I was just sent this article by my partner here at FU Blind Bendix Diner Owner Fights To Save Route 17 Icon Before It’s Too Late | Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights Daily Voice. Ironically, I just passed the old Bendix a week before Christmas, spinning down that section of Rte.17 and remarked to myself, “Well, the Bendix is still there, that’s a good thing.”
And now I read it might not be for long.
According to “borough officials,” and if that term doesn’t send a shiver up your colon, I don’t know what will, as of Jan. 10th, the diner was shut down over code and sanitation violations.
The diner’s owner John Diakakis has been besieged with contractors coming out but not taking the job to right the Bendix’s fire suppression system, which was flagged as out of compliance a few years ago. To counter the problem, Diakakis said he’d only sell cold food this past month. It’s when he began selling hot again that he was shut down.
I want well-reasoned rules and regulations for all businesses. Sure, they could get out of hand or be easily ignored, depending on who comes into power in state and federal agencies, how easily agents can be bribed, or who is connected to whom…this stuff always happens. As do bigger competitors pushing their weight down on the mom-and-pop shop owner just trying to make a living. I don’t know enough about Mr. Diakakis’ worries to know all the ins and outs and what exactly of the regulations he is breaking. All I know is…if we lose the Bendix, we lose a great old New Jersey diner and we can’t afford yet another of the old great eating spots to bite the dust where so many have since, because of COVID, so-called progress, franchising.
Long live our luncheonettes, diners, and greasy spoons. There are just too few of them left and here in New Jersey, these places were our life’s blood.