TonyO
May 5th, 2005, 05:46 PM
NYTimes
Manhattan Diner Pulls Up Roots, and Countertop, for the Catskills
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/05/05/nyregion/05diner_lg.jpg
The Munson Diner was prepared yesterday for its move from 49th Street and 11th Avenue to its new home in the Catskills 90 miles away.
By ANTHONY RAMIREZ
Published: May 5, 2005
It was possible to take the money used to buy the defunct Munson Diner, for nearly six decades a neon-lit source of heartburn and nostalgia in Hell's Kitchen, and get, say, a bare-bones BMW convertible.
Of course, opting for a $30,000 sports car would not get the buyer the eight-door refrigerators (two), refrigerated display cases (two), soup table, deep fryer, Silver King coffee urn and enough seats (7 booths, 15 stools) for four football teams. Or, for that matter, the memories of the "Seinfeld" and "Law & Order" television episodes in which the diner made an appearance.
But restaurant accouterments and television history are not why Jeremy Gorelick, 25, and a group of upstate investors bought the Munson Diner this year. They bought it, Mr. Gorelick said yesterday, for reincarnation in a Catskills town as a "destination location" resembling the hip Restaurant Florent in the meatpacking district in Manhattan, but with a stream of high rollers from, fingers crossed, a nearby casino, or, failing that, a summer music festival like Tanglewood.
And so, to that end, the diner was lifted onto a flatbed truck last night to be inched from 11th Avenue and 49th Street over the George Washington Bridge, with a final destination 90 miles northwest of New York: a hill overlooking Liberty, a tiny village in Sullivan County.
"It'll be a classy restaurant in a retro location," Mr. Gorelick said.
Before the diner, the size of a railroad car, left town, its earthly remains were displayed for inspection by reporters.
Tucked like a shoebox into the corner of a car dealership, the diner was shorn away, off its foundation, and moved onto the sidewalk by workers. The diner, two of its sides exposed like a dollhouse, had a lot of rough edges showing. The basement, with the ice machine and other equipment, was peeled away by what seemed like a precision-guided smart bomb.
A year and a half ago, the car dealership, Martin's Volvo, decided to buy out Munson's owner so it could expand, said Anthony Chianese, vice president of the dealership. Mr. Chianese thought that Hollywood or some other entertainment business would be interested, but he got no real offers until the diner was listed for sale on dinermuseum.org, the Web site of the American Diner Museum.
Mr. Gorelick, a real estate investor, spotted the diner there and later discovered why Martin's Volvo was willing to reduce the price to $30,000 from the listed price of $33,500: it needed a lot of work. All told, Mr. Gorelick said, he and his 14 other investors from Liberty - including a village lawyer, a dentist, a music teacher and an electrician - are likely to spend as much as $250,000 to give the Munson Diner its rebirth in Liberty.
It will take $40,000 in movers' fees and permits just to get the diner out of Manhattan. An additional $20,000 goes for land in Liberty, population less than 4,000. But much of the money - $120,000 and up - will be spent on a new kitchen area, cooking equipment and more seating.
And all of that is before the diner actually opens its doors, an event scheduled for the Fourth of July.
"We want cool operators," Mr. Gorelick said, "something very similar to Florent, a fancy dinner menu, but along with a sloppy greasy-spoon breakfast."
Some things are beyond the Munson investors' control, however. It is not at all clear that the Indian-run casinos planned for the Catskills, including one at the nearby Kutsher's Sports Academy, will be built. Tribal land claims are still up in the air, and recent court rulings have stopped casino development for now. It is also uncertain whether a performing arts center being built for the New York Philharmonic in Sullivan County will gain the popularity of the Tanglewood festival in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
Still, there is something ironic about the Munson Diner's reincarnation in the Catskills, in its glory days the home of Katz's Bake Shop and Grossinger's Resort.
The diner has nothing to do with Thurman Munson, the Yankee catcher who died in a 1979 plane crash, or anyone else named Munson, an Irish name meaning "man of the cloth" or "the monk."
Samuel Zelin, whose original name was Zelinsky, and Irving Greenman were business partners who first owned the diner in the 1940's (relatives sold it in 1980). Frances Zelin, Mr. Zelin's daughter-in-law, said the two men wanted a company name that did not sound "too ethnic" and settled on Munson.
While Mr. Gorelick is looking forward to the rebirth of the Munson Diner, his father, Jerry, is skeptical. Mr. Gorelick said his father looked at the dilapidated diner, laughed and said, "It's not going to make it 90 miles on the back of a truck."
But what did Mr. Gorelick's mother, Donna, think? "Mom's a dreamer," he said. "Mom said, 'This is what should happen to all the old, broken-down buildings of the world.' "
Manhattan Diner Pulls Up Roots, and Countertop, for the Catskills
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/05/05/nyregion/05diner_lg.jpg
The Munson Diner was prepared yesterday for its move from 49th Street and 11th Avenue to its new home in the Catskills 90 miles away.
By ANTHONY RAMIREZ
Published: May 5, 2005
It was possible to take the money used to buy the defunct Munson Diner, for nearly six decades a neon-lit source of heartburn and nostalgia in Hell's Kitchen, and get, say, a bare-bones BMW convertible.
Of course, opting for a $30,000 sports car would not get the buyer the eight-door refrigerators (two), refrigerated display cases (two), soup table, deep fryer, Silver King coffee urn and enough seats (7 booths, 15 stools) for four football teams. Or, for that matter, the memories of the "Seinfeld" and "Law & Order" television episodes in which the diner made an appearance.
But restaurant accouterments and television history are not why Jeremy Gorelick, 25, and a group of upstate investors bought the Munson Diner this year. They bought it, Mr. Gorelick said yesterday, for reincarnation in a Catskills town as a "destination location" resembling the hip Restaurant Florent in the meatpacking district in Manhattan, but with a stream of high rollers from, fingers crossed, a nearby casino, or, failing that, a summer music festival like Tanglewood.
And so, to that end, the diner was lifted onto a flatbed truck last night to be inched from 11th Avenue and 49th Street over the George Washington Bridge, with a final destination 90 miles northwest of New York: a hill overlooking Liberty, a tiny village in Sullivan County.
"It'll be a classy restaurant in a retro location," Mr. Gorelick said.
Before the diner, the size of a railroad car, left town, its earthly remains were displayed for inspection by reporters.
Tucked like a shoebox into the corner of a car dealership, the diner was shorn away, off its foundation, and moved onto the sidewalk by workers. The diner, two of its sides exposed like a dollhouse, had a lot of rough edges showing. The basement, with the ice machine and other equipment, was peeled away by what seemed like a precision-guided smart bomb.
A year and a half ago, the car dealership, Martin's Volvo, decided to buy out Munson's owner so it could expand, said Anthony Chianese, vice president of the dealership. Mr. Chianese thought that Hollywood or some other entertainment business would be interested, but he got no real offers until the diner was listed for sale on dinermuseum.org, the Web site of the American Diner Museum.
Mr. Gorelick, a real estate investor, spotted the diner there and later discovered why Martin's Volvo was willing to reduce the price to $30,000 from the listed price of $33,500: it needed a lot of work. All told, Mr. Gorelick said, he and his 14 other investors from Liberty - including a village lawyer, a dentist, a music teacher and an electrician - are likely to spend as much as $250,000 to give the Munson Diner its rebirth in Liberty.
It will take $40,000 in movers' fees and permits just to get the diner out of Manhattan. An additional $20,000 goes for land in Liberty, population less than 4,000. But much of the money - $120,000 and up - will be spent on a new kitchen area, cooking equipment and more seating.
And all of that is before the diner actually opens its doors, an event scheduled for the Fourth of July.
"We want cool operators," Mr. Gorelick said, "something very similar to Florent, a fancy dinner menu, but along with a sloppy greasy-spoon breakfast."
Some things are beyond the Munson investors' control, however. It is not at all clear that the Indian-run casinos planned for the Catskills, including one at the nearby Kutsher's Sports Academy, will be built. Tribal land claims are still up in the air, and recent court rulings have stopped casino development for now. It is also uncertain whether a performing arts center being built for the New York Philharmonic in Sullivan County will gain the popularity of the Tanglewood festival in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
Still, there is something ironic about the Munson Diner's reincarnation in the Catskills, in its glory days the home of Katz's Bake Shop and Grossinger's Resort.
The diner has nothing to do with Thurman Munson, the Yankee catcher who died in a 1979 plane crash, or anyone else named Munson, an Irish name meaning "man of the cloth" or "the monk."
Samuel Zelin, whose original name was Zelinsky, and Irving Greenman were business partners who first owned the diner in the 1940's (relatives sold it in 1980). Frances Zelin, Mr. Zelin's daughter-in-law, said the two men wanted a company name that did not sound "too ethnic" and settled on Munson.
While Mr. Gorelick is looking forward to the rebirth of the Munson Diner, his father, Jerry, is skeptical. Mr. Gorelick said his father looked at the dilapidated diner, laughed and said, "It's not going to make it 90 miles on the back of a truck."
But what did Mr. Gorelick's mother, Donna, think? "Mom's a dreamer," he said. "Mom said, 'This is what should happen to all the old, broken-down buildings of the world.' "