The Moondance Diner was a diner in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, located at 88 Sixth Avenue, between Grand Street and Canal Street.
The restaurant opened in 1933 [1] as the Holland Tunnel Diner. [2] Like most diners of its vintage, it was built elsewhere and transported to its site. [3] Measuring about 36 by 16 feet, it could seat about 34 people, with six tables and ten counter stools.
Around 1997, it was purchased by Sunis Sharma. [4]
In 2007, the diner's operators announced that they would close the diner due to rising rent. Its demolition was set for August 1. [3] Preservationists and the neighborhood's residents organized benefits for the diner. [4]
In mid-2007, the diner was donated by Extell Development Company to the American Diner Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, which put it up for sale on its website before the structure was moved. [1] [5] In August, the diner was purchased from the museum by Vince and Cheryl Pierce, who spent $7,500 to buy the structure and another $40,000 to move it by semi-trailer truck some 2,400 miles (3,900 km) to La Barge, Wyoming. [6] [7] [8] Within months, there were reports that the diner was unused and falling into dilapidation in its new site. [9] During its first Wyoming winter, in January 2008, the diner's walls buckled and the entire roof caved in under the weight of ice and snow. The rotating moon sign, kept safe in storage, was undamaged. [10] By March 2008, the diner was mostly repaired and restored, [11] and was open for business six days a week. [12] It was included in a late 2000s / early 2010s list of 51 "great burger joints" compiled by USA Today through reader suggestions. [13]
As patronage declined with the local gas drilling industry, the diner closed in March 2012, [6] and by July was again put up for sale. [14]
While condominiums were announced to be built on the diner's former site in New York, the James Hotel went in instead. [15]
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The Moondance Diner was a diner in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, located at 88 Sixth Avenue, between Grand Street and Canal Street.
The restaurant opened in 1933 [1] as the Holland Tunnel Diner. [2] Like most diners of its vintage, it was built elsewhere and transported to its site. [3] Measuring about 36 by 16 feet, it could seat about 34 people, with six tables and ten counter stools.
Around 1997, it was purchased by Sunis Sharma. [4]
In 2007, the diner's operators announced that they would close the diner due to rising rent. Its demolition was set for August 1. [3] Preservationists and the neighborhood's residents organized benefits for the diner. [4]
In mid-2007, the diner was donated by Extell Development Company to the American Diner Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, which put it up for sale on its website before the structure was moved. [1] [5] In August, the diner was purchased from the museum by Vince and Cheryl Pierce, who spent $7,500 to buy the structure and another $40,000 to move it by semi-trailer truck some 2,400 miles (3,900 km) to La Barge, Wyoming. [6] [7] [8] Within months, there were reports that the diner was unused and falling into dilapidation in its new site. [9] During its first Wyoming winter, in January 2008, the diner's walls buckled and the entire roof caved in under the weight of ice and snow. The rotating moon sign, kept safe in storage, was undamaged. [10] By March 2008, the diner was mostly repaired and restored, [11] and was open for business six days a week. [12] It was included in a late 2000s / early 2010s list of 51 "great burger joints" compiled by USA Today through reader suggestions. [13]
As patronage declined with the local gas drilling industry, the diner closed in March 2012, [6] and by July was again put up for sale. [14]
While condominiums were announced to be built on the diner's former site in New York, the James Hotel went in instead. [15]
{{
cite news}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)