1) Kane's Flushing Diner, a Greek-run diner in Flushing, New York that had been open for over 50 years, recently closed and was sold to a Chinese real estate developer. 2) The manager of the diner, Toni Kane, expressed sadness over closing the family business but held no ill will towards the Chinese purchaser, and was thankful for the role Chinese immigrants played in transforming Flushing for the better. 3) While rising costs and the owner's health issues necessitated the sale, the staff was saddened to lose their jobs, as the diner had been like a home to them for many years.

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Without regrets from ownership, a half-century-old Flushing diner closes doors
Not opposed to a buyout by a Chinese purchaser; thankful for Chinese immigrant influx;
improvement in safety contributed to local development; raising of families
Byline and date: Journalist Mou Lan reporting from New York on Friday, April 26, 2019
Translator’s note: I translated this World Journal article in August 2020. There’s already an
official translation: http://voicesofny.org/2019/04/kanes-flushing-diner-sold-to-chinese-
developer/. Interested readers may compare my version against the linked, published translation.
All errors and misunderstandings are, of course, mine.
Readers can find English-language media coverage as well:
https://qns.com/story/2019/05/01/kanes-diner-in-flushing-shuts-its-doors-on-may-1-after-more-
than-50-years-in-the-business/; https://flushingpost.com/flushing-diner-to-close-wednesday-
after-over-50-years-of-business; https://patch.com/new-york/flushing-murray-hill/kanes-
flushing-diner-permanently-closes-after-50-years-report.
Stephen Cheng
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Link:
https://www.worldjournal.com/6251929/article-%E6%B3%95%E6%8B%89%E7%9B%9B%E5
%8D%8A%E4%B8%96%E7%B4%80%E9%A4%90%E5%BB%B3%E7%86%84%E7%87%88
-%E5%BA%97%E4%B8%BB%E4%B8%8D%E6%8D%A8-%E6%84%9F%E8%AC%9D%E8
%8F%AF%E8%A3%94%E7%A7%BB%E6%B0%91/
Blurb: A few days ago, a Chinese real estate developer purchased Flushing’s over-fifty-year-old
Kane’s Flushing Diner. According to manager Toni Kane on April 25, 2019, the restaurant was
filled with family memories and she was deeply unwilling to shut down the business, but she
harbors no ill will to Chinese people for the purchase of the establishment by a Chinese real
estate developer. Quite the opposite, she is thankful for the constant influx of ethnically Chinese
immigrants and transformation of Flushing’s public safety which made the local community
more welcoming.
Article: In October 1968, Greek émigré Ernie Kane came to New York and, with his younger
brother, bought a diner at 44-15 College Point Boulevard in Flushing, changed its name to
Kane’s Flushing Diner, and went into business as a restaurateur focusing on American-style fast
food. He kept the diner open seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, with a simple
“grandmother’s kitchen” décor.
After Ernie Kane passed away in 2008, his son George Kane and twin daughters Toni Kane and
Patricia Kane took over management.
Toni Kane, a Florida resident, returned on April 25, 2020 to the longtime New York restaurant in
to serve customers. She said this diner was replete with a family’s recollections: “As new
immigrants, we were very destitute. When we were extremely young, Father bought the diner. At

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the time, there were only four employees. He was very busy, practically never sleeping. At
around ten years of age, my sister and I went to work at the restaurant.”
According to Toni Kane, for over fifty-one years, the family and this restaurant grew together
and witnessed Flushing’s transformation. She said that, in the beginning, there were often
burglaries and robberies as well as vagrants wandering around in the area. After Asian
immigrants came in, with ethnically Asian restaurants and shops opening up one after the other,
this location’s public safety improved and economic development kicked off.
She indicated that before Chinese immigrants settled en masse into Flushing, Flushing never had
any name recognition. But over twenty years ago since, things were never the same again as
Flushing began flourishing by the day. “We, as a family, are all thankful for the Chinese and
other Asian immigrants. The restaurant staff and I can all say hello and thank you in Chinese.”
However, increases in New York’s utilities costs as well as recent minimum wage demands
made management of Kane’s Flushing Diner increasingly difficult. Toni Kane said that George
Kane’s cancer diagnosis days ago became “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” forcing her
brother to sell the restaurant. “My sister and I only found out, after the purchaser(s) came for
information, that our older brother sold the business. We were both very heartbroken.”
Toni Kane stated she understands that New York City, with ever more residents, needs additional
housing. Aside from this diner, the family opened a liquor shop that it sold to an Asian buyer.
“But we certainly did not wish to sell this restaurant so quickly. Once the diner closes, the staff
will be out of work.”
Sergio Morales, who worked as a waiter at the diner for twelve years, said that he was very fond
of the work environment and his employer. Now that the diner has closed, he does not know
about his next step: “This was just like my home.”
The Kanes sold the diner at a value of $15 million to Chinese real estate developer Kenny Liu,
who has already constructed large-scale residential complexes in Flushing and Rego Park among
many other places.