Business & Tech

Iconic Shalimar Diner Will Be Saved From Demolition, Relocated

Shalimar Diner in Rego Park will be relocated to Long Island, after a Forest Hills resident launched a campaign to save it from demolition.

Shalimar Diner in Rego Park will be relocated to Riverhead, Long Island.
Shalimar Diner in Rego Park will be relocated to Riverhead, Long Island. (Google Maps)

REGO PARK, QUEENS — "Diner Man" to the rescue.

The iconic Shalimar Diner in Rego Park will be relocated to Long Island, according to Forest Hills resident and preservationist Michael Perlman, who launched a campaign in April to stop its impending demolition.

Former Mets player Lenny Dykstra and lawyer Ronald Hariri joined forces with Perlman to move the 45-year-old diner to Riverhead, Long Island, where it will likely reopen as a brewery-cum-diner.

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The cause is a personal one for Hariri: The Forest Hills native grew up going to Shalimar Diner for egg creams.

"Similar to 'Nails' — Dykstra’s nickname — the Shalimar Diner is a piece of Queens and NYC history," Hariri said in a statement.

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Perlman launched a campaign in April to stop the impending demolition of Shalimar Diner by finding someone to move the building from its current site at 63-68 Austin St.

The historic diner, which closed in November 2018 due to declining business and a rent hike, has appeared in the CBS television show "Blue Bloods" and the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street."

Perlman has twice successfully brokered relocation deals for historic diners, prompting the New York Observer to nickname him "Diner Man."

He previously found new homes for Soho's Moondance Diner and Midtown Manhattan's Cheyenne Diner, the Observer reported.

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