Landmark Conversion:The West Side's Metro TheaterTo Become Urban Outfitters

Though the space has been depressingly empty for a while, The New York Times' City Room reports that the former Metro movie palace on Broadway between 99^th and 100^th streets will soon be converted to an Urban Outfitters branch with a 20-year lease.
The Metro was most recently returned to its cinematic roots, but it was not successful as a single screen movie house, and closed in 2005, and, sadly, its fabled Art Deco interior was stripped, and the space has remained gutted ever since, awaiting its next tenant.
Landmark status still protects the outside, however, and while there are bound to be plenty of people bemoaning the appearance of yet another chain store, it's worth mentioning that not many new retail leases are being signed at the moment, and the upcoming store stands to take advantage of a substantial potential customer base from nearby Columbia University. Frankly, one could have done worse with an unusual, long empty space.
Hopefully, the new tenancy will accelerate some much needed restoration of the Metro's façade, including the marquee, whose ceiling is disintegrating in spots. (The Metro is only a stone's throw from The Shophound HQ, and we have been wondering what was to become of it as we now frequently pass it on our travels.)
This would not be the first Deco-era theater in the city that Urban Outfitters has repurposed. The former Guild Theater in Rockefeller Center is now home to an Anthropologie, its sister store.
From Metro Theater to Urban Outfitters (City Room)