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Want to buy the Cheyenne Diner?

By Marlene Naanes | mnaanes@am-ny.com

April 10, 2008

The Cheyenne Diner is located on the corner of 33rd Street and Ninth Ave. The diner has been in the area for more than 50 years and is one of the last remaining railroad-car-style diners in Manhattan. (RJ Mickelson, amNewYork / March 31, 2008)

Want a diner? The chrome-covered Cheyenne Diner is for sale for the not-so-steep price of $7,900.

The only catch is whoever buys the 1,536-square-foot neon-lit icon has to move it themselves.

Three prospective buyers from Upstate New York, Ohio and Indiana have surfaced, but preservationist Michael Perlman is hoping someone in the city comes forward.

"We're truly hoping a potential buyer will contact me from New York since so many patrons hope to see their favorite local landmark elsewhere in the city rather than travel to Wyoming," Perlman said yesterday, referring to the Moondance Diner he helped to save and relocate to Wyoming.

The Cheyenne closed Sunday after serving comfort food for more than 60 years in Midtown. Property owner George Papas is planning to construct a nine-story commercial and residential building in its place.

Since word of the eatery's closing broke last month, Perlman and a diner museum have been working on saving the Cheyenne, one of the city's last railcar-style diners.

Papas has been talking with Perlman and potential buyers and said he is open to saving the structure. The prospective buyer from Ohio, a man who restores diners for a living, is coming to look at the diner on Sunday, he said.

Papas is hoping to find a buyer in the next couple months. Anyone interested in buying the Cheyenne can contact Perlman at unlockthevault@hotmail.com.