Where This Writer Gets His Shoes Fixed in the East Village

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New York City has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around our fantastic city that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.

Image via Yelp

Mark Dommu runs the blog The Culture Whore, which curates and celebrates the most interesting and provocative music, art, fashion and more from young artists in Brooklyn and around the world. He's also the culture editor for HEEB Magazine, where he focuses on irreverently lambasting the funnier aspects of Jewish culture, which he also does on his webseries, I Give Good Hebrew. Here, he shows us his favorite spot on St. Marks Place to get his shoes fixed.

I've been going to East Village Shoe Repair since the first month I moved to New York. Right at the tip of St. Marks Place, you'll miss this hole in the wall if you're not looking out for the weather-stained stuffed Barney that graces the entrance. Inside the barely-wide-enough-to-enter space, every possible surface is covered in shoes. I've found everything from almost-new Converse to well-worn Dr. Martens to incredible vintage Beatles boots and nothing is ever more expensive than $30.

The owner, Boris, is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and will tirelessly search for what you're looking for or take down your number and find it for you. You can also get your shoes repaired here on the cheap, and if you like a pair of shoes but not the color Boris and his partner will change the color for you while you shoot the shit over a cigarette.

· HEEB Magazine [Official Site]
· All Shopping Confidential Posts [Racked NY]

East Village Shoe Repair

1 St Marks Pl New York, NY 10003