The Cheyenne Diner's famed neon sign was lifted onto a flatbed truck on Sunday - its first step in a cross-country trek toward Alabama.

Neighbors and tourists gathered at the corner of 33rd St. and Ninth Ave. to watch as the once-glowing beacon was unbolted from the iconic Manhattan diner. The sign will be stored in a Brooklyn warehouse before it - and the oft-photographed railroad-car style diner it adorned - head south to Birmingham.

"Sorry to see it go. I just wanted to say goodbye," said Andrea Kleiman, 43, a Manhattan dog-walker.

A nine-story condo is slated to go up on the site.

Brooklyn businessman Michael O'Connell bought the Art Deco restaurant in April and had planned to chop it in half, haul it to Red Hook, Brooklyn, and reopen it.

That plan fell through when he learned the 68-year-old diner was too big to get across the Manhattan Bridge and moving it by barge would be too expensive.

"It's a piece of New York going away," said Scott Sargent, a 47-year-old commercial printer who works across the street. "It's kind of sad."

The 2,000-square-foot diner will be shipped in two sections via flatbed truck and rebuilt once it arrives in Birmingham.

"This has the potential to be a great Alabama destination," said state Tourism Director Lee Sentell. Neighbor Salahuddin Ahamd, 71, sees good things in the Cheyenne's future. "Southern people seem so nice. It will be well received," he said.

Unity Township, PA (along the Lincoln Highway)
A historic inn and restaurant that has been a Route 30 landmark in Unity for more than 80 years is closing, its owner said.

Vance E. Booher III, president of the Mountain View Inn, said Wednesday he will close the colonial-style hotel Sunday "barring a significant financial change."

Booher said First Commonwealth Bank has refused to extend a line of credit that would keep the hotel open. Unless he can obtain an emergency loan by the weekend, he will have "no feasible alternative but to cease all major operations."

Inn photo from 1941

"While discussions with First Commonwealth continue, absent an emergency influx of credit, we expect a final decision on the timing and nature of the closing to be made by the end of the week," Booher said.

Employees were given letters informing them of the closing.

According to published reports, a deal has been reached for the sale of the Cheyenne Diner, and, if all goes well, the NYC landmark will be moving to Alabama. Not exactly a hotbed of dinerdom! Here's hoping that the blue state diner will be welcomed in the deep South!

In an AP wire story, Alabama businessman Joel Owens is quoted as saying he'll move the Cheyenne Diner in two sections by flatbed truck from Manhattan to Birmingham, will restore the diner and might add a classic car museum and special events center.

"This is a dream come true, especially in a state that has no historic freestanding diners," Owens said in a statement Thursday.

It is our understanding that others, including one potential buyer from Texas had been interested in the classic structure. At least one of those contacted by TheAmericanRoadside said they decided against a deal due to the condition of the interior of the diner and the extensive need for renovations.

You can read more here.

By Jeff Gearino | Star-Tribune | Jan. 11, 2009

LaBarge, WY
Come early Monday morning, some lucky soul is going to make a small, if unheralded, bit of Wyoming history in this little Lincoln County town.

The momentous event will happen when he or she is served the first Blue Moon breakfast platter, perhaps with a side of Orion's biscuits 'n gravy, tater moonbits and a steaming mug of Rocket Fuel Coffee.

If you haven't guessed yet, eager eaters, Wyoming's version of the historic Moondance Diner is finally opening.

With little fanfare, the newly renovated Moondance Diner will open its doors at 5:30 sharp Monday morning after a two-year odyssey that captured the hearts, stomachs and interest of diner lovers from LaBarge to New York to London.

New York's former landmark diner will be just the second restaurant in tiny LaBarge in southwest Wyoming and is expected to attract customers not only from the local oil and natural gas work force, but from tourists traveling between Interstate 80 and Jackson Hole.

Nearly everybody, it seems, is chomping at the bit to grab a bite at the Moondance.

NYC's historic Cheyenne Diner (411 9th Ave & 33rd St), "the diner of popular demand," is now for sale at a reasonable but negotiable price (once again), on the condition that it be transported off the property ASAP, or the diner will be demolished within the next few weeks, if a deal is not brokered.

Michael Perlman a.k.a “Diner-Man” is ready to broker another deal, and this time it is the Cheyenne Diner all over again. As of this week, Cheyenne Diner owner Mike O'Connell's plans have been abandoned since the diner wouldn't fit across the Manhattan Bridge via a flatbed, and the next option, transporting it by barge, proved 3 times as costly as traditional figures a year ago. The best route towards the diner’s future salvation is the George Washington Bridge, amongst a few others, but the GW route didn’t connect to Red Hook, Brooklyn. It was difficult to access Red Hook due to its location.

Perlman has already received notification from potential buyers from NY, MI, AL, & UT. While the Cheyenne can potentially land a good home out of state, many patrons are praying that a NY-based buyer will contact the Committee at unlockthevault@hotmail.com, so it can ideally remain closer to its roots than the Moondance Diner in WY. All information will then be relayed to Mike O’Connell and George Papas. Rigging costs will vary upon where the diner is transported to and the route. The diner can be transported in 2 sections. According to PropertyShark.com, the Cheyenne Diner's building dimensions are 15 ft x 96 ft (2,000 sq ft), Lot dimensions 19.75 ft x 100 ft (1,975 sq ft).

A lot of roadside enthusiasts are aware of what's been happening to America's most venerable amusement park, but this recent blog post lays it out for you in the starkest terms possible. Read it and weep.

Coney Island, as it once existed, is gone forever....

Thanks to Brian Butko for the heads-up!

The reopening of the Market Diner in New York City gets additional, in-depth coverage here via the excellent blog, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. Enjoy...

By Susan M. Cover | Kennebec Journal | Jan. 5, 2009

Vassalboro, ME
Neighbors who live near the Grand View Motel, which could soon offer a grand view of another sort, offered mixed opinions Sunday on a proposal to turn the old motel into a coffee shop with topless waitresses. Members of the Vassalboro Planning Board on Tuesday will consider Donald Crabtree of Ellsworth's request for a business permit. Crabtree, who was working inside the building on Sunday, said he did not want to talk about his proposal prior to the meeting.

"I'd rather not talk," he said. "Not right now."

The former motel, which has been the site of many business ventures in the last several years, is on Route 3 just over the Augusta line. It was most recently Mac Daddy's Pub at the Fat Cat Grille, which closed three or four years ago, said Planning Board Chairwoman Virginia Brackett.

Somerset, PA
In Somerset a midnight run to the store or a late night meal may not be as easy to come by as in other towns, due to few 24-hour establishments.

Some businesses that used to be open throughout the night are closing their doors for the night because of less customers.

“Our business did slow down a bit when they changed the laws with drinking,” said Mitzi Foy, owner of Summit Diner in Somerset. “People don’t stay out as late, which was our customer base. When the laws got stricter bars were shutting down earlier and we weren’t getting the same business.”

Foy said since the diner is a family business it was no longer feasible to stay open all night.

Foy’s father, Doug Shaulis, said he remembers when the diner was the only 24-hour restaurant.

“At one time this was the only place open 24 hours,” he said. “With Eat’n Park there’s not enough business for two places during that late at night. It just wasn’t feasible to stay open that long.” v