Lawnmower Man of Dumbo

BHB's favorite Brooklyn journo, Gersh Kuntzman, has a piece in this week's Brooklyn Papers about a Watchtower member who is dedicated to keeping a grassy hill in DUMBO manicured to perfection. 

splashimage2.jpgBrooklyn Papers: The Lawnmower Man of DUMBO: The season is finally over for the Lawnmower Man 0f DUMBO.That’s how most people refer to Tom Combs, an elusive figure seen many summer evenings atop an old ridingmower as he cuts the grass along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.Few know who Combs is, but they all recognize hishandiwork: where once there were only overgrown weedsand erosion scars, there are now three perfect lawns, ideal for picnics or sunbathing at the gateway to the rapidly gentrifyingformer factory area.Combs has been the neighborhood’s anonymous mowing man since 1971.“It’s just a neighborly thing to do,” said Combs, now 67.That’s nice for a press release, but there’s a method tothis man’s mowing madness.Combs, a Jehovah’s Witness, moved from Oregon to thesect’s world headquarters in Brooklyn in 1958. He’sworked in the print shop cranking out the latest issues of“Awake” magazine, plus Bibles in virtually every language,but his calling has been those overgrown hills. (For full story download the PDF of this week's Brooklyn Papers)

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