Minas Polychronakis arrived penniless in New York City from his native Crete in the 1960s and slowly built a business in the city’s financial district that customers and residents described as “legendary.”
Minas, who was at work, cobbling away and puffing on a cigarette on the morning of September 11, 2001, heard that an airplane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers.
He quietly encouraged his employees to leave, telling them to get to safety as soon as possible. He locked the doors to his shop in the concourse of the trade center where a hundred stories above, all hell was breaking loose.
His car was unreachable due to the chaos that was ensuing so he began walking— pausing for a moment to witness the second tower being hit, before slowly making his way all the way back to Astoria and the comfort of his family.
No small feat for a man who had a permanent disability in his leg after jumping off a roof as a young child in Crete when a buddy dared him to do it.
“It was hours,” Minas told me. “I was walking for hours. I don’t remember how many. All I kept thinking about was my family.”
Minas Polychronakis was like a father to me— always opening his home when I visited New York City and offering me a prominent seat at the family dining room table where he served his signature pork chops fried in a pan and finished with balsamic vinegar.
My connection to Minas began through our mutual affiliation in the Cretan Association and his leadership in the Minos Cretan Association in Astoria.
Much younger than me, Minas’ children, particularly his son Manolis, became like little brothers. We bunked together when I stayed at their house on weekends and shared stories and exchanged ideas about how to keep young people in touch with their Cretan and Greek heritage.
Minas lived, ate, and breathed Crete and was passionate about preserving the island’s heritage amongst the youth of America.
At the Pancretan Association’s national Convention in Anaheim, California in 1990 he traveled from New York City with suitcases and boxes filled with authentic Cretan raki, paximadia, rounds of kefalograviera cheese and other delicacies— enough to feed hundreds— and passed them out to everyone during the evening celebrations.
“If we don’t taste a bit of Crete,” he said then, “then what kind of Cretan convention is it?”
Born in 1941, he started making shoes at the age of 12 and soon became well-known for his craft in Iraklion.
In 1969, he learned that the United States was looking for craftsmen such as shoemakers and got his visa and emigrated to New York.
He arrived in this country with no money. He did not know anyone, and he did not speak English. But he did bring with him a big dream: to open his very own shoe repair shop in New York.
After working as a dishwasher for a year and saving $1,000, he was able to open his first shop at 18th Street and Ninth Avenue.
This shop would change his life. He met his future wife, Maria, at the shop. Minas repeatedly told Maria that her shoes were not ready, so that she would keep coming back to see him. In 1975 they were married.
On Dec. 12, 1977, Minas Shoe Repair opened in the concourse level of the World Trade Center and business was immediately booming.
He started with two shoemakers and three shoeshiners. On Day 2 he needed double help. On Day 3, he needed even more help.
Over the years he became an institution in the financial district of downtown Manhattan.
Customers included Hollywood celebrities, CEOs of the world’s largest banks and Wall Street traders. Minas treated them all equal— always treating the average New York worker with the same smile and same respect.
After the September 11 attacks that saw his life dream turn— literally— to rubble and dust, he bounced back and returned to the neighborhood, opening two shoe repair and shoe shine shops on Wall Street and Exchange Street, not far from the world’s largest construction site.
Minas became one of the most talked-about business-owners in the neighborhood for his resilience and charm. Everyone from the BBC to the Los Angeles Times and dozens of newspapers in between flocked to interview the gracious, humble Greek who loved America so much for giving him the opportunity, despite all of it being taken away from him so violently.
Newspaper clippings lined the walls of his shops:
The photo above is from multimedia journalist Ross Keith’s photo project for the City University of New York that featured a dozen photos from Minas’ shop. See the whole series here.
Only photographs and memories remain of Minas Shoe Repair at the World Trade Center– and this tag from a customer who dropped off his shoes for Minas to repair on the morning of September 11th. The tag is now on permanent display at the 9/11 Memorial.
The last time I visited Minas at his shop on Wall Street a few years ago, he told me that he had plans to return to the Trade Center again. The new Freedom Tower, he said, represented what America meant for him and he promised he’d returned once his business would be profitable again.
Video: Wall Street Shoe Craftsman from Columbia News Tonight
Is The Pappas Post worth $5 a month for all of the content you read? On any given month, we publish dozens of articles that educate, inform, entertain, inspire and enrich thousands who read The Pappas Post. I’m asking those who frequent the site to chip in and help keep the quality of our content high — and free. Click here and start your monthly or annual support today. If you choose to pay (a) $5/month or more or (b) $50/year or more then you will be able to browse our site completely ad-free!
Click here if you would like to subscribe to The Pappas Post Weekly News Update
12 comments
May he rest in peace…eternal be his memory.
What a wonderful and inspiring story. May his memory be eternal.
Just reading this. I’m so sad. Minas was such a kind man. What a legend. A true craftsman in his profession.
i known this man since i was a little kid. I was in the same cretan association with him, his kids manoli, niko, asimena, really nice great kids and the mother a wondering nice lady. I cant believe this i am in severe shock, he always greeted me nice, always smiled, i always made a point to go up to him and shake his hand, never walked by the man and didnt. I dont know what to say, i heard my mom say it and i was like oh man wtf, excuse my language. He known for for 30 years and now idk it is not gonna be the same going into the cretan chapter of minos and not seeing him there. Never ever ever a problem guy, polite quiet and friendly. I really wish i can bring him back, his wife and kids and us dont deserve to lose such a person. Only the good go and he was beyond good, very sweet gentle kind man, My sincere apologies to asimena, manny and niko and the maria your loss, he will never be forgotten, i love you guys and i am not gonna say may he rest in peace, he will always be alive forever and ever. I hope i didnt say anything bad im just in disbelief. I am truly sorry
I work across the street at Deutsche Bank. I recently broke my foot and only had one shoe shined. He would not charge me until I was back in both shoes. So I was extra generous to the shoe shine staff. What an extraordinary man . A true gentleman and human being. I shall remember him forever. A very special person. RIP and God bless.
Michael J. Sommerfield
I was Minos’s payroll sales representative from 1996-2000. I used to cover the Financial District and typically started my day by taking the 1/9 train to the Rectoe St. Station. Minos was the first person I greated every day. I spent a great deal of time over the years chatting with him about various topics. More often than not our conversation was about his family or his beloved Creete. In time, Minos when from being my client to being my friend. I will miss him. Always.
My heart broke yesterday when I found out. I walked in to Minas as usual and spoke to the family as I always do before getting down to shoe business, but did not see Minas. I kept on talking (but that missing presence was strong in my mind, until I finally asked where is your dad? And was told he passed away. My heart broke a little. The presence of Minas when you walked in, the smile, the passion that he wore all of the time was just amazing. May he rest in peace.
You always hear people say nice things about someone when they’ve died and most of the time, it’s almost entirely untrue. Not in this case. Everything you said was true and, yet, still somehow, it falls short. I knew Mina probably since the age of 8, and he knew me even before that (i’m 42 now). I have tried to describe how I feel about him to people who didn’t know him, describe what kind of person he was, and I’ve failed miserably. He treated me like a fourth son, or a fifth child and I looked at him like he was some kind of anomaly of humankind on earth. He was a surrogate father to me and more. I will always always always remember him. Γεια σου Μηνα. Ελαφρυ το χωμα.
Thanks to the Neighborhood Slice for making a documentary starring Minas. Everytime I watch it I remember how he was yelling at me saying, “never bargain with me”, then smiling and putting on a receipt a discounted amount than his regular price. I still own the shoes repaired under his personal supervision and will always remember this kind gentleman when wearing them. Oh Minas, you were most lovely person I ever knew. Rest in peace my dear freind.
When I lived nearby, I used to take my shoes to Minas because I knew he would do them right. He was a talented and honest man. Once I bought a hand bag in that had a small stain asking him if he could clean it. He told me he could but then I would probably be back the next week to clean another stain. He told me to save my money, the stain you could hardly see. Anyone else would have gladly taken my money. Rest in Peace, Minas.
He was from Crete and he would always be from Crete, but he was a true American.
lovley men and smat!! will be miss.