The site of Coney Island’s new amusement park is looking surprisingly barren just weeks ahead of its May 29 opening, but here’s some good news: A gleaming new diner, the Parkview, has opened in the home of the former Retro 50, which closed in 2007 and has been conspicuously vacant ever since (you’ll have seen the diner’s sad husk and the gigantic “FOR RENT” banner from the highway if you’ve driven to Coney in the past couple of years). The expansive menu (which will hit MenuPages soon) includes all the diner staples, as well as a relatively ambitious array of pasta dishes and surf-and-turf entrées. Our hazy midnight photos (the Parkview is open 24 hours) don’t do justice to the brand-new, spick-and-span interior, nor will you be able to fully appreciate the glass etching of Coney in the entry lobby, but check out the slideshow and be glad that Mike Siderakis (who also owns the Cross Bay Diner in Howard Beach) saved this beauty from the wrecking ball.
The Parkview Diner, 2939 Cropsey Ave., nr. Canal Ave.; Gravesend, Brooklyn; 718-333-9400
