Not all trash is garbage — DiMola gets antique gift from customer
A customer gave me this tire from the 1920s in 2000.
I don’t really think of my office as a work space — it’s more of a museum. When I take home the items I find out on garbage jobs, I display them in such a way that makes people want to come back and look around for new antiques and finds — the same way you might feel about returning to a gallery to check out a new exhibit.
A customer gave me a real bent tire from the 1920s, based on this photo he saw in my Ridgewood, Queens, office.
More than 10 years ago, in 2000, a customer came to my office to pay his bill for the cleanout I did for him. He looked around my office (pictured below) and was immediately in shock of my collection of cool finds and antiques I get on the job. As he made his way around the room, he noticed a black-and-white photo of a 1929 car that had been in an accident. In the photo (pictured above), the car was parked in front of an old building. Its nose was crushed, the tire was flat, and the bent bumper was hanging off of it.
“Wow,” he said. “I’ve got a wheel that’s been in my garage since I bought this house 50 years ago. Looks just like that thing.”
Two days later, the customer trekked from Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, and showed up to my shop with the old wooden-spoke wheel, flat tire and all. It was a gift to store in my garage, he said, because it would look better in mine than in his. Mine is a museum, after all.
Porcelain sign collection in my Ridgewood, Queens, office
A glimpse of my "museum" (AKA my office) in Queens
Contact Information
DiMola Brothers – Main Office
1640 Summerfield Street
Ridgewood, NY 11385
Phone – (718) 326-6969
Web site: http://dimolabros.com
Trash Treasures of New York City 