New York Daily News

Fade to black tie

Ziegfeld to be remade into luxe biz digs

- BYJOE DZIEMIANOW­ICZ and DON KAPLAN With Ethan Sacks

THE CURTAIN is going down for good on New York’s iconic Ziegfeld Theater.

The massive Art Deco movie theater on W. 54th St., which opened in 1969 and is now showing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” is expected to shut its doors in just a few weeks.

It’s the end of a double feature of sorts — the original Ziegfeld opened in 1927 down the street on Sixth Ave. and was torn down in 1966.

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 in Midtown.

The new Ziegfeld will pay homage to its history by keeping a large silveril 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 m movie theater.”

The movie palace is the largest single-screen cinema in New York and was home to hundr dreds of red carpe pet premieres.

Film fan Elizabe beth Perez, 40, of J Jersey Cit City, l 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.”

Rob Jones, 37, of Manhattan shared the sentiments.

“It’s a beautiful place to see a movie,” he said. “This is terrible.”

 ??  ?? The Ziegfeld Theater, which opened at 54th St. and Sixth Ave. in 1969, will serve its last popcorn and sodas (above) as the movie palace will shut down in a few weeks. Bottom, the original Ziegfeld opened in 1927 before being torn down in 1966.
The Ziegfeld Theater, which opened at 54th St. and Sixth Ave. in 1969, will serve its last popcorn and sodas (above) as the movie palace will shut down in a few weeks. Bottom, the original Ziegfeld opened in 1927 before being torn down in 1966.
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