EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of stories about the famous New York City subway car that used to be a centerpiece of Golden’s Deli in New Springville.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Generations of Staten Islanders have fond memories of Golden’s Deli, the beloved New Springville eatery featuring Jewish noshes that closed in 2012 after three decades in business.

Perhaps just as famous as the restaurant itself was its fabled centerpiece: An authentic New York City subway car that had been outfitted as a dining space inside of Golden’s.

What happened to that iconic subway car after Golden’s closed?

The Advance has tracked it down.

THE COLLECTOR

Tom Zoufaly, 69, lives in Warwick, N.Y., a bucolic town about 90 minutes’ drive from Staten Island.

A high-end art installer, Zoufaly’s company, Art Installation Design, has worked with museums, corporate institutions and private clients, including Estee Lauder and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

His motto: “If it’s impossible, call me.”

But Zoufaly, who grew up in Queens, is at heart a collector, particularly of trains, train memorabilia and other items connected to mass transit.

You can thank his boyhood riding the subway every Saturday “for entertainment” for that.

On the grounds of Zoufaly’s seven-acre home in a wooded area of Warwick, you’ll find a Southern Pacific Santa Fe “Daylight” caboose, an authentic San Francisco cable car, a working, child-sized train and oval track that his six grandkids love and a garage full of classic Chevrolet cars.

And Zoufaly also has the legendary and fully restored subway car that used to grace Golden’s Deli.

“Doesn’t every kid want to have his own train?” Zoufaly said. “Unfortunately, my childhood didn’t end until I was 60 years old.”

THE BUY

Zoufaly said he first learned of the Golden’s car from an article in the New York Post about the man who had bought the train from Golden’s. The subway car, stored outside and exposed to the elements in Brooklyn, was up for sale.

Someone who knew Zoufaly told him, “This is right up your alley.”

Zoufaly said that the W Hotel in Manhattan also wanted the subway car and planned to make it part of their ice cream parlor.

The train car eventually went to Zoufaly.

“I think I paid $15,000 for it,” Zoufaly said. He said he doesn’t recall the name of the person that he bought the car from.

The subway car was in “derelict condition, horrible condition,” Zoufaly said.

“If I told you how much I paid to restore it, I’ll get in trouble with my wife,” he said, “because I told her it only cost $150.”

The Golden’s train car is an R9 class of subway cars, affectionately dubbed “Arnie.” The car was built in 1939 by the American Car and Foundry Co. at its plant in Berwick, Pa.

Zoufaly has fully restored the interior, including one original cane seat from the 1930s. The walls are festooned with vintage subway ads that Zoufaly has collected, including some that he has had since he was a child.

The handles once used by straphangers have been restored, and the subway car has been outfitted with electricity and heat. The outside of the car has been painted the original dark green.

The “Double EE” route sign that now adorns the front of the train is the subway line that ran past Zoufaly’s childhood home in Queens.

There is also one personal touch that Zoufaly added to the train.

THE SPEAKEASY

The back of the subway car was missing because that’s how it was when it was at Golden’s, according to Zoufaly.

So Zoufaly innovated, closing off that end of the train car and installing a fully stocked speakeasy-style bar, complete with a mirrored back.

One of Zoufaly’s daughters was married on the Warwick property, he said, and much celebrating was done at the subway bar that day.

Zoufaly initially meant for the subway car to house his collection of model trains, but once he started renovating, he decided to fully restore the car “and make sure it remains as a subway car, and not turn it into some kind of toy area for the trains.”

Getting the train car from Brooklyn to Warwick was a feat in itself.

Zoufaly said that Auer’s Moving and Rigging from Manhattan used a flatbed truck to move subway car from Brooklyn to Warwick. The flatbed carefully backed the train car down Zoufaly’s driveway and a crane lifted the subway and placed it on a concrete pad. A roof was later built to cover the car.

Zoufaly has also built a mock subway platform next to the train, featuring authentic nameplates of Queens subway stations on lines that Zoufaly rode as a child.

“I never kept track of what I spent here,” Zoufaly said. “It was a fairly decent amount. But it came out very nice. I’m very happy with it.”

COMING TUESDAY: A full tour with photos and video showing what the famous Golden’s Deli subway car looks like today, inside and out.