East Village Shoe Repair resurfaces in Bushwick

[EVG file photo]

The sliver of a shoe-repair shop on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue rather abruptly closed late last November, as we noted here.

Then there was a rumor that the owners were taking over the now-vacant David's Shoe Repair on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Those plans never materialized.

Now BoweryBoogie learns that East Village Shoe Repair, with its name intact, reopened under the JMZ line at 1083 Broadway in Bushwick last month.


[Photo via Popdiatry]

Wonder if Francesca Vuillemin ever got her shoes back?

What has happened to East Village Shoe Repair?

That's the question the Confidential columnists at the Daily News are asking today. The sliver of a shoe-repair shop on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue rather abruptly closed before Thanksgiving, as we first noted here.

And there is some fallout from this closure. To Confidential:

Model Francesca Vuillemin is one of several lower Manhattan tastemakers who recently popped into East Village Shoe Repair to pick up shoes. Hers were pairs by Balenciaga and Miu Miu that she’d left for repairs. She estimates the kicks were worth $700.

Vuillemin had been told by the store’s proprietors many times since September that the repairs were behind schedule and had been asked to come back another time.

An EVG reader heard from proprietor Boris Zuborev that they would reopen in the David's Shoe Repair storefront on East Seventh Street. (The for rent sign is off that space.) We haven't heard anything else about this.

The Daily News tried to contact Boris, but "two calls to a number registered to [him] resulted in a pair of angry hangups."

Reader report: East Village Shoe Repair relocating to former home of David's Shoe Repair

East Village Shoe Repair closed for good at 1 St. Mark's Place last month.

However, a closure may be short-lived. Proprietor Boris Zuborev told a reader that they would reopen in the space that housed David's Shoe Repair on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue… high rents chased the 35-year-old David's to Midtown back in the spring...



As for the former East Village Shoe Repair… next-door neighbor Unique Collection has taken over the space on St. Mark's near Third Avenue...

East Village Shoe Repair has closed

Back in February, we heard that the custom-shoe specialists at East Village Shoe Repair at 1 St. Mark's Place would be closing… unable to continue to make it work here. However, not only did they remain open, but owners Boris Zuborev and Eugene Finkelberg also had the 100-square-foot space renovated.

And that was that… until several tipsters on the block passed along word that the shop closed for good this past Friday. (One tipster said that the marshal was on the scene to seize the store.)

This weekend, a small handwritten note, since removed, said that the store was closed, and there was a number for people to call to arrange pick up of their shoes.

Here's a post from April 2010 on Style Bubble notes:

" ...characters like Boris and Eugene are diminishing in cities... that encounters in grimy holes where they gesture to their faded albums with shoe polish fingers are few and far between... I maybe over-romanticising but I did feel ever so slightly enrichened by a visit to this particular shoe repair joint..."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Will a rent hike force out East Village Shoe Repair on St. Mark's Place?

Reader report: Will a rent hike force out East Village Shoe Repair on St. Mark's Place?

[Via StyleBubble UK]

A tipster passes along word that the cobblers at East Village Shoe Repair on St. Mark's Place may be forced to close or relocate after the landlord hit them with a big rent hike. While nothing is final just yet, they are apparently not very optimistic. (This article from 2006 noted that their rent was $4,000 a month for the 100-square-feet of space.)

A cobbler has been in this space since 1985; Belarus natives Eugene Finkelberg and Boris Zuborev took over in 1994. (Finkelberg is the original owner's nephew.) Aside from quality repair work, the two are well-known for their custom shoe creations... the spot to get the EV creepers.


[Via StyleBubble UK]

A post from April 2010 on Style Bubble notes:

" ...characters like Boris and Eugene are diminishing in cities... that encounters in grimy holes where they gesture to their faded albums with shoe polish fingers are few and far between... I maybe over-romanticising but I did feel ever so slightly enrichened by a visit to this particular shoe repair joint..."

Not sure what kind of tenant the landlord is aiming for in such a small space ... Of course, as previously noted, with 51 Astor Place and its 12-floors of incoming office workers looming in the background ... I wonder about the future of the remaining hole-in-the-wall-type shops along the block...



Bonus Barney.

[Photo by Bob Arihood from 2010]

For further reading:
EV Creepers (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)