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Apartments Will Replace a Beloved West Side Diner From 1962

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It looks like Market Diner—a supremely iconic star-shaped eatery that's been open since 1962 at 572 Eleventh Avenue—is not long for this world, as Moinian Group filed permits for a 13-story building that would replace it. "A favorite of Frank Sinatra and West Side gangsters," as Jeremiah's Vanishing New York notes, we had a sense the end was in sight when a tipster contacted us in June about the imminent end of the diner's lease:

Word is that Moinian, who owns the land apparently, is not renewing the lease for The Market Diner on West 43rd Street and 11th Avenue. There are only a few months left on the lease. They are planning on tearing down the historic diner to put up yet another tower. ... [I heard from] [t]wo different workers at the diner. Apparently the management of the diner will not tell the workers the exact date. They fear the workers will start looking for other jobs immediately and have nobody there. I was told it was only a matter of months. The tipster, it appears, was right on the money.

Designed by CetraRuddy, permits call for 163 apartments over 124,000 square feet of residential space. The building would also house 10,800 square feet of commercial space, which includes ground-floor retail. Planned amenities? A gym, a lounge, and outdoor spaces, plus a rooftop with two private terraces.

The site has just been hanging out since it bought it in 2004. In June, in response to a request from Curbed about Market Diner's lease, Moinian had no official comment. But a tipster confirmed that all tenants are there on a month-to-month lease until the owners decide to build. And here we are.

Per "Jeremiah":

The Moondance and Cheyenne were picked up and moved to keep them from being destroyed, but something tells me we're not going to be able to put this one on a flatbed truck and send it off to the farm.

· Market Diner [JVNY]
· Moinian Group bringing 160 units to Hell's Kitchen [TRD]
· Permits Filed: 572 11th Avenue, 13-Story Building Designed By CetraRuddy [YIMBY]
· All Market Diner coverage [Eater]
· All Moinian Group coverage [Curbed]
· All CetraRuddy coverage [Curbed]