Crown Diner has been serving the South Bronx community under the shadow of Yankee Stadium (both old and new) for the past 35 years.
Now, thanks to greed, the 24 hour spot closed on Sunday after the landlord refused to renew the lease.
Back in 2013, JP Morgan Chase purchased the building for $17,500,000 and according to the owner, the bank wanted the to leave them but they stood put and figured they’d negotiate a lease once it expired.
But that never happened.
According to one of the owners at Crown Diner, they weren’t given an option to renew because the bank has intentions to expand their existing branch just two stores down in the same building.
Many longtime residents on social media expressed their sadness at their beloved institution’s abrupt departure but sadly we noticed some recent transplants (read: gentrifiers) rejoicing that the space was closing and hoping that a Trader Joes or, “…something more nice”, would open up.
We can’t begin to state how gross those sentiments are. So Crown Diner may not have been the best establishment around when it came to food but it was a place that was pretty busy employing dozens of workers.
It was still a place where many in the local community would go for a meal and affordable for many in the area.
These comments are a perfect example why gentrifiers are so toxic to communities, especially those of color because they generally want to white wash everything out of existence and turn it into their own vision regardless of what’s been there for decades.
The owners will continue to operate Court Diner across the street but who knows how long they have there as well as rents continue to rise in the area.
In the meantime, keep enjoying your favorite local small businesses while they last.
We don’t know how long they’ll survive.