Starlite Deli closing Times Square location at end of April
NEW YORK -- A small deli in the heart of Times Square is closing, and it's a sad announcement for members of the Broadway community and others who count on it as their favorite mom-and-pop shop in a place they say has fewer and fewer of them.
Min Kim, 71, routinely works 14-hour days, seven days a week, at his famous Starlite Deli on West 44th Street. He's been at it for 39 years.
"I'm gonna miss the soup a lot," Staten Island resident Lacqua Cammareri said.
"I come out, and the guy knows what I want before I even order it," Long Island resident James Gillings said.
The deli closes April 28; higher rent and Kim's age are the two big factors.
"Time to retire," he said.
He'll retreat to Syosset to spend more time with with his wife and three adult children.
Born in Seoul, Korea, in 1952, he moved to New York City in 1981, opening his deli three years later when Times Square was very gritty.
"Right now, it's more fancier than before," Kim said. "COVID was really, really bad."
It was difficult because his business relied on Broadway, which he says he loves.
He's proud of his almost-40 years feeding theater people, including performers like Brian Martin, of "Some like It Hot."
"We all come here on our breaks," Martin said.
"Mr. Min is absolutely legendary in this industry. We're all going to miss him so much," said Nick Forero, a theatrical production manager."
The community is offering love and gratitude as a man who created a different kind of Broadway hit faces his final curtain.
Kim says one thing that keeps him up at night is what becomes of his 14 staff members. He says five of them have new jobs lined up, but he wants to make sure all of them land someplace before the closing at the end of the month.