The iconic Carnegie Deli in New York City is shutting its doors after nearly 80 years in business.
The Carnegie Deli, a New York institution since 1937, will soon serve its last “Woody Allen.”
The iconic home to gigantic Jewish-style sandwiches — like the 4-inch-high, pastrami-and-corned beef “Woody” on rye — will close its doors forever on Dec. 31, The Post has learned.
Restaurant owner Marian Harper Levine broke the news to 60 heartbroken employees on Friday morning.
Levine, 66, said, “At this stage of my life, the early mornings to late nights have taken a toll, along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours that come with operating a restaurant business.”
“I’m very sad to close the Carnegie Deli but I’ve reached the time of my life when I need to take a step back,” Levine said. Her family has owned the Carnegie since 1976.
The news will sadden New Yorkers who loved Carnegie Deli’s belt-popping sandwiches and kitschy confines, which boast hundreds of photos of mostly forgotten celebrities — and nostalgia to spare.
In a New York Post essay in December 2015, when the place was temporarily closed following a gas leak, Ted Merwin, author of “Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli,” wrote:
“Since 1937, the Carnegie’s skyscraper sandwiches and obnoxious waiters encapsulated the very ethos of excess that characterized New York as a whole.”
Merwin said it would be “tragic” for the city if the Carnegie didn’t reopen.
Fun stories about food, relationships, the great outdoors and more.