Video of the Day: Reverend Billy Supports Local Shoe Repair Shop

Over the weekend, Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Choir paid a visit to a closing establishment on 10th Street across from Saint Mark's Church. After 45 years Angelo Fontana's shoe repair shop is being priced out of the East Village, and the good Reverend was there to make some noise.

The Villager recently wrote about the East Village sole saver, who has been at the same intersection for 45 years, and in the same storefront for 25. His neighbor, who may also lose his retail space, said “The landlord can’t do much with just Angelo’s space. Maybe NorthFork will take over the two spaces. We need a bank on all four corners.” [via Vanishing New York]

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By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on February 5, 2008 3:28 PM

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pop_rouge

Why do neighborhoods in New York so often fail to protect the very things that make them interesting? Closing this place is a tragedy that may be lost on some but for me it's like watching a species go extinct. it's the only affordable, quality repair place I have ever found in the city, and I've tried at least a dozen over the last ten years living here. I always end up travelling back the East Village to have them fix other cobblers' mistakes. Where will the hobbits who work there go when nameless glossy bank moves in? I hope they will re-open, even if the smell of glues and ground leather aren't infused in the shop I will definitely follow suite.