The Diner That is Not on the Corner
Kyriacou had thought about the new site for his Empire Diner. It would extend into West John Street from the southwest corner of John Street and Jerusalem Avenue, which I’ve circled in the picture. Without the visibility and automobile access of a corner site, the Empire could not thrive as it had in the Triangle, when it was on another well-chosen site, from which it was ripped too soon because of officials in Albany.
In 1958, however, incorporating the little 50’ wide corner plot into his diner’s site would have to wait. Florence Wallace had lived in the house on that plot since her youth. Now, she was old, and nearing death. Kyriacou would have to acquire her little parcel of land later, from her heirs. She passed away a month after the diner opened on its corner-less new site, and soon the lengthy process of probate was begun.
