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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  • Dave

    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?

  • ld

    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?

  • Pete

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

  • Dave

    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.

  • Matthew

    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.

  • 55clark

    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.

  • Monty

    @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

  • ABC

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

  • Dave

    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.

  • Homer Fink

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

  • brooklynite

    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.

  • Dave

    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.

  • lcd

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

  • bklyn20

    “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.

  • zburch

    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?

  • Dave

    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.

  • Dave

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

  • Remsener

    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.

  • Monty

    @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.

  • Ramona Quimby

    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.

  • Publius

    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/

  • ABC

    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!

  • BH Resident

    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.

  • Bob

    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.

  • XYZ

    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?

  • Dave

    @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.

  • my2cents

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

  • cv

    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.)

  • cat

    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.

  • bornhere

    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.

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