Williamsburg, NY – The squat black vending machine sits on the sidewalk on South Sixth Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, outside Traif Bike Gesheft, eliciting curious glances from passers-by and occasionally a more thorough visual inspection.
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Six feet tall and three feet wide, the machine features nine rows of plastic windows housing rotating trays. At the click of a button, the trays spin to display the items inside: bicycle tire patch kits, pumps, brake pads and other objects that are neither edible nor potable, but which might come in handy for a quick repair.
The contraption, says Baruch Herzfeld, the owner of Traif Bike Gesheft — Yiddish for “non-kosher bike shop” — is the first vending machine for cyclists in the city.
“We see somebody with a flat, we try to help them,” said Mr. Herzfeld, whose shop also holds free weekend repair workshops run by the environmental group Time’s Up. “Now we have something that works 24 hours.”
Mr. Herzfeld, 38, is a familiar figure in South Williamsburg, a Barnumesque bike advocate and promoter who specializes in somewhat eccentric experiments. Last year he announced that he would lend bikes to Hasidic residents of the neighborhood, some of whom had objected vehemently to the creation of bike lanes on Kent and Bedford Avenues.
He was also a sort of spokesman for a group that planned a naked bike ride to protest the removal of part of the Bedford Avenue lane. (The night of the scheduled ride turned out to be one of the more frigid of the winter; the ride took place, but the protesters kept their clothes on.)
Mr. Herzfeld said that he bought the used vending machine for $1,800 and would be satisfied if it paid for itself at some point. If it didn’t, he said, it would not be the end of the world.
“We’re not very commercial,” he said. “You buy the machine and you figure it out.”
Vending machines for cyclists exist in a few bike-obsessed places elsewhere in the country, including Madison, Wisc., and Seattle.
In the days since Mr. Herzfeld installed his, a few people had stopped to buy items, he said. In addition to the repair supplies, the machine sells bells ($2 to $10), small U-locks ($5) and inner tubes ($6).
Mr. Herzfeld said that he was thinking of locking used bikes on the street and selling keys to them in the vending machine for about $100 so that passers-by could indulge a whim to go on a midnight ride.
As Mr. Herzfeld stood admiring his machine, Karen Codd, 29, an art gallery manager from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, stopped by.
“I like the idea that this is here to do something for the bicyclists,” she said. “Bicyclists aren’t always taken care of by the community.
Baruch Herzfeld is an enterprising young man. I wish him mazal in his business ventures.
baruch herzfeld is a tzadik. we need more jews like him. he tries to bring people together, instead of picking fights.
What a kiddush Hashem.
Who is that Hertzfld and why does he have to be so dafkedik and what’s hi agenda ??
Baruch, you should always be able to help our chasidish community in your many beautiful ways, Umein.
We need to thank you very much, because you give us the tools to excel in our physical bodies, so we can do our Avdus Hashem with health, happiness and joy, The way Hashem really wants.
how do u no he doesnt keep shabbos. a spokesman doesnt mean he condoned the ride he just spoke up for the groups wants and needs for a bike lane for safety which might of been for business reasons also . who said he partcipated in the ride.
Ok I know him personnel. He is a very interesting artistic guy. Believe it or not he has lots of chasidushe sfurim in his place most are poilisha sfurim. And his freinds are also great people. All Jews are amazing. You never know what’s inside. Burich we love you.
When did he change the name for treif. And why ?
He is a Chassidishe yingerman, an einikel of a big Chassidishe Rebbe.
He is best friends with moshe grinfeld
I don’t understand the opposition to bicycles in the Williamsburg community. I was in Boro Park last week on Thursday, and I saw many frum Yidden on bicycles.
Oh, and in Washington, DC there are also bicycle rentals on the street.
This Hertzfeld guy looks a little like Alfred E. Newman.