Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
One More Moondance With You In The Moonlight
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Jun 30, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Jun 30, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The last free-standing diner in Manhattan is closing tomorrow night after 70 years in business, and like many displaced New Yorkers it will be moving to Pennsylvania. The Moondance Diner in SoHo is shuttering, and next month it will be shipped to PA to become part of a museum. The lot where it currently sits is going to become the site of luxury condos. The New York Sun reported the imminent demise of the Moondance back in February and noted the diner's end as emblematic of the westward expansion of the fashionable SoHo district.
The Moondance Diner will live on in the movies. It was featured in several major motion pictures, like Spiderman, and in tv shows. It has actually been quite a tourist draw. The owner of the diner recalls in an NY1 piece how people would come from afar to see a sentimental landmark:
"A lot of people, they get married here, they find they're [sic, or maybe not -DH, Gothamist] girlfriends here,” said Sunny Sharma, owner of the Moondance Diner. “They live in New Jersey, all over, but most the tourists here come from Europe – Belgium, France, England – they all come here to see. Not to see me, just to see the Moondance Diner, the sign of Moondance Diner.”
Kevin Walsh has a great page on New York City's disappearing diners at ForgottenNewYork. To end on a positive note, we do enjoy visiting Relish: the super-chromed free-standing diner in Williamsburg, with a garden and a chain link fence rosebush trellis. It was a forlorn and forgotten unused building before the neighborhood underwent its "transformation" and the diner re-opened. The era of true greasy spoons may be past, but we appreciate the approximation.
(Looking out, by Goggla at flickr)
Tagged
city
District
gothamist
Kevin Walsh
manhattan
moondance diner
movies
new jersey
new york
new york city
New York Sun
new yorkers
ny1
people
photos
pictures
restaurants
soho
spiderman
williamsburg
Dave Hogarty
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian food is delicious but underrepresented in the city.
By
Robert Sietsema
Published Oct 10, 2026
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Food
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Where to eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn right now, from Polish to Sichuan to Iberian
By
Robert Sietsema
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .