Diner Owner yearns for a bygone era

This article first appeared in The Daily Freeman
Written by Jonathan Ment (Freeman staff)
Freeman photo by Bob Haines
(Caption for the photo on the left: Listsa Chasin, right and her daughter Efe remodeled the Broadway Lights Diner with a 1950’s flair.)

Litsa Chasin couldn’t hold back all her tears as she looked at photos of her old Colonial Diner leaving Kingston on a flatbed truck 15 years ago.

“Thats where I started when I got out of high school,” she said. “The little diner, that’s what I called it.”
Chasin, running a nondescript diner since, has missed the classic model that was auctioned.

It’s part of the reason she’s invested more than half a million dollars in an overhaul of the boxcar’s replacement. Now featuring the curves stainless steel and style of old boxcar diners, Chasin’s place bears a new name,
Broadway Lights.

“I traveled all over looking at diners, then contacted the builders and told them what I wanted to do,” said Chasin seated across from an etched-glass likeness of Marilyn Monroe. The new diner was designed in plans drawn by builders Alex Polychronopoulos and Spero Nodaros on the backs of placemats.

“We changed the name because this diner is helping rejuvenate upper Broadway,” Chasin said. She added that, “we want to be fun, cheery. We want to help brighten up the whole corridor.”

Construction started the first week of September. As during previous work on site, customers were served with barely an interruption, except for “the hammering and the drilling” taking place behind heavy plastic sheets, according to Chasin.

The walls haven’t moved. Even the windows are the same. But everything has been wrapped in stainless steel.

Sections of ceiling are strikingly similar to those above vintage diner counters. Fans hanging throughout look like period pieces and were bought after an exhaustive search of Manhattan’s lighting district.

The menu is new, too. It’s adorned with UFOs, vinyl records, and classic cars. Items like “wraps” have been added and dishes have been named to relect the Broadway theme. For example there is “Marlon Brando,” a
teriyaki-grilled steak with garlic; “Norma Jeans” grilled chicken breast; and “Onassis” Greek salad. Baking is now done on premises. Everything is served on brightly colored Syracuse china.

Prices have remained the same. They’ve even dropped in the case of specials “so people can try something new,” Chasin said, adding the value has improved, with larger proportions.

Chasin said the late Mayor T.R. Gallo was instrumental in helping connect the project with the economic incentives that helped make it possible. They ranged from Empire Zone benefits to a small business loan. He was missed at the Feb. 5 formal grand opening, she said.

Her family emigrated from Greece in 1969 “to build a better life,” she said. Her father bought the old colonial in 1975. Chasin and her now ex-husband took over shortly there-after. Chasin has been a sole proprietor for 17 years. She employs about 30 people and is open around the clock.

The original Colonial diner was built by the Jerry O’Mahoney Co. in the 1920’s. It was replaced un 1950 by a larger model built by the Silk City Vehicle Co. and later owned by Chasin’s family. The Silk City diner is now in Allentown, PA.