Jim McCoy: Number 5 Restaurant Open Until Sale is Official

The owner of Binghamton's iconic Number 5 restaurant is assuring customers that the establishment is still in operation.

Jim McCoy has been trying to find a buyer for the Number 5 property for more than two years. He's preparing to sell the site to a developer for a commercial and retail project.

McCoy Tuesday issued a statement about the restaurant he's operated for more than four decades: "We are still open for business until the sale is official."

In the statement, he noted he opened Number 5 when he was 30 years old in 1978: "Do the math, retirement is close by."

Number 5 restaurant owner Jim McCoy at a Binghamton planning commission meeting on January 13, 2020. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

McCoy attended Monday's planning commission meeting with the hope that the panel would approve the proposed Number 5 Commons development. But the commission delayed acting on the plan until a traffic impact report could be reviewed.

McCoy expects to announce his plans for the future of his other restaurant, Lampy's in Endicott's Union District, after the sale of the Binghamton property has been finalized.

A rendering of the proposed Number 5 Commons development was posted on the Binghamton city government website.

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

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