It’s a pleasure — and even something of a relief — when one discovers that another individual shares one’s interests, even one’s obsessions.
As big Edward Hopper fans, we’ve long wondered where stood the diner that inspired what is perhaps Hopper’s best-known work, Nighthawks.
Finally, we gleaned from one source or another that the setting was supposed be somewhere along Greenwich Avenue.
We often pondered, as we wandered that stretch of street in the Village, which corner it might be, and we had sort of decided it was the building at 118 Greenwich, at the corner of Greenwich and 13th Street, just east of Eighth Avenue.
We didn’t really have any solid evidence to support our hypotheis; it was a more of a hunch.
Our brother in Hopper obsession, Jeremiah of Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, wasn’t content, as were we, to idly wonder as he wandered the streets of the Village. He set out to pinpoint, once and for all, exactly which corner it was that housed the diner that inspired Hopper.
Did he solve the mystery? You’ll have to read his account to learn the truth.
That was a great series by Jeremiah. I do wish the diner — or a piece of it — is still around somewhere, hidden under renovations. I never miss a chance to look at the painting when I’m in Chicago.
The series reminded me of a brief homage in “That ’70s Show,” beginning at the 2:09 mark of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3KaXzud-4Q