Hip And Swanky No More. The Death Of A Diner.

In the 1960s, there were dozens of diners in New York City, including The Market Diner Drive-In. Now defunct, it was one of eight across the city owned by the same family. Last year, without warning, the diner, open 24/7, closed. The lights are still on, and a fence now encircles the property. The parking lot, once packed with limos and taxis, sits empty, except for a mountain of old clothes and garbage. On the corner of West 43rd Street and Eleventh Avenue, the diner, adjacent to a Manhattan Mini Storage and a garden center, once upon a time served the likes of Frank Sinatra, “The Westies,” (a mobster gang who reportedly took a break from carving up a body in a nearby apartment, for some grub and a cup o’ joe) and presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Now it serves no one but rats. Some things may not have changed.

Manhattan, especially Hell’s Kitchen, is in dire need of a good greasy spoon. The best - though not in Hell’s Kitchen - as I’ve mentioned before, is The Empire Diner, on 22nd and Tenth Avenue. But try to get a good burger delivered in this neighborhood. It is nearly-impossible.

With the addition of a half-dozen skyscraper apartments shooting upwards within a two-block radius, the now-dead diner if reopened by a smart restaurateur, could be a goldmine soon.

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See “Gone and Forgotten,” for additional current photos of The Market Diner.
Visit Roadside Architecture, for an excellent photo collection of old New York City Diners, and New York State Eateries and Ice Cream Shops.

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Tags: 10036, Drive-In, Eleventh Avenue, Empire Diner, Giuliani, Gothamist, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, Maps, New York City, Old New York, restaurant, Sinatra, Taxi, The Westies