Entrepreneurs risk fines and jail in NYC

HoustonChronicle.com - Mechanics eke out a living on New York streets:
"The men saunter up and down a littered block of Third Avenue in the Bronx, casting glances at passing cars. When the cars slow down, the men mouth silent promises of a cheap fix. When the drivers pull over, the men scan for cops before sliding up to the curb."

The "cheap fix" described here is not drugs, but auto repairs. Mechanics with tools but no shops, wait with their tools on a short stretch of Third Avenue in the Bronx where auto parts stores abound. They dodge the cops who hand out $100 tickets and occasional two-day stretches in jail to offer cut-rate mechanic services curbside. In the country we have "shade tree mechanics" plying their trade at their homes, but in NYC they are called "street mechanics."

The desire for independence, the willingness to struggle against unfeeling bureaucracy, the ability to make one's way on one's own terms, all seem to be alive and well in NYC. And, some of these fellows manage to make $40,000 per year on a job that doesn't start most days until noon.