By Heather Yakin | Times Herald-Record | May 1, 2007

Liberty, NY
In a few months, the naysayers might be eating their words — and breakfast.

Two years after a group of private investors pooled their money to buy the landmark Munson Diner and haul it from Manhattan to Liberty, someone has signed on to run the place.

That someone is Fred Lagattuta of Swan Lake, said Heinrich Strauch, executive director of the Liberty Community Development Corp.

The diner's arrival in 2005, in a decidedly dilapidated state after a rough trip on a flatbed truck, has inspired some snipes from doubters. People grumbled about importing a vacant building into a struggling downtown.

When town and village officials threw the diner into consideration for a state grant targeting vacant buildings, there were complaints of favoritism.

Early yesterday afternoon, the purple-and-silver Art Deco diner was quiet.

But the signs of industry were there. Outside, next to a new deck in progress, lay a pile of old Sheetrock and wood paneling, the odd corner of a faux-marble countertop, a couple of old ceiling-fan blades.

Inside, there were piles of supplies, a table saw, and plastic sheeting hanging from the ceiling between the windows and the rest of the interior.

Lagattuta couldn't be reached for comment.

It's too soon to say exactly when the Munson, a 50-year landmark in the city's Hell's Kitchen and star of a "Seinfeld" episode and TV commercials, might finally open for business. "We are working to get it open as quickly as possible," said Jeremy Gorelick, who has acted as spokesman for the private buyers.

A guy named Nachman and his business partner, Alex Demetriades, who own the Parksville and Sullivan diners, pulled over on Lake Street in Liberty yesterday to check on what's happening with the Munson. They were pleased to learn Lagattuta will operate the place.

"He's a good guy," Nachman said. And he welcomes another business into Liberty, which has been pulling toward economic revival.

"We like competition," Nachman said. "This country is all about competition."

Originally published online here: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070501/NEWS/705010319/-1/COMM04