Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Celebrity Photos That Adorned Carnegie Deli's Walls Left Out on Sidewalk

By Ben Fractenberg | January 18, 2017 3:47pm
 The Carnegie Deli owners gave away some celebrity photos on the street Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017.
The Carnegie Deli owners gave away some celebrity photos on the street Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

MIDTOWN — Some Carnegie Deli leftovers were offered to passers-by Wednesday — the framed photos of celebrity diners that used to adorn the walls of the recently-shuttered restaurant.

Many of the pictures were placed in a plastic bin outside the legendary Midtown eatery, with Carnegie's owners inviting people to rifle through in search of a "memento."

“To me anything from the Carnegie has value and meaning to people,” said owner Marian Harper, adding that she initially found photos that celebrities had signed to her ex-husband and figured she wanted to get rid of them.

“It felt good. Otherwise I would have smashed them,” she said.

Harper said she didn't take much notice of which celebrity photos she originally put out, but the box contained a half dozen dusty and cracked frames, including long-ago celebrities whose names only true fans could remember.

Chad Letayf, 31, snatched up a picture of French Caribbean singer Henri Salvador posing in the eatery.

“It’s a great memory,” Letayf said. "I like the singer, he's very old." 

One Jets fan who didn't give his name grabbed a picture of “New York Sack Exchange” defensive lineman Joe Klecko before quickly hurrying off with his prize. 

RELATED: Can you Identify the Celebrities Tossed Out by Carnegie Deli?

Alex Fortney, 32, left empty handed because he “didn’t recognize anyone.”

Carnegie Deli Photos

DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

But there was at least one major celebrity the Carnegie family couldn’t bear to part with.

“We’re keeping Woody Allen for ourselves,” said Marian’s daughter, Sarri Harper, who said the famed New Yorker stopped by a few weeks before they closed to take a picture next to his eponymous corned beef and pastrami sandwich. 

"We wanted to do something nice for people in the neighborhood," Sarri said.