Stories From Main Street: The Fixers Collective Will Try Fixing Your Stuff In NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Remember the days when if something broke, you had it repaired? Well, the Fixers Collective bristles at the notion of a throwaway, disposable society.
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"Some of us work with wood. Some of us work with metal, electrical products, and electronic products, too," said the Collective's Vincent Lai.
About once a month, close to a dozen self-proclaimed fixers tinker and toy with broken objects at the Proteus Gowanus art gallery in Brooklyn or the NYU student center in Manhattan.
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Lai says they love to improvise.
Once, a man a brought in a paper shredder with a dead motor.
"We were lucky enough to be in a shop that had welding equipment. So, we took a few gears - he brought in a handle, a crank-type handle, and we were able to create essentially a hand-cranked paper shredder," Lai told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams.
Getting your item fixed comes free of charge, though they will accept donations.
LINK: Fixers Collective NYC
They get a lot lamps, headphones, bowls, boots, fans, and air conditioners. They've even received a violin bow. You name it, they get it.
Lai even keeps a jar of spare capacitors for televisions.
"You can be quoted several hundreds of dollars for a wholesale large-scale replacement when, with a little bit of of research and a little bit of the documentation, you can buy a replacement part for $1 and with a soldering skill, you can get your TV back up and running," said Lai.
The Fixers Collective - they repair, resurrect, and repurpose.
"We want to help educate people about fixing their stuff and just trying to put a little bit more life into the things around them," said Lai.
The Collective hopes to expand its talent pool and, one day, even have its own permanent space.
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