Photo by myself in Cadman Plaza, in Downtown Brooklyn.
A woman selling vegetable peelers drew a small crowd outside Borough Hall, in Brooklyn.
Mark looked over my shoulder as I was reviewing some photos I'd taken recently.
'Oh that's the carrot peeler's daughter', he said.
Yes, it was.
The Carrot Peeler in question didn't just peel carrots, he sold carrot peelers. The late Joe Ades was a fixture in Union Square for years and years.
Joe would prattle at great length about his vegetable peelers in his distinctive British accent. He was always dressed in a jacket and sounded astonished by how well his peelers worked. You would find Joe on Union Square West around 16th Street, with his white buckets, piles of shredded carrot and a crowd around him.
Joe passed away in February 2009 at the age of 75. He is missed by all, but it seems his daughter Ruth, (who strikingly resembles her father!) has taken up the family business. In front of her was a pile of shredded carrot.
For a photo I took of Joe Ades in his element in 2008, click here.
Read about Joe Ades in the Times, here.
Related posts: En Masse, On Canal Street, Selling Grapes on Canal Street and Yet Another Street Fair, Bleeker Street.
6 comments:
Joe Ades était en effet un personnage incontournable de ce marché. Je savais pas que sa soeur avait repris sa place, c'est sympathique
That is a lovely story about an extraordinair person.
Great portrait & story Kitty!
& I'd love to know, does she have a British accent too?
Nice contrast of faces, the seller and the customer. A moment of life.
What an interesting thing - who would have thought of that? Fascinating.
Thanks everyone!
Lily, I'm pretty sure she had a British accent. I wasn't listening to her spiel too much, fiddling with the camera, but it sounded British to me. :-)
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