DIMOLA’S PASSION FOR JUNK

 

Nick DiMola, sitting in front of hundreds of porcelain signs he's found on NYC demolition jobs and home clean-outs

Some people collect art. Others collect coins. Nick DiMola collects trash — literally.

For the past 30 years, DiMola, 40, has been preserving items he finds on the job at DiMola Bros., his rubbish removal and interior demolition company. He has thousands of items displayed in his Ridgewood, Queens office, from World War II letters to 1950s sports equipment. For DiMola, cool items are not hard to find.

“Ninety-five percent of the time I find something on the job that I want,” DiMola said. “It could be a bottle cap, it could be a newspaper article, it could be a coin.”

DiMola’s passion for collecting antiques began in the 1980s, when he found products from the 1950s that had decals with interesting writing and advertisements. First, he displayed his findings on a small shelf near his workbench, which was the only office space he had at the time.

“Next thing you know, it just keeps accumulating, filling the walls, filling the ceiling,” DiMola said.

In the mid-1990s, DiMola moved to a small warehouse in Ridgewood, Queens, but he kept his antiques in boxes because he had too many to display. Finally, in 2007, DiMola moved to a warehouse in Queens that was four times the size of his small Ridgewood office. Now, his collection covers his floor, walls and ceiling, giving visitors plenty to look at and admire. And, although he’s proud of what he has now, DiMola is not finished collecting antiques he finds on the job.

“It’s part of me,” DiMola said. “I love saving history. I’m going to keep doing this until the day I retire.”

Contact Information

DiMola Brothers – Main Office
1640 Summerfield Street
Ridgewood, NY‎ 11385
Phone – (718) 326-6969‎

Web site: http://dimolabros.com