Photo: Art Koch
03 February 22

NYC's clockmaster at work
NYC's Clockmaster at work inside tower clock, 346 Broadway 

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In 1979, city employees Marvin Schneider and Eric Reiner volunteered to fix this clock (whose ownership had passed to the city) on their lunch hours and days off. It took them more than a year to figure it how it worked and make the repairs.

Mr. Schneider continued to volunteer his time on other clocks for 12 more years, until the city offered him the official position of Clockmaster, which he continues to hold today.

This photo is from an article on Save America's Clocks; Fig. 1 was taken by our staff photographer on a downtown clock-hunting expedition.

This was a top-of-the-line unit. The mechanical works that Marvin is adjusting once regulated 100 "clocks" in the building. The Howard would trip a switch every minute and send an electrical impulse to the "slave" clocks, advancing their works by one minute. (Magnetic North)

 

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