Times Changed, Tires Not
A couple of days ago I took these two photos to tie together Harlem Hybrid's look at 110th Street with NYC The Blog's look at Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Both streets recently saw tire repair shops close up. Frederick Douglass had the 8th Ave Rim and Tire, and 110th had General Tire. General Tire was a personal favorite, as they let cyclists use their air hose for free.
At the time, I was thinking of matching up the photos with some by-now-trite Smart Car joke, maybe even enhanced with a rim job double entendre. But after the absolute punishment Wall Street has taken these past few days, I'm wondering if loosing them wasn't a mistake for a couple of reasons. I mean, potholes still plague the streets, and where are you going to sell tires to when you need a little extra cash?
For those of us looking for comfort in the familiar, I have a new Smart Car photo after the jump. It has a Semper Fi Marines license plate frame, just for the calming sense of incongruity.
Comments
There's nothing like an ex-marine obama supportin', smartcar drivin', Harlem resident!
PS Thanks for the linkage.
Posted by: Yojimbot | September 18, 2008 11:04 AM
I know - whoever he is - he's a Rock Star!
Posted by: LRG | September 18, 2008 02:02 PM
Yes, I was hella sad to see that bike shop close. That guy was cool and used to give me a tuneup on the regular. The tire shop had been in business since before I even got to the nabe in 95. I was looking through those "invincible city" pics and can find it in the archives going back to the '80s. Things done changed, but maybe the pendulum is about to swing back the other way. But I think its more a case of two steps forward, 1 step back. Harlem has come too far to turn back.
Posted by: Yojimbot | September 18, 2008 07:51 PM
Yes, I was hella sad to see that bike shop close. That guy was cool and used to give me a tuneup on the regular. The tire shop had been in business since before I even got to the nabe in 95. I was looking through those "invincible city" pics and can find it in the archives going back to the '80s. Things done changed, but maybe the pendulum is about to swing back the other way. But I think its more a case of two steps forward, 1 step back. Harlem has come too far to turn back.
Posted by: Yojimbot | September 18, 2008 07:52 PM
The place on 117th was a constant noise violation. I used to live across the street at the Douglass and the guy would run his tire gun up until midnight all the time. sounded like pit row outside. Talked to the owner about it and he blew us off. Don't shed too many tears for his departure. Plus the place was a firetrap. Could never understand how they were allowed to store hundreds of tires floor to ceiling in the base of a residential building anyway. Hopefully a non-bank, non-
aphrodite dry cleaner, non-starbucks business takes its place.
Posted by: bradhurst living | September 19, 2008 12:38 AM