Author: ruhlwrite

A biker-black Dodge RAM pickup pulls up outside SL NYC, and motorcycle man Sasha Alexander Lerner steps out onto the sidewalk. Sasha, a tall and lean man in black, has three bikes at home – two SL customs and a modified Harley FXR – but the early-morning spring breeze was brisk and biting, so he took the truck. He knows how disappointing this looks so he quickly adds, “It has manual transmission.” Before I can comment, he raises the shop’s metal gate, revealing a herd of Harleys in…

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“I’m just a regular guy who talks to this other guy,” says Alex Altomonte. The other guy, who is with Alex, is Kazoo. You can’t see him, and you can’t hear him. But that’s OK because Alex stands ready to convey any and all messages Kazoo brings to you. Alex, you see, is a medium, and Kazoo is his spiritual guide. They met when Alex was a boy. Alex, an only child who was raised by his grandmother and single mom, was born in Astoria. It’s unclear when Kazoo was born, but by the time…

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Manuel Nunez is wearing wingtips. They are the color of caramel and polished to you-can-see-your-face-in-them perfection. I know this because I look down when Manuel tells me about them. Manuel, who spends his 8 a.m.-to-8-p.m. days standing while saving soles at Hong’s Shoe Repair, doesn’t wear them to work. He has dressed up for me and my camera. His work boots – black behemoths by Red Wing – are in the back, ready to receive his feet. Manuel, whose hands are leopard spotted with…

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What do a statue of Ganesha, an electric-red Kramer guitar, a 20-year-old ZZ plant, ticket stubs from Bad Brains and OFF! concerts, a Malta stamp and a black Trek road bike have in common? I’m guessing you’ll never guess. OK, here’s the answer: Mike Dijan. I told you you’d never guess. Mike, obviously, is interested in a lot of different things. Besides the aforementioned, he’s into carpentry, yoga, long-distance running, veganism, triathlons and nutrition. And probably a couple…

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Sitting in her bright white-walled design studio, Sarah Merenda flips through her book of wallpaper samples. The owner of Merenda Wallpaper, she’s not looking for any particular pattern, which is a good thing because her designs are diverse and if you don’t know Sarah, you might mistakenly think they are random. She stops when she gets to , a vibrant floral. She named it after her grandmother and is particularly pleased with the purple colorway. A little later, she pulls out , whose smiling…

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