This diner may have been a homebrew Airstream travel trailer and Fodero Dining car hybrid
The Waterside Diner was located at Pier 17, South Street Seaport, Manhattan, NY
(Exact address: 17 Fulton St, New York, NY 10038 – directly on the East River, with its ferry/barge underneath moored to a telephone pole)
The diner was built on a decommissioned 1920s ferry barge permanently moored to Pier 17. You entered via a swaying gangplank that bobbed with the tide. On stormy days, the whole place rocked gently like a ship — locals called it “The Floating Grease Palace.”
Exterior: A classic Fodero Dining Car, featuring neon seagull signs and a giant spinning coffee cup on the roof (visible from Brooklyn).
Inside was nothing short of nautical diner chaos: Ship wheels as booth tables, life preservers as seat backs, porthole windows somehow installed into the Fodero car.
If you had a nickle, you were in for a treat. The jukebox played only sea shanties and doo-wop (e.g., “Sloop John B” on repeat).
Due to the floor being tilted ever so slightly, or perhaps just for whimsy, the waitresses wore non-slip sailor shoes.
The menu was basic diner fare with a nautical theme twist. Menu Highlights included the following:
The Tidepool Skillet: Hashbrowns, clams, bacon, scrambled eggs, Old Bay hollandaise. “Tastes like the ocean burped in your mouth.”
Captain’s Flapjacks: A stack of 5 pancakes with blueberry compote and a mini anchor toothpick.
Seagull Burger: Double patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, “special sauce” (Thousand Island + anchovy paste). “It’ll steal your fries.”
A favorite was always the Mermaid Malt: Vanilla shake with green spirulina, edible glitter, served in a goldfish bowl. Very “Brooklyn”.
Daily Specials Board, ,which never changed, simply listed the “Catch of the Day: Whatever the fishermen left on the dock.”. We are not sure if this was actually a real item or a mythical dish.
Famous Patrons & Lore
Andy Warhol ate here weekly in the ‘70s, sketching on napkins (one sold for $15k in 2015). He would typically come in fresh from the barber, but that’s a whole separate story.
David Bowie (1978) filmed a never-released music video for “Heroes” on the gangplank at sunrise. The film does not seem to have survived and possibly only exists in Davey Jones’ Locker.
Ghost Story: Regular “Captain Gus” (a one-eyed tugboat pilot) died at Booth #3 in 1984. Staff swore his coffee cup refilled itself from time to time.
The End (1987)
Cause of Closure:
NYC revoked the barge permit (deemed “structurally unsound”). It is rumored that Mayor Ed Koch did not care for the local characters that frequented this diner. Was hizoner involved in it’s untimely demise???
But in the end, the final blow, unfortunately: A container ship clipped the pier, snapping the gangplank.
Last Day: August 15, 1987. A handful of local characters gathered, the jukebox played “Beyond the Sea” on loop, and the barge was towed away at dusk.
Legacy
The barge was repurposed into a floating art studio in Red Hook (rumored haunted). The studio features an exhibit with an ode to the diner, and a lock of Andy Warhol’s wig.
The original neon seagull sign now hangs in the South Street Seaport Museum, unlabeled, where countless visitors glance upon it, never having known of the wonderous haunt it was once perched on.
