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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Homeless Handyman Fixes Bikes on the Cheap for Lower East Siders

By Patrick Hedlund

DNAinfo News Editor

LOWER EAST SIDE — Street-smart city cyclists in need of a quick fix for their rides know where to go when a flat tire or pedal problem strikes.

They head for the gray-bearded man surrounded by stray bike parts at the corner of East Houston Street and Second Avenue, because he works quickly and only charges a few bucks for small jobs.

"New York is a hive, especially for bicycles," said Natividad Zirate, 64, who repairs bikes right on the sidewalk and can turn a job around in mere minutes.

He provides a welcome option for riders in need of minor repairs who don’t want to spend three or four times that amount at a local cycling shop.

"I just don’t have the money to go down the street [to a bike shop]," said Juan Puntes, owner of the nearby White Box art gallery on Broome Street, who visited Zirate on Tuesday to have his rear wheel repaired.

“The places are just enormously expensive for the common-wage earner. A regular person can't go into these bike shops anymore.”

Enter Zirate, who may ask $25 for job that could run as high as $100 elsewhere, Puntes said.

“It’s nice to see him taking over the streets and making a wage,” he added.

Zirate, who is homeless, pushes his large metal toolbox-on-wheels to the intersection daily to work from about 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

At night, he heads for safer streets in the West Village, where he says he can sleep without worrying about anyone stealing his wares.

Originally from Mexico, Zirate came to New York in 1969 to experience “the big city,” and wound up staying on and off for the next four decades.

"I like New York, and New Yorkers are wonderful — they don’t have big egos like in other states," he said, explaining he takes a bus to California each winter to avoid the cold weather.

During the warmer months, Zirate tends to a lot of bicycle deliverymen — many of whom he says are Mexican, like him — and earns enough to eat and buy bike parts for repair jobs.

He learned the craft by fixing up his own bicycles through the years, and claims to have crisscrossed the country on his own wheels — riding from Miami to New York City on his most recent trip in the 1990s.

“It’s the independence, I guess,” he said of why he gravitated to bikes. “I never owned a car.”

Aside from the quick and inexpensive service, many patrons come to Zirate to support his way of life.

“He’s a roadside cat,” said Mark Stewart, 49, a local resident for the past 20 years, who visited Zirate for the first time on Tuesday to get a flat tire fixed.

“It’s just a very human thing. I’m really glad the city doesn’t give him a hard time, because he’s an asset to the Lower East Side.”

Another customer, a lifelong resident of the neighborhood who declined to give his name, said he can relate to Zirate’s “hustle” to make a buck.

“I know what it is to work on the streets,” he said, “so I contribute to the guys on the streets.”

And what keeps Zirate going, from morning to night, every day at the same corner?

“The money,” he said with a smile, adding, “I get a kick out of fixing bicycles.”