This is a profile from the Puerto Rican Bike Men section of my Overlooked New York website.

Rafael, age 45, works as a super's helper in the South Bronx. He spends most of his day in the basement, discussing bicycle decorations over the walkie talkie with Pedro, who works as a super in a nearby building.

“When I was 12, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, I got a present from my Grandfather: it was an old Schwinn bicycle of his. I always had bicycles when I was little, but my Grandfather’s gift changed me.

“The bicycle wasn’t decorated, but it was an antique. My Grandfather had that bicycle since he was 25, and he was 62 when he gave it to me. I still have it. It’s locked up in a room in my sister’s house in Puerto Rico. I’ll never give it away.

“I have 3 bicycles, and I work on them every night, for a couple hours. I take them apart and oil them and put them back together. My friend Pedro customizes the bicycles. Pedro and I come up with ideas for the bicycles together. We talk every day; we are so close, the only thing we haven’t done is get married!

“I’m a super’s helper, and Pedro is a super, and we work in different basements, and we talk to each other all the time on the walkie talkies about the bicycles: what we’re going to do today to the bicycles, what we’re going to do tomorrow to the bicycles. The only thing we don’t do with the bicycles is take them to bed with us!“

Zina Saunders 2013