Gone in 2015: Jon Stewart, David Letterman, 'Mad Men' and more things NYC will miss

Each year brings with it the clearing away of old favorites in NYC to make room for the new. The year 2015 was no different, as beloved dive bars closed down, late night hosts signed off for a new generation and the iconic television show that captured the city, "Mad Men," faded to an inspiring Coke commercial. Here's what amNewYork staff said they would miss as the New Year dawns.

Winnie's Bar & Restaurant and other dive bars

Bars and restaurants seem to disappear from the city in a blink, and this year saw some stalwart dives serve their last drinks. Among those on the R.I.P. list were Winnie's Bar & Restaurant, which some people claimed was the best place to belt out some karaoke in downtown Manhattan, as well as Trash Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Even Hogs & Heifers Saloon, erstwhile home of imposing bikers in the Meatpacking District, was wiped away. The story for many of them was the same: Rising rent costs had just spiraled out of their owners' reach.(Credit: Shawn Hoke via Flickr)

David Letterman does his final Top Ten List

For decades, David Letterman helped to define late night. For New Yorkers, he also made his nightly gig a showcase for the city itself, going into the streets for gags and riffing off local news in his monologues. With his departure from late night on May 20, 2015, after 33 years, not only did the city lose a gifted showman but also someone who could help us laugh at ourselves when we needed it.(Credit: CBS / John Paul Filo)

The Birdman closes up his Rainbow Music shop

Rainbow Music in the East Village wasn't a glitzy record shop. It wasn't even pretending to be something that you'd want to walk into. Its shelves were disorderly, crammed with albums and CDs reaching nearly to the ceiling. The man who ran it, known simply as the Birdman, had for 17 years made the record shop on First Avenue if not the messiest but also the least likely to survive in an era of digital music. Finally, in September, he decided he was closing at the end of that month, the New York Times reported. "I don't need the aggravation anymore, and this is aggravation," the Birdman, then 73, told the Times.(Credit: Google )

Jon Stewart signs off from late night

First David Letterman, then Jon Stewart left the late night landscape when he exited "The Daily Show" as host in August. It was a changeover that bookended two different generations' styles of comedy, but also signaled a shift in the direction of where culture was headed. Like Letterman, Stewart made it clear on his show he was a New Yorker, one of us, sharing both our laughter and grief, while living in one of the most impossible cities. One of his last guests on his show, President Barack Obama, made his seventh appearance with Stewart, even jokingly saying he would issue an executive order that Stewart could not leave the show.(Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas)

'Mad Men' goes out with an era

From its pitch-perfect period details to its obsessive invocation of the Big Apple as the big backdrop for a heart-wrenching drama about advertising executives on Madison Avenue, "Mad Men" captured a side of the city that had rarely been on screens before. We loved and hated Don Draper, but also saw in him that quintessential New York striving that turned him into a walking brand for himself.(Credit: AMC)

Farewell to: 'Mamma Mia!'

"Mamma Mia!", the ABBA musical that became the eighth longest-running show in Broadway history, closed on Sept 12. It had run for 14 years on the Great White Way, offering up a heady mix of cheesy disco from the Swedish pop group, a romantic comedy plot and classic musical patterns. It seemed ready-made for the cultural moment, and it probably won't be too long before it gets revived.(Credit: Getty Images / Andrew H. Walker)

1st Zaro's Bakery closes

Zaro's Bakery may be best known to many New Yorkers as a go-to eatery at places like Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. But the bakery chain has NYC roots going back decades. And the first location was not in Manhattan or even at a transit hub -- it was in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx, where it opened 55 years ago. But after Dec. 28, the original location will close, forced out by demands for higher rent from the landlord.(Credit: News 12 the Bronx)