May 23, 2015 By Jackie Strawbridge
Bring that broken desk lamp, leaky coffee pot or wobbly table to Skillman Avenue next month, and a group of thespians will fix it for you.
Pop Up Repair, a short-term itinerant repair service, will visit the Sunnyside Greenmarket on June 6, 13 and 20 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Greenmarket, an initiative of GrowNYC, is an outdoor community market open Saturdays at Skillman Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets.
This will mark the pop up’s first venture into Queens since it began in 2013, according to founder Sandra Goldmark.
Goldmark, who works in theater as a set and costume designer, said Pop Up Repair allows her and her colleagues to put their backstage skills to work cutting down on consumption and waste. With knowledge about costumes, lighting and carpentry, she said, “you wind up having a skill set in every area… we can cover everything in the home this way.”
For Goldmark, Pop Up Repair began as an environmentalist project.
“I was thinking a lot about the bigger picture,” she said. “We don’t get anything fixed, so we buy new cheap stuff, and it starts all over again.”
However, she added, she quickly realized the shop had an emotional impact as well.
“We’ve learned that people are really attached to stuff that they have,” Goldmark said. “I think taking care of what you’ve got and appreciating what you’ve got feels good.”
She said that the shop has been asked to repair everything from old toasters and vacuums to more esoteric items, such as a three-foot decorative spoon, “several weird sculptures” and a dental school diploma that was falling off its plaque.
Pricing varies widely, according to the group’s website. Minor repairs and reinforcements run $15 to $45 depending on the type of item, and complex repairs can run $100 and up. Clothing and textile fixes start at $15.
Pop Up Repair will accept items for repair during its first two visits to the Greenmarket; on June 20 they will offer pickup only.
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7 Comments
Nice advertisement.
Christian, Why do you let a comment like that stand? Its menacing.
I will also be present to offer free mammograms to young professionals.
Red Jacket Orchards, that pic has to be at least 4 years old.
I have one of those, too, Mr. O’Reilly. I suspect there are many rattling around in chests all over the town.
Are they any good at fixing a broken heart? Nice to see another well written piece by Ms. Strawbridge.
more praise of this writers work, what are you her boyfriend?