Neptune Diner in Astoria. Photo via Google Maps
July 22, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
Neptune Diner, which has served the Astoria community for the last 40 years, will close its doors for the final time this Sunday.
The popular diner first opened at 31-05 Astoria Blvd. in 1984 and quickly became a beloved local institution.
Staff at the diner confirmed that it will close its doors on Sunday, July 28, to facilitate a large-scale residential building development. Owner Peter Katsihtis, who opened the diner in 1984, was not immediately available for comment.
Katsihtis has since opened two more Neptune diners, opening Neptune II on Classon Avenue in Brooklyn in 2012 and Neptune Diner on Bell Boulevard in Bayside in 2020. Staff at the Astoria-based diner confirmed that both locations will remain open.
However, the popular Astoria location, known for its 24-hour service, traditional diner fare and Greek specialties, will close its doors Sunday after five years of persistent rumors about its future.
Rumors about Neptune’s closure began surfacing five years ago when the diner’s initial 35-year lease expired in August 2019.
Katsihdis dismissed the rumors at the time, stating that he had a five-year lease extension at the site.
He also acknowledged that the sale of the property in October 2018 alongside two adjacent lots had contributed to rumors about the diner’s imminent closure.
In 2022, Katsihdis said Neptune would “not yet” be closing down after the City Council unanimously approved Astoria-based MDM Development’s plans to rezone a section of 31st Street where the diner was located.
The council voted 47-0 in favor of the rezoning plan, giving MDM Development the green light to construct three residential buildings on the east side of 31st Street.
The three-building development includes 278 residential units, including 69 affordable housing units, and will also bring retail space and community facilities, according to plans approved by the City Council in January 2022.
The three buildings are slated to go up where Neptune Diner, Staples, and a nearby vacant lot are currently located.
No one from MDM Development was available for comment.
Neptune Diner has long served as a local Astoria landmark, with local residents previously stating that they visited the diner for family meals or to “close business deals.”
Its imminent closure is the latest in a series of closures that has seen New York’s diner scene shrink considerably in recent years.
At least eight other Queens diners have closed their doors since 2018, with the iconic Shalimar Diner in Rego Park shuttering in 2018 along with the popular Elmhurst establishment Georgia Diner, which merged with Nevada Diner.
Briarwood’s Flagship Diner also closed its doors in 2018, while the Terrace Diner in Bay Terrace and Kane’s Diner in Flushing both shuttered in 2019.
Mike’s Diner, an Astoria institution that served the neighborhood for over 90 years, permanently closed in 2022, while the T-Bone Diner in Forest Hills closed its doors in the same year.
More recently, Bayside residents mourned the closure of the neighborhood staple the Bayside Diner, which closed down in April last year.
