(Lee Landor) Servers Ginny Romaine and Juan Medrano prepare to say goodbye after 12 years at the Water View Diner.The employees and customers of Howard Beach’s Water View Diner exchanged stories, handshakes and hugs Tuesday, knowing that later that night, the restaurant would shut down for good.
The 26-year-old diner has become a staple for the residents of Howard Beach and neighboring areas, “a landmark,” one customer said. Located at the end of Howard Beach, Water View sits on Cross Bay Boulevard and 163rd Avenue, several blocks away from Jamaica Bay.
“We’re sad we’re doing what we’re doing,” said Steve Pappas, one of three men who founded the diner. “But we’re over 65 years old and we’re tired.”
As he sat at the diner’s counter, a row of customers lined up to shake his hand, thank him and wish him luck and health. Pappas thanked them in return, noting that if it hadn’t been for them, the diner would never have succeeded. “We love the people of Howard Beach and south Queens,” the owner said, “and we thank them for 26 years of support.”
Just how much support the diner received was evident on Tuesday, the restaurant’s last day open. There was a constant flow of patrons coming in and leaving. Regulars, or as hostess Rula Stratigakis put it, “squatters of the Water View,” continued their daily routine of gathering for an early breakfast and socializing until the afternoon.
Howard Beach couple Ann and Steve Petroglia have been dining at the Water View diner for 20 years. “There were days we’d come in for breakfast and leave at 4:30,” Ann Petroglia said.
And the diner’s approximately 45 employees always enjoyed the company, they said. “I eat dinner with these people more than my own family,” hostess Judy Strelnick said, adding that, in a way, everyone at the Water View has become part of one big family.
“I’ve been coming here since I was 16,” said Strelnick, who has worked at the diner for five years, “and now I come here with my kids. I’m just so sad right now.”
Gene Greco, who has been dining at the Water View regularly since it opened, shared her sentiments. “Everyone is gonna miss this place,” he said. Server Ginny Romaine added that the closing “is gonna be a heart-breaker.”
Strelnick speculated that a bank, store fronts and some offices would replace the restaurant, “But it doesn’t matter, because it’s not going to be the same, it’s not going to be the Water View Diner.”
