This week the New York Times beat me to it.
In James Barron's interview, he talks with Bernard Faerman, age 86, and his son, Brian, about life on the Bowery and years spent repairing the analog cash register, "the kind of machine that is slow. It is thoughtful. It is onomatopoeic. Ka-ching."
"Once the Bowery was cash register heaven," writes Barron. "Beneath the old Third Avenue el, among the restaurant supply stores and the flophouses and the down-and-outers who lived in them, stores trafficked in cash registers."
In a time when the Bowery (and the city) is being bulldozed by a tsunami of development, it's always heartening to hear these words: "They own their building, and the son says it is not for sale."
Photos from my flickr
Seems like a fair number of bars in the neighborhood still use the old cash registers....Aside from the International, Mona's, Sophie's and the Grassroots come to mind... I hope enough that keeps Faerman's in business...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was ex-Marine Paul Ruggiero, the self-proclaimed "king of cash registers" at 200-1/2 Bowery. He used to tell stories that were truly incredible—like his being a championship swimmer, his paying for restoration of churches in Queens, etc. These colorful guys really lived life—unlike the nouveau-riche who are taking over the Bowery.
ReplyDeleteDream on, peeps. Their days are numbered.
ReplyDeleteKeep the machines going....shows what America was...My family was the last owners of the Ponyhouse bar...this is the building NCR started....Thank You
ReplyDelete