The Clinton Diner, at 58th Street and Maspeth Avenue in an otherwise godforsaken section of western Queens, is one of a vanishing breed of roadside diners, catering to workers in an industrial area and motorists who are passing through. It stands next to freight tracks of the Long Island Rail Road. The now dismantled Richard Upjohn 1847 masterpiece, St. Saviour’s Church, was just a couple of blocks south until the mid-2000s. DeWitt Clinton’s mansion, for which the diner is named, stood nearby until 1933. A house belonging to family members of mid-19th Century Maspeth mover and shaker James Maurice is across the street. Community meetings take place here, and it has been used on numerous occasions for movie and TV shoots when a scene needs authenticity.
But undoubtedly the Diner’s Number One claim to fame…
…is that it includes voluminous notes from Forgotten New York on its menu.
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