From the Times Ledger:The Palace Diner, one of the last bastions of greasy-spoon fare in Queensboro Hill, will be closing Dec. 30 after nearly four decades of serving the community.
The Main Street institution, located off the Long Island Expressway, will soon become an upscale Chinese restaurant and will leave longtime patrons, politicians and civic associations without a hangout.
“It is a catastrophe for the community,” said Myra Baird Herce, past president of the Flushing Chamber of Commerce and a well-known leader in the community. “I never ever saw such a reaction from people.”
The diner at 60-15 Main St. served as an accessible, after-church brunch spot and ladies’ night out for the ageing population of Queensboro Hill, who stopped driving years ago, according to Baird Herce.
It also served as a meeting place for political clubs, she said, and undoubtedly was a meeting place for countless, more surreptitious political discussions.
31 comments:
A "catastrophe?" Please.
So sad. RIP...
Deaths come in 3's... Bayside Scobee and now the Palace... (it doesnt count that Bayside reopened its not the same)
The important sentence" "served as an accessible, after-church brunch spot and ladies’ night out for the ageing population of Queensboro Hill..."
Being in the business I can tell a simple fact: if you see a lot of gray heads in your restaurant -you are headed for trouble.
It's the same as what is happening now to AM talk radio with it's cadre or codgers dying a or moving away.
Immigration/migration issues aside, if your business can't continually regenerate patrons, the business is terminal.
I do wish the employees well. A hell of a time to find yourself out of a job.
An upscale Chinese restaurant? No such thing. Diners are a great dining institution in NYC - they will spring up in more unlikely places - they are in demand. I am sorry to see this one go - I have been there a couple of times in the past.
It's about time. The food sucked and it was way too expensive.
The elderly local whites ought to broaden their horizons and try the new Chinese fare. A restaurant is still a restaurant.
Myra Baird Herce is a catastrophe to the community of Flushing.
Didn't she run Donald Manes' (shady?) "Downtown Flushing Development Corporation"?
Go find another place to live Myra.
Maybe she doesn't want to leave her job at the Flushing Chamber of Commerce.
LOL...What commerce?
But let's not offend the Asians...eh Myra?
Queensboro Hill was always and will always be a working class nabe.
But its ethnicity has now changed
and it's become a Chinese working class area.
And the Chinese don't eat at American diners.
They have their own local ethnic restaurants.
That area has become its own mini Chinatown strip apart from the downtown Flushing area.
The Palace Diner owners will take their money and run.
“I try and tell people you can’t hang on to a community.”
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Myra Herce is a bitch! Since she was the chair of CB#7 in the 70's and early 80's, she's been selling out the Flushing ommunity to the Asians for years.
The last time I was in there I overpaid for a very mediocre burger, while some lazy Mediterranean type (owner?) was busy fondling the receipts of the day.
Has anyone ever met a poor Greek diner owner?
Don't patronize us.
That lousy eatery out lived its market.
So Myra Baird Herce is deeply saddened by the diner's passing?
Then let her learn to eat Taiwanese tripe and pigs intestines in hot sauce!
Didn't she always profess to "love" the Asians so much?
So why is she complaining now?
What goes around comes around Ms. Herce.
It's time to pay the piper!
It's about time. The food sucked and it was way too expensive.
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I agree. Not every long time eatery in Queens is necessarily a well-loved landmark.
By the way, I have lived in Queens my entire 44 years. Why the hell do I have to ask where Queensboro Hill is?? I really want to have a look at the Queens map the media uses to get these names.
The Greeks had their time now the chinese and koreans are having theirs. Things change.....what can I tell ya.
I think this is about the 10th time I've noted on this blog - when you are talking about Queens, you are not talking about the process of assimilation of immigrants into "Americans", you are talking about the assimilation of all things "American" here into the country of origin of these recent immigrants.
Queens in 1950 was proudly American and not a collection of little Naples, little Hamburgs, and little Limericks.
That Place had been given dozen's of health code violations of the years you were risking you life by going there.
RE:#4."if you see a lot of grey heads, you are headed for trouble"
the "OMEGA RESTAURANT " in Auburndale has many grey heads and the business is very good. excellent service, food, and prices.
your comment on AM radio is bogus.
Jerry Rivers, aka Giraldo Rivera, former 1960's "YOUNG LORDS RADICAL" and now self admitted liberal /republican multi-millionaire,will suffer the same fate as left wing "AIR AMERICA".
"The Palace Diner owners will take their money and run"
Yep--It appears straight to Manhasset.
They tried to buy a Dutch colonial to knock down and replace with a big stone carport shitter with the bowling pins.
Lucky the town and neighbor poll would not give the seller and real estate agency a variance to complete the sale.
Q:
Why are these Greeks so crazy over bling, masonry & bowling pins ?
Its bad enough most vote Democrat and embrace illegal immigration !
I love the Omega Restaurant, most recent Anonymous! On the other hand, the Palace Diner sucks both in food and service. I remember their version of decaf coffee was an individual Sanka packet and a cup of hot water....not brewed like all other diners or restaurants. Another favorite diner is the Seven Seas Diner, at the corner of Middle Neck Rd. and Northern Blvd. in Great Neck; the problem is that you need a car to get there. Food is great and so is the service.
The 7 Sea's ?
You need a helicopter to get there most the time.
I hit the 7 sea's for Greek Salads once an a wile.
I have to tell them not to put the leaches (worm fish looking things) on the top.
--VERY Expensive, no char broiler = lousy "pot roast" tasting bland hamburgers.
In in Nassau county the best deal around (and quick dining) in my opinion is Majors Steakhouse in East Meadow.
Upscale chinese = pre bred cats instead of alley cats? no thanks,once it becomes native,THEY don't want you in their shop!And if you're black..............
George and Pete still own the property;they just sold the structure itself.
The new owners who will convert it to an upscale chinese restaurant signed a 20-year lease. So george and Pete aren't exactly taking their money and running.
they had no choice but to close . the korean's who have taken over flushing and bayside will not spend money unless its a korean establishment. So we should boycott there new dinner
Wasn't a Korean church interested in it about a year ago?
Ya mean pig palace...roacheria!
#23..Koreans have not "taken over Bayside". Northern Blvd stores are mixed ownership (greek,japanese, american, etc., but the asian signs predominate on some blocks.
if you google "property shark .com" the ethnic home owner residents are 70% caucasian,15% asian.
the korean ,kim, lost the cm election to american halloran, in bayside-auburndale, flushing.
the c.s.d 26 schools fill-up with asian children bused in from other areas (flushing main street). see P.S.130Q at F.L.Blvd.& 41 Avenue at 8 AM. 85 % asian, 15% other.
the asian owners from Flushing Main St. (liu & koo donors) squeezed a day care center, across from P.S.130, to house 300 asian tots into two underground & above ground floors. there are no
P/U & D/O or parking spaces on the property ?
Chaos in 2012, you bet.
My parents went to the Palace Diner for almost 40 years. When they retired, they lunched their daily. For them, and for many the Palace staff were family.
I AM LIVING IN QUEENSBORO HILL FOR A SHORT 16 YEARS....AND AM READY TO TAKE A HIKE OUTTA HERE...WHY YOU ASK...NOTHING AGAINST THE ASIANS, BUT IT SEEMS THEY HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST US!!! THEIR LITTLE PRIVATE BUS SERVICE AND RESTAURANTS THAT ONLY ADVERTISE IN THEIR LANGUAGE - WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?? DOWNTOWN FLUSHING IS A MASS OF SHOPS WITH STORE SIGNS AND DARNIT NOT ONE OF THEM IS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH..FEEL LIKE THEY ONLY WANT TO ATTRACT THEIR OWN PEOPLE. DAMN DID BEING PREJUDICED TAKE SOME KIND OF A TWIST HERE IN FLUSHING!!!!!!
The Palace Diner has been a place of many memories. And, although I do not frequent the place as much as I did years ago, I still pass the place and think of old times. It is unfortunate to see it go, as has many of the other Queens "landmarks" have gone. I do not care for the overwhelming Asian infusion in Flushing. They are an exclusionary bunch, and have NO interest in giving business to non-Asian businesses and restaurants. And our pandering politicians have only helped to exascerbate the problem. Why are businesses in Flushing allowed to have signage exclusively in their respective Asian language? It is plainly dicriminatory!
The Palace Diner will be missed!
After Victor left, it all went downhill from there.....
What was the name of the hostess at the diner she was there forever
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