New NY State License Plate Revealed—And Required On All Cars
Cops: Fort Greene Violence Sparked By Chicken Wing Promotion
Flashback: Last Brownstone Standing
City Records Big Spike In Commuter Cycling
64 Things Restaurant Patrons Must NEVER Do
In the crossroads of the "Can't Beat 'Em, So Join 'Em" chronicles and the "____ Diner, R.I.P." annals, there's is the Moondance Diner. The NY Sun reports the SoHo fixture will be razed for - you guessed it - luxury condos. But that's not all: Moondance owner Sunil "Sunny" Sharma was originally going to sell the property, but decided to develop it himself with Extell's Gary Barnett and others.
Plans for a 66,743 square foot building have been approved, though it's unclear how tall (it's zoned for up to 9 floors). It's even possible that the Moondance will shine again on the first floor of the future building; Sharma says, "There are not going to be any more diners," but we're guessing he means the one-story standalone diners that seem to only exist on the outskirts (there are a couple in Hell's Kitchen, off 11th Avenue).
Broker Eric Anton, who listed the Moondance site, says that West SoHo is more attractive than center SoHo, a.k.a. Tourist SoHo. We can't wait for the Gangs of WeSoHo and CeSoHo to rumble! Imaginary gangs aside, many community groups are worried about the development of West SoHo. The SoHo Alliance's Sean Sweeney is worried about more residents and the lack of parking spaces. Our idea: Anyone who moves into new developments in West SoHo can't have a car!
Forgotten NY has a nice, if sad, page on diners in New York City.
Photograph by Adam Kuban/Slice on Flickr
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
>>>outskirts (there are a couple in Hell's Kitchen, off 11th Avenue).
Actually, all three of THOSE, the River, the Market and the Munson, are all gone too. John Lennon was photographed outside the River all those years ago.
The Cheyenne, at 9th and 33rd, hangs in as does the upscale Empire.
The Victory, on Richmond Rd in Staten Island, is facing last rites too, apparently.
www.forgotten-ny.com
isn't this where jonathan larson worked and wrote much of rent?
disappointing indeed.
I remember going to the Moondance for lunch when I worked at 32 Ave. of the Americas, circa '80s. It's just up the block. Definitely remembered the heartburns after lunch there when I was pregnant with little brother. It was pretty avant garde back then.
isn't this where jonathan larson worked and wrote most of rent?
disappointing indeed.
There are still some old school diners hanging on in Manhattan -- the Waverly, Malibu Diner, that place on 8th Avenue right below 23rd Street whose name I've never known (they make a mean Greek chicken lemon soup), Cosmos, and the place on 3rd Avenue and 22nd Street. I'm sure that there are more that I'm not thinking of or don't know about.
I think that my first post got eaten, so forgive me if this appears twice. Kevin, there are still a decent number of old school diners around -- the Waverly, the Malibu Diner, the place on 8th Avenue right below 23rd Street (I can't recall their name, but they make a mean Greek chicken lemon soup), the Cosmos diner, that place on 3rd Avenue and 22nd Street (which I think is 24 hours), and that spot on 6th Avenue and 16th (or maybe 17th) that is pretty good but has this annoying bell that is always being rung whenever food is ready. I'm sure that there are others that I'm not thinking about or don't know of.
Aww, I'll be sad to see the Moondance go - because for a long time I thought it was a figment of my imagination and didn't actually exist (er, kind of a long story) but then I found out it really did exist. Except now it won't. :(
Our idea: Anyone who moves into new developments in West SoHo can't have a car!
Agreed...It's already hard enough to find a spot when I'm running late for work and have to drive down here! :-)
Because Moondance diner is an overpriced tourist trap it will hardly be missed by hungry local residents. Most people in the area go to Ameilia's on Varick or the Vandam diner on Vandam Street. So Moondance will not be missed for the food, but the building is certainly eye-catching and it does add some character to the neighborhood.
Oh goody! More condos!
How about Joe Jr. on 12th and 6th?
While Moondance was kinda touristy, it just reminds me of the paradox of all this development... it's one of the places that makes people want to move to the neighborhood, then you have to take it out to make more room. Kinda sucks, especially since they'll probably replace it with another ugly building.
Yeah but it's one of the few "stand alone" diners left - that's the difference.
I'm always sad when stand alones and aluminum diners close. It's a relic from a bygone era.