Turns out Staten Islanders can't bear to lose their Victory Diner.
That was the consensus of the Parks Department, a bank foundation, the Staten Island Advance and borough leaders who've come up with cash and a plan for buying and moving the classic chrome-and-neon restaurant from Dongan Hills to the Ocean Breeze waterfront.
Serving as the backdrop over the decades in movies, commercials and the lives of thousands of Islanders, the diner closed recently and had been listed for sale on-line on a diner museum Web site for $15,000 or best offer to anyone who could move it from its Richmond Road location, where it had been slated for demolition.
Now the Parks Department is poised to take possession, with Borough Commissioner Thomas Paulo saying the restaurant could be relocated to the beach -- although not opened -- as early as the week of Aug. 6, making it a local victory for the Victory.
