Author: ruhlwrite

The comforters aren’t stacked straight, and it’s driving Thal Tembelis crazy. He scrambles up a step ladder and adjusts the plastic packages so they are lined up in the light like soldiers at roll call. Thal adjusting the stock. As the owner of Home Comforts, a homespun mom-and-pop version of Bed, Bath and Beyond, Thal is always putting things back in place. “I don’t like it when it looks messy,” says Thal, who has thin white hair and the thick muscles of a college…

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The fingernails on Jamuna Gurung‘s hardy hands are just the right length: Short enough to do work, long enough to be stylish. Jamuna runs the nail salon at Shade Bar Spa. Painted a translucent white, they are tipped with silver sparkles. It’s a subtle touch. Jamuna’s not the showy sort. Jamuna, placid, polite and petite, runs the nail/waxing/threading/facial/pedicure/spray-tanning salon at Shade Bar Spa. “I really love this, honey, because what I do is an art,” she…

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Unfurling her collapsible cane, Cynthia Groopman strides toward the door of her room. Once she’s in the hallway, she feels around the lock with her fingers until she “sees” the slot for the key. Cynthia’s been blind for more than a quarter century. If you’ll be so good as to take her arm, she’ll give you directions to the patio. She likes to sit out there. She can’t see the sun, but she can feel its golden warmth on her face. Cynthia, a small, all-smiles…

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Madeleine’s Hosiery, which has been on Steinway Street forever, or at least for as long as anyone can remember, probably won’t be there the next time you pass by. Madeleine’s Hosiery on Steinway Street at 30th Avenue. In a couple of weeks, there will be a big sale, and after that, it and its girly-girl pink sign will vanish. Michael David looks around the shop. Between now and then, he has a lot of lingerie to sell. Michael was born in Belgium. He’s not worried. He gave…

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If there’s one steady thing that can be said of Gabriela Granados, it’s that she can’t sit still. A woman of fluid movement, Gabriela bends her body into a stiff office chair. Gabriela is the founder of American Bolero Dance Company. Thank heavens it swivels. If nothing else, she can swing her feet from side to side or tap them up and down. And when they have to stay put, she can propel her arms into flight, jabbing them at the ceiling or crossing them in front of her to make…

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