Beloved Manhattan Diner Closes
Apr 5th, 2008 | By admin | Category: FashionLandlord George Papas, who owns the Skylight diner around the corner, said he plans to put up a nine-story commercial and residential building on the skinny parcel of land.But Papas said he’s talking to preservationists about trying to save the gleaming stainless steel-and-glass structure that has served as a backdrop for fashion spreads and is featured on Web sites for diner enthusiasts.”I don’t want to knock it down. I want to save the building,” Papas said Friday.Though somewhat down-at-the-heels, the Cheyenne still sports many features of a classic Paramount diner from the 1940s — a curved roof line, barrel ceiling and long counter with bolted down stools. Pictures of Indian heads decorate the walls, lending it the name.With cheap, basic eats like a $4.50 hamburger and $7.95 lumberjack breakfast — featuring two eggs, pancakes or French toast, and ham, bacon or sausage — the diner has been popular with tourists, cabbies, cops and other denizens of the grungy neighborhood around Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street.Jaime Soto, a 50-year-old deliveryman for Federal Express, said he eats there often, usually ordering a roast beef sandwich and a Pepsi.”They’re closing an institution, in my opinion,” he said over lunch this week, explaining how much he appreciated the friendly staff. “It’s not just the food. These people have become close to me.”A few booths down, college students Kelly Sitek and Maggie Mallery were dismayed to hear the news.Sitek, who makes a point of dressing like a 1950s-era “greaser” with bright red lipstick, a beehive hairdo, leather jacket and tight jeans, said she eats there every Sunday because “it looks like a 1950s diner.”"It’s a crime,” her friend chimed in. “It’s historical. They shouldn’t shut down.”When its pink neon sign is extinguished, the Cheyenne becomes at least the third diner in Manhattan that has folded in recent years.The Moondance Diner, not far from the Holland Tunnel, closed last year to make way for luxury condos, though the 1930s-era structure was moved to Wyoming.Another classic diner, the Munson, was hauled to the Catskills in 2005 after being displaced by a car dealership.
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