Packing up Sixth Street Specials

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Sixth Street Specials, the motorcycle repair shop known for its work on vintage Triumphs, continues to move out of its longtime home here on Sixth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. 

There has been a lot of activity recently, as the business will vacate the space by the end of the week.

As we first reported in March, owner Hugh Mackie (below, middle), who opened the shop in 1986, is retiring.

Shop manager Joshua Mackenzie is taking over the business and moving it to New Rochelle. The new location — formerly home to Urchin Custom Cycles at 11 Lincoln Ave. — will open on June 3 and operate Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Mackie and his family, who also lived in the building, are moving to Queens. The rest of the building, which has been on the sales market, is now vacant. 

Mackenzie (pictured below), who worked at the shop from 1997 to 2002 and returned in 2020, plans to continue the shop's focus on vintage Triumph motorcycles. He's keeping the name Sixth Street Specials "for now and for the foreseeable future." The shop's Triumph mural will be preserved.

"Hugh will always have a bench," Mackenzie told me previously. "It'll be my shop, but he'll always have access."

Here's a look at space as the move-out got underway...

To follow the shop's move and reopening, visit @6thstreetspecials on Instagram. 

After nearly 40 years, the move closes another chapter for this stretch of Sixth Street.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• After nearly 40 years, Sixth Street Specials prepares for its final ride in the East Village 

• A visit to Sixth Street Specials