{"id":64558,"date":"2025-12-08T19:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T19:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/64558\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T19:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T19:10:09","slug":"watch-williamsburgs-wythe-diner-lifted-to-the-navy-yard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/64558\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Williamsburg\u2019s Wythe Diner Lifted to the Navy Yard"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n Photo: Diane Bondareff Photography\/Diane Bondareff\n <\/p>\n

The Wythe Diner, which has had many lives since it first opened in 1968, has gone to diner heaven. On Saturday, the railcar on the corner of Wythe and North Third was lifted like a baby by a giant crane, dropped onto a flatbed truck, and driven to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where it will live out the rest of its days as a movie and TV set for Steiner Studios.<\/p>\n

Legendary Wythe Diner in Brooklyn is being Removed for More Apartments\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/NppwzSExmq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \ud835\udd70\ud835\udd92\ud835\udd72 (@Emilio2763) December 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The diner is prepared for liftoff.
\n Photo: Diane Bondareff Photography\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The diner is lifted.
\n Photo: Diane Bondareff Photography\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Onlookers on Wythe Avenue.
\n Photo: Diane Bondareff Photography\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Off the diner goes.
\n Photo: Diane Bondareff Photography\n <\/p>\n

Sandy Stillman, who bought the Wythe Diner in 1997, sold the lot<\/a> this summer to a developer for $12.5 million \u2014\u00a0an apartment complex is going up on the land. (According to the New York Post, the LLC that bought the lot is associated with Williamsburg-based developer Yoel Schwimmer.) But Stillman wanted the diner, which has been everything from a regular diner to the first wave of fancy-ish restaurants in Williamsburg to a La Esquina outpost to a Chanel pop-up, preserved somehow. \u201cThe diner is my stainless steel or inanimate child in a way,\u201d Stillman said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The solution, it seems, was to move the entire 50-ton diner to the film studio. The whole thing was a spectacle, obviously \u2014\u00a0people lined up to watch it go. (\u201cHave you ever seen a floating diner?\u201d a child can be heard saying in one of the videos shared of the move.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The diner arrives at its new home.
\n Photo: Diane Bondareff\/AP Content Services for Steiner Studios\n <\/p>\n

Life as a film set isn\u2019t entirely new to the diner \u2014\u00a0it had previously been used as a location in movies like Men in Black 3. \u201cI wasn\u2019t in the market for a diner,\u201d said<\/a> Doug Steiner, new guardian of the historic diner. \u201cBut it just seemed like a great thing to preserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign Up for the Curbed Newsletter<\/p>\n

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines.<\/p>\n

Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms<\/a> and Privacy Notice<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n