2 more diners closing on Long Island
Longtime customers are stopping by for their last meals at a pair of diners on Long Island today and this weekend.
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A pair of longtime diners on Long Island will serve their last customers over the next few days.
Thursday was Baldwin Coach Diner's last day. The family-owned eatery on Sunrise Highway opened in 1962.
"I wish them the best in life and luck," Island Park resident Joseph Ponte said as he grabbed breakfast this morning. "They were an asset to the community."
Penny Kanaras, the wife of the late owner John Kanaras, said the difficult decision was for personal and financial reasons. John passed away suddenly last month.
"It's going to be different tomorrow morning," Penny Kanaras said.
Penny described the business as a community hub where friends caught up and people were treated like family.
"It was always a place that you could come even if you were alone, you were never alone because everyone knew everybody," she said.
Twenty miles away, the Golden Coach Diner in Huntington also announced their plans to close after 45 years.
In a post on social media, the owners wrote, "though we are saying goodbye to this chapter, the memories will live on. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your lives and for being part of ours."
The Suffolk County diner's last day of service is Monday, April 14.
The two businesses join a long list of diners that have closed on Long Island over the last few years because of financial hardships since the pandemic, rising food costs and labor shortages.
"COVID kind of messed up a lot of businesses," Kanaras said. "No one wants to leave the house anymore to go to the diner, but we had our crew. We had our regulars."
