Another piece of old New York is going the way of the subway token as Manhattan's last movie palace will soon make its final curtain call to make way for a ballroom, according to media reports.
The Ziegfeld Theater, the famous single-screen cinema on West 54th Street and 6th Avenue, will close its doors for good in the coming weeks after its owner did not renew the lease with the theater's operator, Cablevision.
With a seating capacity of 1,131 seats split between an orchestra section and a balcony in the rear, the Ziegfeld is the last of the large-capacity single-screen cinemas in New York City.
According to the New York Times, after major renovation, the theater will be transform into an event space that caters to galas and corporate functions called the Ziegfeld Ballroom.
Opened in 1969 replacing an original theater built in 1927 by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., the Broadway legend who produced the famed Ziegfeld Follies,the current Ziegfeld Theater has has been a popular venue for Hollywood film premieres and a favorite of local film buffs.
It is currently showing the latest movie in the Star Wars franchise four times a day.
