Diner-Man to the Rescue!
by Chris Shott April 23, 2008
This article was published in the April 28, 2008, edition of The New York Observer.
Michael Perlman should start charging a commission.
On Monday, the 25-year-old from Queens announced that he had just brokered a deal to move midtown’s Cheyenne Diner to the Brooklyn waterfront.
Hey, it was either Red Hook—or the wrecking ball.
Just two weeks ago, the 68-year-old all-night diner on Ninth Avenue near Penn Station had served what appeared to be its final triple-decker burger. Landlord George Papas, who also owns the nearby Skylight Diner, planned to tear down the shiny, chrome-covered, prefab single-story railroad-car-style structure and erect a nine-story apartment building in its place.
Then Mr. Perlman stepped in, convincing Mr. Papas that he could find a buyer to relocate and restore the old neon-lit eatery, preferably some place else in New York City.
Mr. Papas initially agreed to sell the would-be scrap heap for around $7,900—a sum that Mr. Perlman said “reflects the urgency of removing it from the property so development plans can proceed.”
The landlord ended up unloading it for just $5,000 to construction manager Mike O’Connell, son of Brooklyn developer and major Red Hook landowner Greg O’Connell.
“It will gain a new lease on life in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and contribute to the appeal of an up-and-coming neighborhood,” Mr. Perlman proudly announced via e-mail on Monday, then delved into the wonky specifics of the tricky relocation ahead: “The immediate steps will be to confirm a rigger ... and then apply for demolition permits, which is a mandatory precursor to disconnecting utility lines and lifting the diner from its foundation, amongst other requirements.”
It’s the second time that Mr. Perlman has brokered one of these diner-relocation deals in New York City, which is all the more remarkable because he isn’t really a broker. At least not professionally.
A freelance writer, part-time administrative assistant and solo cabaret performer, Mr. Perlman fights to save historic places from destruction in his spare time. His efforts have generated a lot of publicity.
Most notably, last August, he helped find a new home for Soho’s long-standing Moondance Diner, the gleaming greasy spoon with the iconic crescent-shaped logo where Kirsten Dunst’s character, Mary Jane, waited tables in the 2002 summer blockbuster Spider-Man—and which, just like the Cheyenne, was about to be bulldozed in the name of development.
How appropriate, then, that its savior would swing in from the fictional web-slinging superhero’s own neighborhood of Forest Hills.
Mr. Perlman’s Committee to Save the Moondance Diner, in collaboration with the nonprofit American Diner Museum in Providence, R.I., ultimately located a buyer who, for just $7,500, drove into town on a flatbed truck and hauled the factory-built eatery off to La Barge, Wyo., where it’s expected to reopen this summer.
The sale and relocation, which was widely chronicled by news outlets across the country, was a pivotal moment for Mr. Perlman. “That was the effort that made me an official New York City preservationist,” he said.
http://origin.observermediagroup.com/2008/diner-man-rescue
