I suspect in New York, Maryland and other liberal states, the main reason why diners are dying is taxes.
Who can afford the State sticking their hand deeper into your pockets as they nickel and dime you to death with taxes, permits, and so on?
I moved to MD from Michigan a few years ago. There are none of the traditional silver side diners in Michigan. The town I moved to had one that closed about when I moved here. It’s just sitting empty. I heard the food was pretty good. I was only there once to meet a friend for something and only had an iced tea, so I never got to try their food.
We had reason to be in the old-town part of Laurel, Maryland a couple of months ago, and stopped at the Tastee Diner on Route 1 - it’s an old place, one of the last two or three Cormac diner buildings from the 1950’s.
We had an excellent breakfast and WONDERFUL coffee; and the place had a real neighborhood feeling. Hope it lasts a long time.
(What is it about diner coffee?)
-JT