Noticed this funny little truck ringing an old-fashioned bell on Greene Ave recently. I was with a neighbor who informed me that this old guy drives around Brooklyn sharpening knives. You simply flag him down and bring your knives. Apparently he’s a real institution, but this was the first I’d heard or seen of him.
Is there any rhyme or reason to his schedule? Anyone ever flagged him down and asked him to sharpen stuff?
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If anyone has his contact information or is privy to his schedule, please let me know.
his horn makes the most annoying noise ever. you’ll hear him.
Hey I just got my knives sharpened by him last week. It was only the second time in the past two years that I’ve heard him on Cambridge Place. I just could not resist the old-fashionedness of it. He charged me $15 for two large chef’s knives. I didn’t bring out my really good ones, and was glad for it, because he really ground down the blades. Still, they were almost useless before he came. Chowhound has a long and useful discussion about the sharpening trucks. Apparently Brooklyn has a few! http://www.chowhound.com/topics/239205
some interesting info here…
http://www.dailyheights.com/archives/514
These trucks have been around for years. When I lived in Williamsburg it costs $2 for one knife. I now live in Clinton Hill and haven’t seen them but since Cambridge Pl is the next block over from me, I have hope.
Those guys have been around for years and years! I remember them from when I was a kid growing up in Queens. There’s one that comes to Boerum Hill now (not the same as this Fort Greene one)and then do a great job! You can also get your gardening implements sharpened by them, including lawn mowers!
where have you been? this is standard issue in brooklyn. keep an eye open and you will see the knife sharpening truck. posting it now on this blog only shows that this blog is out of touch!
I thought it was a very cool idea in an old-fashioned way and ran out when I saw him last summer. But I was kinda disappointed when he charged me $25 bucks for maybe 4 pretty small paring knives. He wasn’t very friendly either. Whatever…I did it and now I’m over it.
Thank you Kev for being thoughts from the hip corner of Here & Now Avenues.
There’s something cutely Darwinian in the way the truck drives people to grab some knives and run.
We got 5 knives done this weekend for $30. It seemed a fair price to me because he does a good amount of work on each blade. And don’t forget, you don’t have to schlep your knives out to some specialty store. I liked the way the neighbors came out and hung out on the street—it was like the Good Humor man for grownups. I say the proprietor’s crankiness is just part of the old-world charm.
Kev, you are a jerk. I’ve lived in BK all my life and never heard of this guy. Loser.
Nice photo. I remember grungier green trucks winding through Brooklyn neighborhoods in the 1970s and ’80s, but never used their services.
A few blogs (already listed in comments) have discussion of “Bob” and other sharpeners. The best is the audio history at http://www.albany.edu/talkinghistory/radiodiaries/rd-nyw-grinder.mp3
Nice photo. I remember grungier green trucks winding through Brooklyn neighborhoods in the 1970s and ’80s, but never used their services. Great audio history is at http://www.albany.edu/talkinghistory/radiodiaries/rd-nyw-grinder.mp3
I had my knives sharpened by him once. He charged me $2.50 per knife, and told me that the condition of my knives was “pathetic.” He did a good job, but it was far from the romantic, old-worldy experience I had anticipated.
When we lived in Greenpoint, this fellow came down our street and out of curiosity we checked it out. Then we moved to Clinton Hill and thought we’d never see him. But, lo and behold, he’s been in our neighborhood several times over the years. When we see and/or hear him, we run out into the street. He does great work and is completely reasonable. He’ll sharpen everything—-except the machetes my next door neighbors use when cutting down their chest high weeds once a year! (remember the “church” picture a couple of months ago?) That he would not do. Bless him.
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