New York's Iconic Carnegie Deli Is Closing — Inside Its Meaty, Celeb-Studded History

It's the end of an era in New York City: Carnegie Deli is shutting its doors at the end of this year.

The restaurant — known for stuffing their sandwiches with practically insurmountable piles of corned beef and pastrami — opened in 1937, and has since established itself as a culinary institution frequented by tourists and old-school New Yorkers alike.

Even if you've never been to N.Y.C., you're likely familiar with the establishment. It's known as a celebrity favorite, practically inventing the concept of lining the walls with signed portraits of famous visitors (their "Wall of Fame" actually spans throughout the restaurant.)

Over the years, it's been featured in various television shows and movies, including Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose. They even named a sandwich after Allen, and have done so for other celebrity guests like Paul Simon ("50 Ways to Love Your Liver") and Tim Tebow. Most recently, Stephen Colbert brought Hillary Clinton there to teach her how to properly eat a New York-style cheesecake.

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Though the long lines of hungry tourists and comically overstuffed sandwiches have perhaps dulled the deli's sheen to today's population of New Yorkers, it has served as a rare surviving relic of the past in a city that is obsessed with the new and where restaurant closings are consistently on the rise.

But despite its cherished reputation, the deli has seen its fair share of drama in recent years. In 2014, owners Marian Harper and Sandy Levine (who were in the midst of a messy divorce) paid a sum of $2.65 million to workers who sued them for unfair labor practices, citing legal wage issues that spanned over a decade. Then, in April 2015, Carnegie closed its doors for 10 months due to an investigation over an illegal gas hook up.

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Now, Harper is citing personal reasons for the institution's closure. "At this stage of my life, the early morning to late night days have taken a toll, along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours that come with operating a restaurant business in Manhattan," she said in a statement. "I'm very sad to close Carnegie Deli New York at 854 7th Avenue, but I've reached a time in my life when I need to take a step back."