wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

This 68-year-old chrome and neon fixture will serve its last tuna melt this weekend. The Cheyenne Diner has been more packed than usual recently - since regulars got the news the old railroad car style-eatery filled with memorabilia and comfort food would close.

Of course it's a familiar story in the city - things come and go...but some customers like Brett Sheska worry that its happening too frequently, changing the way the city feels.

SHESKA: Well its one of the first diners I came to when I moved to New York....and that sorta always stuck with me - I think this place has character and I feel that losing a place like this the city is losing some of its character that it once had.

REPORTER: Silvia Johnson is sitting at one of the red stools along the counter eating one of the restaurants' signature chicken "Tonto" wraps and mourning the fact another of her favorite spots will soon be gone:

JOHNSON: Definitely what is happening through the city-every ounce of space is being utilized to build expensive condos the sense of history - it's been around for quite a long time and I think it should be a kind of a landmark...

REPORTER: The owners of the Cheyenne Diner lost their lease after 19 years because the land WAS sold. Landlord George Papas, who owns the Skylight diner around the corner, says he plans to put up a nine-story commercial and residential building on the skinny parcel of land. But he says he's talking to preservationists about trying to save the gleaming, much-photographed, stainless steel-and-glass structure. Last call for the blue plate special will be on Sunday.