The weekend is here and so it’s time for the weekly blooper roll of shots that didn’t make it into a post throughout the week. Enjoy and have a great Saturday! Sneeze you tomorrow for Cheeseburger Saturday Night!
One of the things I like about writing and blogging is the people you meet along the way. There’s a man who has a shoeshine stand a few blocks from where I live on 6th Avenue between 15th and 14th Street. I’ve probably walked by the man and his stand thousands of times and never said anything. Last Saturday I stopped and said hi and he turned out to be a real nice guy and his shoe shines are just one dollar (the same as a slice of pizza in the joint next to his stand), so I made plans to meet with him today, get a shoe shine and take some pictures. I’ve never had a shoe shine, so I hope he’s gentle with this virgin voyage!
He's located one block down here on 6th Avenue.
And here he...isn't. He told me he'd be here, so I walked around the block, got a bottle of tea from a deli, came back and he's still not here. The guy at the fruit stand said he's usually not here on Monday's. Well, it's time to improvise!
I came back home, went to my good friend Google and typed in, "NYC shoe shine guy." The first posts were all about a guy who is supposedly the most famous shoe shiner in New York and his name is Don Ward. Then I remembered talking about shoe shines with Paul Scanlon during our Bar Exam interview and I thought he mentioned this guy. After emailing Paul, it turns out this is the guy. His stand is on the corner of 47th and 6th. Off to the subway we go, hopefully he didn't take the day off!
Just as I hit the subway, the train pulls up. I love it when that happens!
Okay, we're about a block away, I hope he's here, or this may not be much of a post today!
Look at that on the corner, yes Virginia...
There is a Don Ward! And he's busy shining Eric's shoes, who is like me and has never had a shoe shine experience. Don told me he took one look at Eric's shoes and told him to get in the chair. That's how Don gets a good percentage of his business, he's not shy and calls out to people on the street with pitches like: "If you want to save money, go to Geico, if you want to save your shoes, get on the chair!" He's been shining shoes for the last 22 years in New York and the last eleven have been spent on this very corner. Before he started shining shoes, Don was an accountant and a pastry chef, but he says having his own business is, "Priceless." I asked him if he had a job title and he told me, "Just call me the shoe shine dude!"
Eric's done with his shine and gives Don the five dollar shine fee. The five dollars is worth it just to listen to Don call people out on the street, it's like the shoe shine is a bonus to the stand up act he puts on.
Check it out, Don knows his business. Looks like I'm up next!
And here i am, up on the stand with Gumby. Gumby is just along for the ride, he doesn't have shoes. Oh, okay, he doesn't have feet. Sorry, Gumby, but I have to tell it like it is!
Don put my feet on the marks and told me not to move or I might get hurt.
And he quickly goes to work applying polish to boots that have never been shined in over a year.
As you can see, Don has fast hands, I can see why he told me not to move!
Even as he shines the shoes, he's constantly on the prowl, looking to give someone with scruffy shoes a shoutout on the street.
He got a laugh from this woman as he called out to her and said, "Seriously, you're going to let him walk around the city with shoes in that shape?" Most people smile as Don hurls out his pitches, but not all are amused. He told me that he occasionally gets grief from people and a couple years ago he even got hit with an attache case. "There's always going to be a certain percent of miserable motherfuckers out there," he told me while shining and looking for new targets on the street.
Okay we're in the final stages of the shine right now.
It's a real sight watching him work the towel and buffing up my boots. I can't capture it with pictures, but he's moving at lightning speed.
Okay, we're almost done as Don puts the finishing touches on the boots.
Wow, look at the shine on those boots, they look like new!
Here's the tool's of the trade, located beneath the chairs on top of the shoe shine stand.
And here's a sign listing Don's services. In addition to shoe shines, Don will shine and clean anything leather and for 100 bucks you can have a year of unlimited shines. There's also a drop off service available.
Within minutes of myself stepping down, two regulars climb aboard the shoe shine pedestal. Kevin and Eddie are bus drivers who are regulars and friends of Don's. They said he's the best in town and I have to agree.
Here they are scoping out potential customers, I can almost feel a one-liner brewing in Don's brain.
And here I am, headed for home with a new shine on the boots. Ah, there's no business like shoe business! Oof, sorry, I just couldn't help myself!
Don Ward—The Shoe Shine Dude Southwest corner of 47th and 6th, from 10 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Saturday.
Okay, I feel like I’m going full circle with this post. I’m meeting some friends at Otto’s Shrunken Head tonight, the very first bar I went to on my 365 bar crawl. It’s hard to believe, but it was over two years ago on a Sunday evening that I started that beer-fueled journey. I’ve been back since, but never on a Sunday. I’m looking forward to taking a step back in time! And I’m hoping that Lani Ford is bartending, she has the dubious honor of being the first bartender on this bar crawl, let’s go see!
Otto's is a straight line down 14th Street. It's not always such a straight line on the way home!
And here we are at Otto's Shrunken Head, I love their neon sign!
Every Sunday at Otto's Frank Wood hosts the popular, "Wind Down Sunday," that hosts a good number of bands and there's no cover. It's a great deal and a fun night.
Tiki carved heads are on display in the front window.
And here we are inside Otto's. It's always nice and dark in here with a bit of a green glow. A nice little oasis.
And here's Lani! Lani's a musician and songwriter and has a new band called, Tania and the Revolutionaries.
A shot of some of the lit-up bottles behind the bar.
The view from my perch at the bar.
A hula goddess hangs on the wall in the front of the bar.
And here's the host of the evening, the legendary Frank Wood! I told him that Clacky sends his regards from Australia and he said to say hello, so hello to Clacky from Frank Wood! Then he told me to stop stalking him via my blogs!
Then Goggla and Ed showed up, Ed was a llttle camera shy, so I took a solo shot of Goggla. Then she gave me a gift...
A Gumby shot glass! Too cool! We Ottomized him with a monkey and an umbrella.
Time to break him in, Lani pours a shot of tequila in Gumby.
Cheers! Hey...you can't turn your back on that Frank Wood guy for a second!
A tiki mask and shelves of tiki mugs.
Wow, I was going to check out some of the bands, but it's standing room only.
So it's back to the front half of the bar.
I love the vintage cash register at the bar.
Some Tiki albums decorates this section of the wall in the bar.
Eric showed up and I introduced him to Frank.
Check out Eric's Mars Bar shirt, too cool! It's designed by NYC artist, Sergy and it's a design he originally put on the outside of the Mars Bar. Here's some photos of Sergey in action: EV Grieve. If you'd like a shirt, you can get one here, but you better hurry, there's a limited amount available. All profits from the shirts are going to a non profit charity.
The weekend is here and so it’s time for the weekly blooper roll of shots that didn’t make it into a post throughout the week. Enjoy and have a great Saturday! Sneeze you tomorrow for Cheeseburger Saturday Night!
Fail.
You have to give them credit, this is an original idea for a comedy club.
Hmm...a guy eats 365 meatballs...naaahh.
Uh oh, looks like someone had a shoeless walk of shame last night!
Not only do they live, they've only just begun!
I love it when a photo captions itself.
Out of business, I guess their curry truly was the worst. Oof!
Graden in rear? Time to call a proctologist if you ask me.
Elvis Costello moment...with a Tom Snyder cameo.
For those of you keeping score, this place is still selling boxes. Amazing!
Hey, give me a break, I'm doing what I can here!
11 Comments
