New Yorkers react to the closure of Neptune Diner in Astoria

Once upon a time, 24/7 diners were a fixture of New York City culture and an essential source of subsistence for late-night ravers and the crack-of-dawn working class. But, since the pandemic, dozens of iconic diners have shuttered across the city, and even so, few closures have felt like a bigger blow than the historic Neptune Diner shutting its doors this past weekend. 

The building that houses the iconic diner was built in the 1960s and was converted to the most recent iteration of Neptune Diner in the '80s. For more than 40 years, the family-run business has been an unofficial landmark of Astoria, complete with booths, bar stools and nostalgic granite ceilings. 

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Neptune Diner was the type of place where you could go in craving anything and find exactly that. From a hefty selection of salads and a robust roster of appetizers that included mozzarella sticks and fried calamari, to a flame-grilled burger menu portion with a pizza-flavored option and, yes, even a seafood section, the humble diner on 31st Street in Astoria punched far above its weight for some time.

This past Sunday, Neptune Diner closed its doors for good after it struggled for years to stay open. Some folks online claimed that the owner refused to re-sign the lease to make way for a developmental project. Even if that's true, there were signs that Neptune was not doing great for quite some time: prior to COVID, the diner was open 24/7 but changed its operating hours from 7am until midnight post-pandemic. That being said, although we expected news about a closure, we couldn't have imagined it to come so soon.

Sure, there are two other Neptune Diner locations, one in Crown Heights and another in Bayside, but the Astoria destination was the original and best known of them all, making the news that much sadder.

Whenever New Yorkers lose a cultural institution, they have little recourse other than to take to the Internet to make their grievances known. At the end of the day, we're not just losing a diner—we're witnessing the end of an era.

Here's a collection of some of the most gut-wrenching and memorable reactions to the closure from across the Internet: