A sign at the new building at 11 Sixth Ave. says “Empire Diner coming soon!”—or at least I think it must read Empire Diner. The big question is whether it has any affiliation with the Empire Diner in Chelsea, notably resurrected by chef Amanda Freitag and partners in 2014, lasting just under two years. I emailed owner Greg Nardello but have yet to hear back. When Nardello applied for a liquor license in July of 2013, the name of the establishment was going to be Tribeca Grand Café, but of course that was never going to work, even with the hotel subsequently changing its name. The State Liquor Authority’s website, meanwhile, shows the license as “inactive” (below). I don’t know what it takes to activate a license, but the long delay between filing and opening could mean Nardello has to go back in front of Community Board 1.