Ira Glass Wants to Save His Regular Seat at Cafe Edison, Midtown's Endangered Lunch Counter

The battle to keep Times Square's beloved lunch counter, Cafe Edison kicking is alive and well. Ira Glass, champion of storytelling and host of This American Life, is apparently a regular there, and is now fighting to save his regular seat (Friday mornings, far right end of the counter). Glass wrote a letter to Hotel Edison's owner Gerald Barad:

Here's my pitch on why you shouldn't close the Cafe Edison: it's a public service....I read that you want to make the place an upscale restaurant with a name chef....walk away from that money. Most of us have parts of our jobs we suffer through to make money and parts we do to make the world a very slightly better place. Put this restaurant in the second category. Consider it a gift to me and everyone else who lives in this city.

Other writers and actors have added their own letters to the website DearGeraldBarad.com, and that's not even counting the Change.org petition to save Cafe Edison, which is currently up to almost 10,000 signatures. At last check, Mayor De Blasio was also getting involved, and there's still no word on a closing date, so the lunch counter might be around for a while.

Work near Times Square? Love the Cafe Edison? It may not last the week. Help save it! http://t.co/P0J9XkV94o pic.twitter.com/mjlAseDc8u

— Ira Glass (@iraglass) December 16, 2014