Washington Square Diner Serves Up Massive Order for MTA During Storm Updated August 28, 2011 4:42am

The Washington Square Diner fielded an order for 360 sandwiches from hungry MTA workers as Hurricane Irene took aim at the area. (DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro)

MANHATTAN — Neither rain, nor sleet, nor Hurricane Irene can keep the Washington Square Diner from serving its hungry customers - even if it means making 360 sandwiches at once.

The Greenwich Village eatery — one of many restaurants and bars that stayed open into the night Saturday — fielded a massive sandwich order from the MTA Saturday night as the furious storm roared into the New York area.

Worker Alfredo Hernandez told DNAinfo that a supervisor from the transit agency placed the order for 360 sandwiches around 2 a.m. Saturday.

"I was shocked," Hernandez said. "I thought it was a joke. I was thinking he was playing with me."

He said that a number of the agency's workers pop in from time to time to get coffee.

The diner, at 150 W. 4th St., put three cooks on duty just to fill the order for wraps and sandwiches, including chicken salad, tuna salad, ham and cheese, roast beef and turkey.  

The Washington Square Diner in Greenwich Village filled a massive order for sandwiches from the MTA Saturday night. (DNAinfo/Leela de Kretser)

"People love to eat in these kind of disasters," Hernandez quipped, adding that business spiked on 9/11 and during the blackout.

The diner, a mainstay in the neighborhood, expected to finish by midnight, a little more than an hour before its closing time of 1:30 a.m. 

But instead of hunkering down while the worst of the storm passes in the early morning hours, the diner will be opening again at 6:30 a.m.

"We never stop," he said. "We'll be with the customers to the end."

MTA spokesman, Charles Seaton, said: "It's a possibility. We have a number of on-duty workers still in the area."

RELATED CONTENT

• Hurricane Irene Driving up the East Coast
• Party on Tap for Bars and Restaurants During Irene
• Porn Shops Do Brisk Business During Storm
• NYCHA Turns Off Elevators at Public Housing as Some Residents Refuse to Leave
• Manhattan Stores Defy Hurricane Warnings and Do Roaring Trade
• Lower Manhattan Empties as Residents Evacuate Ahead of Hurricane Irene
• Top 5 Cocktails For Hurricane Irene

By Tom Liddy, DNAinfo.com

Follow Tom on Twitter @tcliddy