Just before 5 p.m. on Monday, a historic diner in Queens went up in flames on Maspeth Avenue. The Goodfellas Diner (née Clinton Diner, circa the 1960s) has been operating at the corner of Maspeth Ave and Rust St for decades, and was renamed for the Martin Scorsese cinematic masterpiece following the film's release. There were two scenes shot at the diner for the movie, both featuring Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta—at a booth, and also in the parking lot at a payphone, where De Niro's character finds out Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) was killed.
Denise Diamantis, who has owned the diner with her husband Michael since 1985, told the NY Post, "Everything is destroyed. My God, everything is destroyed." The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Goodfellas Diner posted this video of the fire on Monday, and according to Eater, there were no injuries, and the owners are "working to get it fixed as soon as possible, though there’s not a timeline yet."
According to the NY Times, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman had "requested the waiting-for-Tommy booth," and "Pierce Brosnan took selfies at the diner in 2014," posting on Facebook that it's "where the mighty men of movies have walked." (The film also featured the Jackson Hole Diner in Queens.)
The diner has also been featured in The Americans, The Good Wife, Master of None, and more.
The diner is currently boarded up.
