One recent afternoon, surrounded by photos pinned to peeling walls, of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, John F. Kennedy, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, Mr. Egilmez worked at his 1923 Singer sewing machine. Suits, gowns and coats hung in the back of the single room, where a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair, bought secondhand decades ago, held neatly folded clothes. A large mirror reflected a light circle worn into the dark stone floor, from years of clients’ shuffling as they stared at their images.
“Come in!†Mr. Egilmez shouted as soon as a bell rang. A father and his young children entered, along with a few women.
“What’s that for?†Max Neylon, 4, asked as he pointed to a contraption: an iron hooked to a water bottle hanging from an upside down hanger attached to a pipe. “It’s a flat iron, Max,†said his father, Kevin Neylon, a 34-year-old doctor from Ireland. The steam iron, just like Mr. Egilmez’s extensive collection of scissors, had been bought in the garment district 36 years earlier.
Keylah Mellon, a photographer from Haiti, brought in a jacket from the Vietnam War that she bought on eBay. “It was too long,†Ms. Mellon, 26, said, “so he cut a piece at the waist to keep the low pockets.â€
Of the leftover piece, she said: “I’ll use it in my hair.â€
It was Ms. Mellon’s first visit, and she said the basement location “adds character.â€
Rebecca Margolies, 26, was picking up a complicated job and seemed relieved with the results.
“I got the bridesmaid dress for my best friend’s wedding,†she said, “and it was seven times too big.†Mr. Egilmez told Ms. Margolies not to worry. “He was very emotionally supportive,†she said.
Mr. Egilmez prefers the simplicity of cash exchanges or a handwritten check. “I don’t use credit cards,†he said. “And mortgages grab your neck.†(He rents his space.)
Every day except Sunday (when he often goes to the beach), Mr. Egilmez rides his 1945 bicycle from his home in Sunnyside, Queens, to his shop. He locks the bicycle outside to a nearby pole while he works. “Come to the Genius Tailor,†he said. “It’s beautiful, clever and stylish here.â€
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