentially forced to move the building, in tact, seventy feet to the west. Today, the elaborate Egyptian decor remains inside a mega cinema complex with almost 5,000 seats.
