Best of New York 2014 • Home & Help

• Romano Cobbler

  224 Eighth Ave., nr. 21st St.; 212-675-7463

  Roman Nektlov opened his small Chelsea storefront in September, but his reputation for salvaging city-street-destroyed soles has already extended far beyond the neighborhood. (He gets regular clients coming in from Queens and New Jersey.) In the business for 43 years, he began studying at his father’s knee in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, at age 13, and worked with another cobbler just a block east before going solo. Nektlov has developed the artisan’s eye needed to refurbish designer heels (he’s used to completely resoling red-bottomed Louboutins, from $40) but retains the folksy touch of a small-town cobbler (he’ll offer you a Ukrainian chocolate on the way out). Basic repairs like adding taps to dress shoes cost as little as $3, fixing a broken boot zipper starts at $15, and he’ll never push the more expensive of two repair options if the cheaper is just as good.

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