|
|
"Support businesses and organizations that support Chelsea Now"
Chelsea Now photos by Jefferson Siegel Customer Rudy Martinez enjoys a Dominican cigar at Chelsea’s D.P. Cigars. The smell of cigar smoke permeates Chelsea By Erin Carlyle On a recent Thursday afternoon, Rudy Martinez lit a dark, thick Dominican cigar like an expert and puffed. Martinez, 64, has been smoking for 51 years—since he was 13 years old and in the Dominican Republic. But on this particular day, Martinez enjoyed his Dominican cigar in a small shop in New York. The store, D.P. Cigars at 265 W. 30th St., is one of a handful of Dominican-Cuban cigar shops and factories in Chelsea. Each sells or makes cigars from tobacco grown from Cuban seeds that are planted in the Dominican Republic. Often, the cigars are handcrafted by Dominican immigrants, who bring cigar-making traditions to small businesses throughout Manhattan and the outer boroughs. “If you’re looking for something that compares to a Cuban smoke: Dominican Republic,” said Lindsay Heller, who works at the Nat Sherman cigar store in Manhattan. About 90 percent of New York cigars come from the Dominican Republic, Heller said. Dominicans took over the industry after the U.S. embargo made Cuban cigars illegal here. The country’s soil and topography are similar to Cuba’s, and its cigars are now a major export, she said. Martinez enjoys the flavor and hints that cigars are a safer way to smoke, because you don’t inhale. “My lungs are good,” Martinez said in Spanish, smiling. “I went to the Dominican Republic and had an analysis.” For many, cigars are a family business. Martinez is cousin to the owner of D.P. Cigars, Digna Polanco. Martinez, who lives in the Bronx, rolled cigars for many years, though he’s retired now.
With its gray-and-blue imitation French sofa and armchairs, the shop’s smoking area is masculine yet inviting. Elegant ashtrays top a dark wood table over a gray Oriental rug with burgundy accents. A wood-and-glass case displays cigars made by small local factories, which the owner sells for $2.50 to $6 each. As Martinez smoked, he was joined by two men, who smoked and enjoyed tiny cups of espresso. They declined to give their names but admitted to being part of a regular crowd that gathers at the shop during the early afternoons to smoke. D.P. Cigars plans to sell cigars made on site soon, said Juan Espinar, 43, who works there. The store has applied for a permit to manufacture cigars, Espinar said. Just two blocks away, in a small second-floor factory on Sixth Avenue, a cigar-making business holds just the kind of permit D.P. Cigars will need: a Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco license. At La Rosa Cubana, Frank Almanzar, 42, oversees production of cigars in his family business. Unlike D.P., La Rosa Cubana, at 862 Sixth Ave., is a factory, not a smoking lounge. Several men are seated at wooden workbench stations, but only one is a paid employee, Almanzar said. The rest are friends who come to hang out. The inside of the factory is male-friendly, reminiscent of a mechanic’s garage. Upbeat music with Spanish lyrics fills the air. A dozen photos of lingerie-clad models, a few of them topless, hang on the wall. Above them are a backward American flag and a properly placed Dominican one. Almanzar bashfully admits that he hadn’t noticed that the American flag was incorrectly hung. “Cigar rolling is a technique that takes years of practice,” Almanzar said. Dressed in a black T-shirt with a silver chain necklace peering out from beneath the collar, Enrique deftly cuts the tobacco leaves to form the outer layer of a cigar. He rolls dry tobacco inside a damp tobacco leaf and wraps it once more with a dry leaf to form the outer layer. He places the cigars into a molding and compresses them, 10 at a time, with an ancient metal press. He can make 125 to 150 cigars in a day, Almanzar said. Cigars at La Rosa Cubana sell for $1 to $5. Almanzar pays $3,700 per month in rent, plus about $300 per week to his cigar-roller. The high rent makes staying in business a bit tough, he said. Almanzar’s father, Antonio Almanzar, opened La Rosa Cubana in 1958 at 67 W. 30th St. After the older Almanzar died in 1997, the son took over. The shop stayed on 30th Street until 2001, when the rent rose to $5,000 per month. Almanzar moved the business from its original location to the new building because it was cheaper. But the rent continues to rise, and Almanzar says at some point he may have to move the business to New Jersey. “I don’t plan on leaving soon, but if it gets too complicated we’ll make a decision,” Almanzar said. After the city enacted a smoking ban four years ago, business declined by about 50 percent, Almanzar said. It’s risen since by only about 5 percent, he said. Still, Almanzar mails cigar orders to customers from around the country who know his product. While big stores like Nat Sherman, at 12 E. 42nd St., sell famous brands, Almanzar says his business has something that sets it apart. There are nine different kinds of cigars; the smallest are slightly larger than a cigarette, the biggest about an inch in diameter and eight inches long. “Sometimes, people want to have a cigar that’s freshly rolled,” he said.
|
Artigiano our latest family addition:
|
|
Chelsea Now is published by |
Written permission of the publisher must be obtainedbefore any of the contents |
Part of the wide assortment of Dominican cigars for sale at D.P. Cigars
