On Tuesday night at a Manhattan Community Board 4 committee meeting, a very New York story played out. Two seasoned Hell’s Kitchen restaurateurs arrived with a dream — and left watching it slip away.
The applicants wanted to create a 24-hour diner at the former La Pulperia location at the corner of 9th Avenue and W44th Street. Photo: Phil O’Brien
The dream was a 24-hour, 1950s-style diner on the corner of 9th Avenue and W44th Street, replacing La Pulperia, which closed earlier this year and migrated to Restaurant Row. The LLC was registered simply as W44 Diner. The concept, however, was anything but simple.
Stephane Bibeau — who has lived on W47th Street and 9th Avenue for 33 years — and his business partner, chef Adam Schop, arrived with a fully imagined plan. They described a classic American diner with theatrical lighting, stainless-steel counters bolted to the ground, blueberry pie, bagels, desserts, milkshakes, and a full kitchen helmed by Schop’s culinary reputation. They planned to invest $800,000 into a refit designed by the United Scenic Artists union member who created Local 42. They talked about their commitment to the neighborhood with their other locations Steak Frites and Lovely’s Old Fashioned — also on 9th Avenue
They were applying to CB4’s Business Licensing and Permits committee for a full liquor license until 4am every night, the legal latest in New York. Bars can begin serving as early as 6am, but the pair said they’d voluntarily delay service until 8am — “for folks who want mimosas with their brunch,” Bibeau said.
“Diners were 24 hours forever,” Bibeau told the committee. “Every time one closes, people get sad. We’re trying to bring that back.” He added that they had secured the corner because the landlord’s only other interested tenant was Taco Bell. “We don’t think Taco Bell should be on that corner,” he said.
The mood in the room was cautiously optimistic — until it wasn’t.
Stephane Bibeau (left) with Susan Ameel and Adam Schop at the CB4 committee meeting on Tuesday evening. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Susan Ameel, president of the West 44th Street Block Association stood with the operators, first calling the concept “fantastic” and noting that the block was genuinely excited about a diner returning to the neighborhood. But then she shifted to concerns that have haunted this corner for years: the late-night crowds at Rudy’s, smoking, loitering, noise and the unpredictable behavior that often spills onto W44th Street. She said the block supported 24-hour food service, but their preference was a 10am to 2am liquor license.
Her position was backed by committee co-chair Frank Holozubiec, who has lived on the block for two decades. He reminded the room that nothing on that corner — not Marseille, not La Pulperia, not the pizza spot — had ever stayed open past midnight.
Committee member Ted Arenas — who owns Rise Bar on 9th Avenue, with a liquor license that runs until 2am Sunday through Thursday and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays — added a dose of practical experience. “I don’t think it would be that great a loss if you cut liquor at 2am,” he said. “Most people coming in that late are already tipsy.”
Committee member Ted Arenas (left) watched by co-chair Frank Holozubiec. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Schop countered that every hour of liquor revenue matters in a business with razor-thin margins. “Every dollar we get from liquor is much more profitable than French fries or scrambled eggs,” he explained. A member of the public speaking in support of the diner, longtime resident Chris Wilford, echoed him: “The liquor license is incredibly important… with rents and every other cost, the margins are tight.”
But security concerns were growing. Committee member Christine Berthet warned that sidewalks have “a life of their own,” and that intentions don’t always match late-night reality. Schop and Bibeau insisted they could manage it: 180-degree security cameras, lit windows, clean sidewalks, no open doors, tightly controlled entrances. They pointed to their work transforming the once-difficult block around Local 42 on 9th Avenue between W41st and W42nd Street.
Even so, the committee remained uneasy. They weren’t asking the diner to fix the corner — but they didn’t want to worsen it.
After nearly an hour of debate, the committee circled to the only point on which a majority could agree: they would approve 24-hour food service, but liquor would end at 2am on all nights, with the option for the diner to return after several months to request extended hours based on proven performance.
The motion passed with a clear majority.
Manhattan Community Board 4’s Business Licensing and Permits committee votes to give the diner concept a 2am license. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Bibeau and Schop were asked to step out and decide whether they would proceed with the reduced hours. Twenty-five minutes later, Bibeau returned.
“We’ll pass,” he said — visibly frustrated.
Bibeau spoke after the meeting about feeling blindsided, convinced that the tone of the previous night’s block meeting had shifted by the time it reached the committee. On the other side, block association leader Ameel insisted they had been clear all along: they supported the diner, not the late-night liquor hours. What followed didn’t need a transcript — tempers were frayed, feelings were bruised and everyone walked away believing they had tried to do right by the neighborhood.
What lingered most was the line Bibeau repeated throughout the night: “If we don’t take the corner, Taco Bell is ready to come in.”
Every Hell’s Kitchen local mourns the death of a diner. But at this corner of 9th Avenue, the community now waits to see whether it gets a Taco Bell, another vacant storefront, or — a more New York ending to the story of a diner that died before the first cup of coffee was ever poured.
The full Manhattan Community Board 4 Business Licenses and Permits Committee meeting for November is available to watch on YouTube. The section about the diner starts at 1:19:10.
MCB4’s Full Board will meet on December 3 at 6:30pm at the Hotel Trades Council, 305 W44th Street, to approve sending a letter reflecting the BLP committee’s decision to the State Liquor Authority. The meeting will also be held on Zoom, with public comment allowed. More details here…
If members of the public would like to submit comments by email, they should be sent to MCB4 District Manager Jesse Bodine at jbodine@cb.nyc.gov — noting that your comments should be shared with the Board.