Open Thread Wednesday 10/14/09

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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?

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 :)

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.’

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?