A reader in the Village wrote in to say that he heard the Hudson Diner will be closing soon.
"I'm really sad about this one," he wrote. "It is not about the food (not so great) or the prices (as high as any in Manhattan). It is maybe the large windows. They've always made it easy to see who was sitting there, and wave hello or just stop in. I was talking to some of my favorite regulars early this morning -- I like to get a coffee to go, and yet I always get pulled into a conversation -- such a simple little part of my day, but such a wonderful way to interact with my neighbors. And the owners and staff were always welcoming to all folks."
Located on Hudson near Barrow, the Hudson Diner has been a local favorite possibly for as long as 43 years.
While I could not get a firm confirmation of the closure from the diner, neighbor Neil at Oscar's Place said he heard that Sunday will be the diner's last day, though they could go even sooner -- or not.
Neil will start opening his place earlier in the morning to accommodate Hudson's displaced regulars. He says, "I'll do my best to feed everyone with bagels and coffee, and just take care of everyone. Losing the diner will leave a big void."
The Hudson Diner was recently cited in Westview News as a survivor of the high-rent blight that is gutting the Village. They wrote:
"...even though The Hudson Diner has emerged a winner in the West Village diner survivor square-off, co-owner Rajiv 'Babu' Chowdhury is forced to work seven days a week. He has been facing a decline in business for each of the last three years. Babu says that even though he can pay rising rents and works very well with his landlord, his business suffered when the lunchtime corporate customer base left due to their high rents."
If you need more evidence of the unsustainability of commercial rents, reader Ora McCreary points us to the corner of Hudson and Perry, just a few blocks up from the Hudson Diner. The Le Pain Quotidien location there is closing on March 25. The reason? A realtor says the landlord raised the rent from $30,000 to $40,000 a month. Even the international corporate chains can't survive this New York.
So sad to hear this. Back in the 90's I went to many, many PS3 parent "breakfast meetings" here. And stopped in for quick bites before afternoon committee meetings or the long march to the L train. The Hudson was a great community space where kids were welcome. And the kids loved the comfort food there. It will be missed.
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ReplyDeleteThere won't be a greasy spoon left. And I say that in the fondest of ways. We cannot all or all always afford an $18 salad for lunch! But it seems not to matter. Along with gas stations it seems clear that small inexpensive diners are now dinosaurs in NY.
To follow up on Emma's comment, I've asked several taxi and Lyft drivers about the lack of gas stations in NYC, especially Manhattan, and they've all said the situation is growing untenable, because the number of drivers keeps increasing but the number of gas stations keeps shrinking.
ReplyDeleteOne said that he always filled up when he went to New Jersey, and several others mentioned gassing up in the outer boroughs, especially Queens and Brooklyn. But what if you're stuck in traffic in Manhattan and starting to run low? You can't order a tank's worth of gasoline from Amazon and have it delivered to your car stuck on Canal Street or the FDR Drive...at least not yet!
Really sad about this. Prime example of landlords not giving a sh*t about what is good for a neighborhood. Hudson Diner a real institution where locals regularly congregated and got to know the owners and waitstaff. Nice to see Neil's comments, I hope that Oscars can fill the gap somewhat and stay put for a long long time.
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