Abandoned Kullman diner at 357 West Street, NYC. Photo by George Hahn.

For decades, the old time diner was a staple in New York City. Vinyl booths, linoleum, aluminum, stainless steel, framed and autographed 8×10 pictures of performers, black letter boards listing daily specials, matzo ball soup, omelets, BLTs, burgers deluxe, endless coffee in a cup with a saucer, the counter with stools riveted into the floor and veteran waiters and waitresses who have no time for customer indecision… This breed of diner is an endangered species in the city.

These days, when new diners pop up or old diners get renovated, they’re designed with a suburban, mall food court, family restaurant flavor, completely stripped of the sharp, shiny, noir aesthetic character and sophisticated design wit that made the city diner interesting in the first place. The new ones blow it. These newer, friendlier, “re-imagined” diners are ugly, if not just plain boring, providing a decidedly anemic dining experience. The owners evidently forget what city they’re in and don’t let (or pay) good designers with talent and taste to do their job.

The Cheyenne Diner at W. 33rd Street and 9th Avenue (moved to Alabama). Photo by George Hahn

In the past few years, a number of glorious works of diner art have been displaced or destroyed to make way for more expressionless glass and steel Generic McLuxury housing for freshly moneyed corporate worker bees and neo celebutantes who don’t know any better. The Munson Diner (West 49th Street and 11th Avenue) moved to New Jersey, the Moondance Diner (6th Avenue and Grand Street) was moved to Wyoming, and the Cheyenne Diner (West 33rd Street and 9th Avenue) was hauled off to Birmingham, Alabama. Other diners, like the Empire Diner (West 22nd and 10th Avenue) and the Market Diner (West 43rd and 11th Avenue) have closed, then re-opened with a “repositioned” aesthetic under new ownership, but their original magic is all but gone.

Recently, I stumbled upon the carcass of a once glorious Naked City eatery on the West Side Highway (357 West Street), just north of Clarkson Street. A little Googling led me to an enlightening post on Untapped New York about the diner. Designed and built by the Newark, New Jersey based Kullman Diner Car Company in the 1940s, it has been called the Terminal Diner, Lunchbox Diner, the Lost Diner and, finally, Rib, which closed in 2006. I’ve been told that Rib served as a de facto cafeteria for 9/11 rescue workers.

When I saw this ghost of former glory, it was love at first sight. Where others might see a rotting heap in the way of future vapid real estate development, I saw a work of art with the potential of a return… a return to a glorious diner of the old school. Burgers, sandwiches, eggs, bacon, soup, pie, sodas, milkshakes and coffee – oh such good coffee – all served on simple white plates, in simple white bowls and in simple cups and saucers by waiters and waitresses in a little city cafeteria.

I’m tempted to start a Kickstarter campaign to resuscitate this jewel and turn it into a chic but simple eatery for fellow New Yorkers who crave the extinct experience of a genuine city diner, a place for those of us displaced by the criminal closing of Florent. I wonder if it could be done…

Below are some photos I took of the diner as it is now, as well as a couple of other pictures by other photographers from the diner’s previous incarnations…

The pathway along the side of the diner. Photo by George Hahn
A peek into the vestibule inside the outer door. A Kullman Dining Car Co. badge is fastened to the wall above the inner door. Photo by George Hahn.
A look inside the abandoned diner. Photo by George Hahn.
A photo from the diner's Lunchbox days, featured on Urban75.org. Photographer uncredited. Click photo for link.
A photo of the diner's last incarnation: Rib. Photo by WallyG on Flickr. Click photo for link.
An image of the Terminal Diner, with a glorious, long-gone marquee. Photographer unknown.

Links of interest:
“The Abandoned Kullman Diner” on Untapped New York
“Abandoned Diner” on Urban75 Blog
“Lunchbox Diner” on New York Architecture

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