Being boarded up for months and months doesn't mean gone and forgotten: It turns out that old-school Hell's Kitchen culinary refuge, the Munson Diner, was headed up to the Catskills, where developers there wanted a "retro and classy" diner for the town of Liberty. The Volvo dealership that bought the Munson Diner plot at West 49th Street and 11th Avenue (so it could expand its showroom) decided to sell the diner and move the diner for $250,000 even though it was a "losing" financial proposition. Even though Gothamist wants to "hrmphh!", Volvo did do the right thing, or else there would be preservationists picketing them; now the preservationists - and others - are thrilled that this piece of NYC history will still be alive.

WhatISee has some nice photos of construction workers preparing the diner for the move. Gothamist can't wait for photobloggers in the Catskills to blog its arrival. And here's Forgotten NY's page about NYC diners.

Photograph by WhatISee