He is Nova Novice.
The great Jewish Locks slicer, 91-year-old Len Burke, is brandishing his 18-inch knife behind the counter in Jabar after a year-long absence due to the epidemic.
“I was nervous,” the non-passenger told his post to work on Thursday. “But when I picked up the knife to cut my first salmon, it was like riding a bike. I did not forget. “
A former accountant, Burke has spent the final 26 years of his retirement working at the Upper West Side Institute, where his famous Picky clients over the years include Jerry Sinfield, Jerry Stiller and Woody Allen’s mother.
He said that there are some 20 types of customers, including “watcher” (which dazzles), “tightness” (which noses on free samples) and “multitasker” (which together make cheese, meat and fish at the counter Shops have to save) time).
“People come to me again and again,” said Burke, who has regained his long-standing counter-position. “Some people say that I am their lock slicer and they will always come to me, even if they have to wait extra time.”
To meet the demands of the store’s distinctive Pesetarians, Burke specializes in nearly diaphanous slices.
“Thin thing,” he said. “If it is not thin enough, people become fearless. They want it to be thinner than anyone. “
To get $ 49 per pound of lox, Burke said, “you have to be the one with the fish.
“I found that slicing salmon is a very erotic experience,” he said. “I place my hands on the oily surface of the fish, and it is very soothing and comfortable – it is a very pleasant feeling.”
Last March, his employment was temporarily devastated when the city entered COVID-19 lockdown.
It was a shock to Burke.
“I thought, ‘This is my life’ – a part of me wanted to make my decision. I wanted to gamble and work very well,” said the married grandfather of seven, who still works for Pelham.
“Work and strength are very important to me.”
By the time he returned to work a few weeks ago, Burke would occasionally come in as a customer, but with a heavy heart.
“It was Bitwatch,” said Burke, who admitted that after all these years, “I was almost an institution. I was told by the manager that people had been asking me constantly in the past year.”
Burke first got the job after seeing a newspaper ad and trying on the spot for co-owner Saul Zabar, who was his senior.
“I didn’t do it for the money,” said the lifelong eater, who makes $ 18 an hour as a fish slicer – less than the $ 200 rate as a certified public accountant.
“I did it to do something. I felt that it was necessary as a human being to contribute to society.
“Sure, I had made more money then, but I never had so much fun.”
Also, when you get it, you get it, Burke acknowledged. “I have a way with salmon.”
And now that he has undergone complete vaccination, he is not letting the grass grow under his feet.
“I wanted to go back from the day I stopped,” said Burke, who received his second dose in February.
“At my age, you don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m 91 years old, you never know how things are going. “
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