Pier 72 Diner Permanently Closes After Four Decades On The UWS

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Jimmy Carter was president of the United States when the Pier 72 diner opened its doors on the Upper West Side for the first time.

It went on to serve customers in the neighborhood for 41 years.

There were countless cups of coffee, egg breakfasts, hamburgers, french fries, coleslaw, and Greek specialties that the diner dished out for regulars on a daily basis.

However, like so many other businesses and restaurants in New York City and across the country, the diner on the corner of 72nd Street and West End could not survive the coronavirus pandemic.

Pier 72 closed on Nov. 30.

The closure was an expected one. Earlier in the fall, the diner said it would be closing permanently at the end of November.

A GoFundMe campaign was started shortly after the Upper West Side diner's closure announcement, but its intention was never to keep Pier 72 afloat.

The fundraiser's organizer, Maggie Murphy, knew the amount of money needed was too much, and instead wanted to "give the hard-working staff the tip of a lifetime."

"We have shared so many memories with our family there. If you have, too, we hope you will join us in giving Jimmy, the kindly owner who always pretended to steal french fries from his kid patron's plates, and his hard-working staff the "tip" of a lifetime," Murphy wrote in the description of the GoFundMe.

The fundraiser started with a goal of $2,500 — after that total was easily raised in the first four days — Murphy chose to up the donation goal to $8,000.

As of Tuesday, 116 people have raised $8,827.

A quick look through the donation's comments reveal a wide array of different ways the diner played an integral part in people's lives.

Whether it was one donator talking about writing her first-grade immigration paper on the owner Jimmy's story about coming from Greece to the United States, or the staff being part of a different donator's journey through "heartbreak, dating, marriage, and now pregnancy with our first child," or a loyal customer simply paying respects after 27 years of eating at the diner.

Stories of good memories at the diner fill the GoFundMe page up.

There is no information yet about what business will take over the high-traffic property next.