Acrop with view of competing restaurants

 

The Acropolis Diner, once the Brighton Diner, can trace its origins to 1951. In 1972, the Brighton Diner changed ownership and has since then been owned by Nick Stratis and Nick Voulgaris. Through the years, the Brighton Diner has undergone many changes including a new name, the Acropolis Restaurant-Diner (fondly known as the Acrop) and a new larger location. Today, the Acropolis is identifiable by the bright blue and red lights that circle the outside of the building. The diner itself has a modern motif that is not quite complimented by the old classic diner characteristics such as juke boxes and a counter to eat a quick meal on.

Diners reached the height of their popularity in the 50s, securing their place as an all-American tradition. The Brighton Diner came into existence just as the era of urban renewal really began to take over Poughkeepsie. As the population in Poughkeepsie grew, the city declined, causing the renewal process that would ensue. The new Acropolis Diner was part of the renewal process itself. When first coming under new ownership in '72, the old classic Brighton Diner got torn down and the new diner, the Acropolis, came up instead. The Acropolis was constructed with urban renewal itself, so that with the construction of the 44/55 Arterial, the Acropolis was in a prime location to attract customers not familiar with the area. The idea of the arterial was to stimulate activity in areas that previously only got little attention or were not easily accessible. The present location of the Acrop, along with its formidable size and interesting exterior, makes the Acropolis Diner a hard place to miss.

The Acropolis Diner has endured through the years as the popularity of diners does not seem to have faded. It can also be said that the success of the Acrop is due its relation with Brighton Diner and to its current accessibility. Today, the Acropolis is seen as a pretty permanent establishment in Poughkeepsie. The Acrop has many local and regular customers, which not only adds to the sense of stability that the Acrop has, but further ensures the diner's well being. Just by sitting and observing the Acrop for one morning, the individual relationships between the employees and the customers become apparent as they talk about weekend plans and family. But the Acropolis Diner has the added security of having many customers who just happen to stop in while on their way to somewhere else, attracted by the location, the fact that it is a diner or just because it is open 24 hours.

 

The stability that the Acropolis enjoys enables it to create a certain type of urban wealth. Though the diner is obviously not a business that offers numerous jobs to the people of Poughkeepsie, it is a business that offers steady jobs, and therefore creates a steady income for their employees. This is further portrayed by the fact that many of the employees of the Acropolis Diner have been working there for many years, some as long as thirty. The Acropolis is creating urban wealth for a small, but nonetheless important, population of Poughkeepsie. Many of the people receiving income from the Acropolis are people who are from Poughkeepsie and are planning on staying there. This, once again, is evident from the fact that many people have been working there for years and have raised their families in Poughkeepsie as well. Though on a very small-scale, the idea of the trickle down effect in terms of the economy has been able to be played out. The revenue generated by the business (by no means an IBM, but no matter) is shared with the employees, who then put that income directly back into city of Poughkeepsie.

 

The Acropolis's further role in the political economy is seen in relation to the competition that it helps create from having many food-like places in one general space. After WWII, the period between 1948-1954, the greatest growth in Poughkeepsie occurred in food and drink places, constituting 50% of all growth. (Harvey Flad, "A Time of Readjustment: Urban Renewal in Poughkeepsie, 1955-75", Dutchess County Historical Society, 1988.) The competition created by having many similar types of services in the same place is that the people of Poughkeepsie have a chance to choose from a variety of prices and menus. Furthermore, these many restaurants create many jobs similar to that of the Acropolis. Though each individual restaurant can't provide numerous jobs for the people of the city, all of them together provide a substantial amount of jobs that permanent residents of Poughkeepsie can rely on. All the employees of these restaurants are then putting their money back into Poughkeepsie.

 

It is important to note that the Acropolis Diner is not a business part of a political growth machine. The building and reconstructing of the Acrop was not the cause of much activity from the city itself. Yet, it is arguable, that the stable, long standing Acrop, is just as important to the city as bigger businesses, such as IBM, as it provides a sense of community and a true stability for the people who work there.

 

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