Legendary Gay Diner Vynl to Close at Year's End

The kitschy record-themed restaurant Vynl announced that it will "retire" at the end of the year, after more than two decades in Hell's Kitchen. Longtime New Yorkers will remember the joint was kind of the default place for "the gays" to eat, with comfort-food menu, record-album menus and pop-star bathrooms. The original location was at 54th and 9th Avenue (where El Centro is now), then it moved to a larger space on 9th between 50th and 51st streets. Owner John Dempsey later expanded to Chelsea -- I write about it HERE -- but it never really caught on. As rents fluctuated, the HK location moved again to a smaller place at 756 9th Ave., where it currently resides. Perhaps not the biggest loss in the world. But definitely the end of another chapter in gay history, one we will probably never see again.

(H/T to Jeremiah, Scout and Dennis)