Historic NYC diner will get hauled to Alabama

[January 16, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A classic New York City diner has been saved from demolition -- and is moving to Alabama.

Businessman Joel Owens said Thursday he'll move the Cheyenne Diner in two sections by flatbed truck from Manhattan to Birmingham.

Owens will restore the diner and might add a classic car museum and special events center.

The diner is decorated with Native American motifs, with a stainless steel and glass interior. It is making way for a nine-story condominium at 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue.

Historic preservationist and Committee to Save Cheyenne Diner chairman Michael Perlman brokered the deal. Terms were not disclosed.

The Cheyenne is not the first diner to be moved from Manhattan to another state. The Moondance Diner is now in La Barge, Wyo.

[Associated Press]

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