The slow death of the 24-hour diner: How the pandemic may spell the end of a Jersey icon Updated Dec 14, 2020; Facebook Share Nothing says “Jersey” like a diner, especially a 24-hour one, with its blazing neon sign a welcoming beacon in the night. Prior to mid-March, when the coronavirus forced lockdowns around the country, there were dozens of 24-hour diners in New Jersey, the Diner Capital of the World. Now there are just a scant few, including the Stateline Diner in Mahwah, the Coach House Diner in Hackensack and the Chit Chat Diner, also in Hackensack. The owners of the former 24-hour diners are not hopeful they’ll go back to 24/7 when things return to “normal.”