The outcome of the final scene of the hit six-season HBO show, “The Sopranos,” has long been debated by fans who have wondered what exactly happened to Tony Soprano when he looked up from his infamous restaurant bench and screen was cut. blacken.
The diner scene was the catalyst for hundreds of conspiracy theories and hypotheses about the fate of Soprano and the surrounding universe.
Now, fans of the show have a chance to own a piece of television history.
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Holsten’s Ice Cream, Chocolate & Restaurant in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where the iconic scene was filmed, announced on Instagram that it will auction off the iconic stand while the establishment undergoes renovations and upgrades.
“The time has come. All good things sometimes need an update. The famous Sopranos booth is getting a much-needed facelift,” the company wrote of the nearly 60-year-old booth. “We’ve gotten to the point where [the booths] they are no longer structurally safe as a whole and we need to think about the safety of our customers first.”
The booth is cheekily adorned with a sign that says, “This booth is reserved for the Soprano family.”
By Monday afternoon, the stand had already earned a high bid on eBay of $82,200.
“I don’t want to change it, but I’m forced to. I’m forced to keep things somewhat modern,” Holsten’s co-owner Chris Carley said in an interview with NJ Advance Media last week. “People will either get used to it or they won’t get used to it. But I think they will… hopefully, the answer will come when the new one comes along, which everyone will like.”
Carley added that the seats have become progressively withered over the years, especially since the finale aired in the summer of 2007, which has made Holsten’s a tourist attraction and the booth a once-in-a-lifetime photo spot.
Yet despite the damage, fans of the show are begging the establishment on social media to keep the stand as is, with some even touting the renovation as a “horrible” decision.
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“I can’t understand this from a business perspective,” one person wrote. “Even though it’s no longer safe and can’t be repaired, it makes so much more sense to build plexiglass around it. I know so many people who have visited NJ and made Holsten’s a priority stop.”
“What makes you great is the quality of your product and the nostalgia! You do NOT need updates, you need to let future generations enjoy what older generations already know,” chimed in another.
Carley said NJ Advance Media that the establishment isn’t quite sure what it will do with the auction money.
Bidding closes Monday at 10:02 pm ET.