Open Thread Wednesday 10/14/09

By on October 14, 2009 12:42 am in Brooklyn Heights

Flickr photo by aloucha

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49 Responses to Open Thread Wednesday 10/14/09

  1. Dave October 14, 2009 at 8:33 am #

    Has anyone noticed how awful they are at Peerless Shoe Service on Montague? They told my girlfriend they lost her boots then, when they found them (right in front), they berated her, calling her an a**hole. What the heck? Anyone else have problems with them? Can anything be done?

  2. ld October 14, 2009 at 8:48 am #

    When passing Cadman Plaza this morning at about 7am I saw a group of people doing exercises together. A morning runners group or something? Anyone know anything about this?

  3. Pete October 14, 2009 at 8:51 am #

    Dave – Uh huh…I’m sure that’s exactly how it went down.

  4. Dave October 14, 2009 at 9:03 am #

    Pete-that’s the thing. That’s why this is a big deal. if she had brought it on, it’d be a non-event, but she didn’t do anything. he yelled at her and called her stupid and an a-hole. He also yelled at her sweet mother, who hadn’t said a thing.

  5. Matthew October 14, 2009 at 9:10 am #

    Any Gentlemen of Brooklyn Heights patronize the brightly-signed barber shop on Clinton Street between Joralemon and Remsen? Any reviews of the place? Need a new place to get my mop trimmed. Any BH recommendations would be much obliged.

    Cheers.

  6. 55clark October 14, 2009 at 9:22 am #

    There will be a BLOOD DRIVE tomorrow (10/15) at the Student Housing residence at 55 Clark Street! It will run from 3:30 to 9pm. It’s open to the public, so everyone please come on down and donate! Our goal is to collect 85 pints.

  7. Monty October 14, 2009 at 9:37 am #

    @matthew, the Cutting Den inside Clark St station is good. A men’s haircut is $16 and they will shave the back of your neck with hot foam and straight razor. Rocco likes to talk about he cut Truman Capote’s hair for many years when he frequented the St George. He got a writeup in the times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/thecity/07barb.html

  8. ABC October 14, 2009 at 9:45 am #

    If peerless is the place next to CT Muffin, then I agree: they’re the worst.

  9. Dave October 14, 2009 at 9:50 am #

    Thank you ABC. I also heard two women leaving there saying the same thing. I contacted the Better Business Bureau because of their treatment. Hopefully something can be done.

  10. Homer Fink October 14, 2009 at 10:23 am #

    @Monty and don’t forget this BHB piece on Cutting Den
    http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/4835

  11. brooklynite October 14, 2009 at 10:26 am #

    If the shoe place you are referring to is run by an Eastern European man word on the street is that he used to make shoes, more specifically dance and ballet shoes… possibly even the Met Opera . he is known for being the shoe version of the “soup nazi”. i’ve heard stories of people bringing in cheap shoes and he won’t even work on them. from what it seems the man is a little out there.

  12. Dave October 14, 2009 at 10:31 am #

    That’s the one brooklynite. In asking around, we heard he was some bigwig with a ballet in Russia. He was just so awful to my girlfriend and her poor mom, who was in from Seattle and had never before experienced such a mean-spirited person.

    Not sure why he thinks he can treat people like that. So uncalled for.

  13. lcd October 14, 2009 at 10:56 am #

    @ld: could it be the brooklyn bridge boot camp? I see them weekends on the bridge.
    http://www.brooklynbridgebootcamp.com/outside.html

  14. bklyn20 October 14, 2009 at 11:18 am #

    “The Peerless Guy” is actually gifted cobbler and very good at his job. Yes, he is not a super-smiley guy. I have been having my shoes resoled and worked on by him (Jimmy — original name is Yefim I think) for well over a decade. I have an orthotics issue with one of my legs, so I do tend to buy fairly expensive shoes, have him alter them as necessary, and then take good care of them. None of the guys there have EVER been rude to me, although some of them do take a while to warm up. Once or twice he has told me that because of the sole of the shoes I brought in, he can’t attach the orthotic — the sole is made of a kind of synthetic that will not allow the orthotic to adhere. I’d rather hear that than spend money on something that will fall apart in 3 months.

    Please note that while my shoes are general good-quality, none of them come from Gucci, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, or JM Weston! When or if Jimmy retires I’ll have to go back to the Upper East side and pay twice the price to get even barely comparable work done.

  15. zburch October 14, 2009 at 11:28 am #

    The Peerless guy is definitely a jerk. He has refused to fix shoes for me, he finally “accepted” some nice leather boots that needed a new zipper and the zipper was put in crooked. I didn’t even bother to ask him to fix it because I knew he would just berate me. Can anyone recommend a better place in the neighborhood to have shoes, zippers, leather goods fixed?

  16. Dave October 14, 2009 at 11:40 am #

    I want to get “seven on my side” about that shoe guy. He has no right to yell at customers. Sure, he can refuse them but to be abusive and beyond rude is unacceptable.

  17. Dave October 14, 2009 at 12:14 pm #

    BKLYN20- the guy does good work, no one is denying that, but his awful service is what the problem is.

  18. Remsener October 14, 2009 at 12:17 pm #

    I’ve been to Peerless Shoe Repair and did nothing wrong as well and got a mouthful from the owner. I will NEVER return there and I recommend that no one ever go there. I hope he goes out of business for what he said to me. I also am pretty sure he is a misogynist because I doubt he’d ever treat a man how he treated me.

  19. Monty October 14, 2009 at 12:26 pm #

    @Dave, being rude is not unethical. Just don’t patronize his shop. Those shows are usually about businesses that are committing fraud of some sort.

  20. Ramona Quimby October 14, 2009 at 12:41 pm #

    I get my shoes repaired at the place next to the Clark Street subway station entrance and I have never had a problem. The guy that is there in the morning is always very nice and helpful.

  21. Publius October 14, 2009 at 12:42 pm #

    The Dumbo blog is reporting a law suit filed in Kings County Supreme Court against Two Trees and some of its lackeys ($CA, $PC, City Councilpeople, etc.) to halt the Dock Street project:

    http://dumbonyc.com/2009/10/14/dnf-lawsuit/

  22. ABC October 14, 2009 at 1:24 pm #

    A Tale of Two Shoe Guys:

    I had a friend who went into Peerless on her wedding day. She had bought ballet shoes (dancing heels, don’t ask me) to wear with her wedding dress and these are performance shoes with just a cloth sole, like a ballet shoe. Should have been fine for the day. Then it rains so in a panic she runs to Peerless to have them glue on a thin sole. The guy refuses, calls her an idiot. Won’t “ruin” a dance shoe (which, when she told the story, reminded us was a $75 mass-produced shoe you can get in any dance store.. nothing special). She cries. He kicks her out of the store. She goes to the guy near the Clark St subway who glues on a sole in 2 minutes and refuses to take her money.

    Also, they don’t know how to make keys either. Also, while I’m at it, the guys in there all have placards in their cars so they can park illegally. Another Montague St shopkeeper says they buy the placards on the internet. WIsh I knew the site!

  23. BH Resident October 14, 2009 at 4:36 pm #

    My husband has been going to the haircut place on Clinton between Joralemon and Remsen since they opened a few years ago. He loves them! They are really nice guys and do a great job! Cheap too. Will also do an old-fashioned straight razor shave if you ask.

  24. Bob October 14, 2009 at 5:01 pm #

    You have to earn the right to give them your business at Peerless. The minimum charge is usually $20 and always cash up front. The success/quality repair rate, in my experience, is 50-50. Never a smile. Never a discussion about options. I’m not going back.

    For small stuff I will go to Clark. For big, quality stuff: Top Service on 7th and
    53rd in Manhattan.

    Pity. The guy is so so dark.

  25. XYZ October 14, 2009 at 5:46 pm #

    Nobody forces u to go to Peerless. You dont like it, dont go back. What exactly do you expect “Seven on your side” or the BBB to be doing? Give him a class in customer service?

  26. Dave October 14, 2009 at 6:54 pm #

    @xyz Really, why are you getting so upset? You must be friends with them. Obviously, Im not going to call 7 on your side. It goes without saying that the only time i might pass through their door would be to laugh at them when they go out of business.

    I just want the word spread about how terrible they are so no one makes the same mistake we did and patronize them.

  27. my2cents October 14, 2009 at 7:26 pm #

    I love that photo! I have always marvelled at the uniformity of those A/C’s as well!

  28. cv October 14, 2009 at 8:33 pm #

    A great shoe repair/shoe store/orthotics/custom shoe place that will do anything, and politely, is Moulded Shoes on 39th St. & Fifth Avenue, across from Lord & Taylor. (And they carry very attractive, really good quality shoes, for men and women.)

  29. cat October 14, 2009 at 9:41 pm #

    The shoemaker and the watch/key guys are both from Ukraine. Since I have some small connection to Ukraine, I have engaged them both in pleasant conversations and gotten good service. I can see how the shoe guy could be a “shoe nazi,” and I’m sorry your girlfriend and her mother were treated badly. Don’t go back. I doubt they are going to go out of business any time soon, though. Unless the landlord hikes the rent up too high.

  30. bornhere October 14, 2009 at 9:52 pm #

    I have been using Peerless for years, and although it’s not a social highlight of the season, I think their work is okay, but uneven. I once asked “him” to dye a pair of (not horribly expensive) high-heel red slides black — he did, and I never wore them again. The dye was all over the slide and me. When I brought them back and asked him if he could fix the problem so I could wear them, it didn’t go well. He recently resoled a fabulous 1940s pair of suede heels for me, and the work was spectacular. When I picked them up (he did a really good job), he told me that the shoes would cost $2500 “to make new”; I think he’s more snob-zi than Nazi.

  31. travy October 15, 2009 at 9:01 am #

    sheesh! grow some thicker skin, dave. this is brooklyn!

  32. Suzy October 15, 2009 at 9:19 am #

    To Dave: You are not wrong!!!!
    I had the same experience at Peerless last week. The owner (the broadway master shoemaker LOL) went off on me big time because he could not find my boots. I told him that was the last time I was going here. He said “fine, I am cleaning up my shop anyways.”
    Go to the cobbler on Clinton between Joralemon and Remson.

  33. Karl Junkersfeld October 15, 2009 at 9:56 am #

    Was at Hibino restaurant (Pacific and Henry), last night Wednesday, and in came Bloomberg and his posse. Nice to see the mayor in Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill area.

  34. bklyn20 October 15, 2009 at 10:48 am #

    CV, thanks for the tip about moulded shoes. One of my legs is longer than the other due to an illness as an infant, and the difference is such that I have to have a lift on one shoe. I am lucky enough to be able to wear most regular shoes, I just have a bit of a platform effect on one side. Nonetheless, it’s been amazing how many shoe repair places are incapable of getting this pretty basic thing right. I will check out your place as a back-up next time I’m in midtown.

  35. Harry October 15, 2009 at 11:44 am #

    The shoe shop in the subway entrance in the Hotel St. George ruined my shoes. Can anyone else confirm the cobbler Suzy mentioned on Clinton is legit?

  36. cv October 15, 2009 at 1:46 pm #

    blyn20– Moulded deals with this kind of thing all the time. They really do know their stuff. Best of luck …

  37. Suzy October 15, 2009 at 2:39 pm #

    To Harry:
    I used to use the Cobbler on Clinton when I commuted into city on Lex. Now I am back on West Side so I don’t go walk that way anymore in the a.m. otherwise I would never have switched to Peerless. I will be using the Clinton cobbler now that I’ve banned myself from Peerless.
    Their name is Azzuro and their number is 718-797-0066. It’s a guy who has another man doing shoes and his mother does the tailoring. He also does not DEMAND the money upfront. He’s actually a good guy. Tailoring can be a little slow.

  38. Peerless Nightmare. October 15, 2009 at 7:45 pm #

    Commenters re Peerless: You are not alone! I took in a pair of shoes about 4 years ago, and the guy charged me over triple the going rate for fixing the heel, then yelled at me non stop at the top of his lungs when I politely pointed out the price discrepancy between his cobbling work and that of almost every other cobbler in the 5 boroughs. The norm is about $6 or $7 for replacement of the little knob at the tip of a stiletto heel; he demanded more than $20. As a woman mentioned above, I have a hard time believing that he would have berated me for commenting on the outrageous price if I were a man. He has no self control whatsoever, and acted like a spoiled child; eyes wild, face red and gnarled with spittle flying from his dry, cracked lips. Yuck. What an angry weirdo. I cringe whenever I walk past that storefront.

    I’ve tried the place in the Clark Street station, and they were quite good with my shoes. I have heard several horror stories about them losing/staining the shoes of others, however. For the past few years, I’ve been solely using the place next to the barber shop on Clinton Street between Joralemon and Remsen. No pun intended. Their work is wonderful, their prices are right on point with the rest of NYC cobblers, and the guy at the front desk could not be more polite and respectful.

  39. andy October 15, 2009 at 9:11 pm #

    blyn20-I have the same issue, between 1/2 and 2/3 of an inch. Where do you get your shoes done, and if you are a female,how do you keep your foot in a shoe with a lift?
    hanks

  40. bklyn20 October 15, 2009 at 9:59 pm #

    Andy — It’s estimated is that my right femur is as much as 3/4 to 1″ shorter than my left. I have a 1/2″ lift put on my right shoes, since the last md who gave me a “prescription” said better to err on the conservative side. But since the difference, even with wearing “fixed” shoes, has caused serious back trouble leading to surgery in 2006, I will eventually see a new doctor and discuss a 3/4 ” lift for sneakers and maybe some of my boots.

    I have no trouble keeping my foot in the shoe because the orthotic would be too damn big to fit inside a shoe! “Peerless Guy” Jimmy measures out 1/2 ” of some heavy-duty foam material and glues it onto the sole and heel of the right shoe. Then I have him put a thin rubber sole atop that, and also a matching thin rubber sole on the left shoe — if I don’t it feels funny. The main problem is I have a de facto platform on one foot, so it’s easy to sprain my right ankle (and I have done so several times) particularly on our charming but uneven sidewalks. If I have a pair of heels I often have Jimmy cut the left heel 1/4″ lower, and then I may only need a 1/4″ platform on the right foot, and so on. Luckily I’ve always been more of a pants girl. If I wore lots of floaty skirts that needed heels that couldn’t be “fixed,” I would take a LOT more taxis and my back would be in much worse shape. To me, a dark-colored thick sole on one foot is better than having to wear an extra-clunky shoe with a regular sole on the bottom. Probably costs less, also.

    Jim’s Shoe repair on East 59th or 60th was good to use when I worked on the Upper East Side, but I think they cost more than Peerless. (Jimmy was not at Peerless yet — it was the smiley Italian guy.) Also, when the lift wears down you have to get it re-done or else!

  41. XYZ October 15, 2009 at 10:17 pm #

    @ Dave: I am not quite sure where you are reading in my statement that I am upset. If you cant read what I say and misinterpret it, who knows what the guy really said to your girlfriend. I am just tired of people constantly whining over the stupidest things. Get over it, move on, dont go back, next.

  42. Andrew Porter October 16, 2009 at 12:32 am #

    I have photographs I took inside Peerless on Montague Street a couple of decades ago. This had a beautiful interior with a wooden latticework balcony and other architectural elements, and it’s all gone now, all destroyed.

    A homeless guy bedded down under the sidewalk shed on Pineapple, behind the dumpster, on Wednesday night, before it started raining. Today, however, he was still there, and walking up and down, screaming. People were walking in the street in order not to pass by him. I called the BHA and the doorman at 111 Hicks about him, and was advised to call the police, which I did. He is, however, back there tonight.

    Anyone else have experiences with this person?

  43. bornhere October 16, 2009 at 12:39 am #

    Andrew: The police will respond, especially if someone seems to be aggressive or really unwell; but if you call 311, they can give you the number of a city agency that actually responds, 24/7, within 30 minutes and actually helps. It’s cold and wet, and it sounds like this guy really needs help.

  44. anon October 16, 2009 at 10:41 am #

    The cobbler solution is relatively easy to resolve: simply move to Cobble(r) Hill :). We have a great cobbler, who is inexpensive, good and friendly. From NY Magazine:
    BOERUM HILL/COBBLE HILL/CARROLL GARDENS
    Michael’s Shoe Repair
    319 Smith St.; 718-243-0288
    Michael Davydov’s as comfortable fixing Louboutins as he is with those comfy old loafers you’re trying to rescue.
    http://nymag.com/bestofny/services/2007/28973/

    If you don’t want to move, get out your passport and visit us on the other side of Atlantic Ave. P.S. our restaurants are better and we’re far, far away from Great Wall :)

  45. RatNYC October 16, 2009 at 3:02 pm #

    @ XYZ: and shouldn’t you put your money where your mouth is? So, you are tired of people whining over the stupidest things and yet you’re whining about the stupidest thing. Tired of people whining on the open thread? don’t read it, get over it, move on, next.

  46. since47 October 17, 2009 at 9:18 am #

    Harry, what do you mean by ‘legit’? Like is he a front for a bookie joint or something worse? The shoemaker (cobbler) on Clinton between Remsen and Joralemon is very good, and has never ruined anything that I’ve brought in. He made leather straps for a pair of vintage roller skates that were needed for a production – and the man actually had a sense of humor. I’d say in this day and age that’s pretty much ‘legit.’

  47. Dave October 17, 2009 at 12:30 pm #

    @RatNYC thanks for saying everything i would’ve but probably better.

    @XYZ – There is a lot more to say about your attitude and even your grammar, but i won’t inundate you with more of those pesky complaints you so hate, so instead, i thank you for your advice and wish you the best.

  48. Clarksy October 17, 2009 at 3:08 pm #

    It’s really nice to see the building on Henry and Pierrepont (161 Henry?) have all its scaffolding come down. Underneath all that black netting is a beautiful building. Does anyone know why it was up for so many years?

  49. Andrew Porter October 18, 2009 at 5:25 pm #

    I heard that they went through three different contractors, one of which got sued, and also there were delays in the creation of the fiberglass reproductions of the new cornices. But haven’t been out in our mini-winter weather to see the unveiling.

    Don’t forget that the scaffolding around St. Ann’s was in place for a mere decade or so.