At the end of the virtual line, a Montrealer of his acquaintance surprised him by offering him to resume an activity on which he thought he had turned his back for good in December 2001, after 15 years.
“He told me: ‘The Evergreen company is having a hard time recruiting Quebecers to come and sell Christmas trees in New York. They will only open 50% of their kiosks. They need people, it’s going to be a good year. Why don’t you come? ”I said,“ Come on, I’m 65, retired, I don’t need the money. I should be lounging on my Caribbean property instead of spending 16 hours a day selling Christmas trees. ” At the end, I still said, ‘I’ll think about it.’ ‘”
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Marc, a former real estate agent in the Quebec City area, has been selling Christmas trees since the end of November in New York.
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The toque screwed on the head, an anorak on the back and a mask on half of the face, Marc did not need to add a word to make known the fruit of his reflection. At the intersection of 3e Avenue and 32e Rue, in Manhattan, this resident of Île d’Orléans has been selling Christmas trees since the end of November, trying to carry on a tradition that the coronavirus epidemic has almost ended.
As typical as the Rockettes
Every year for more than three decades, Quebecers, mostly young, have arrived in New York after the feast of Thanksgiving , park their van or trailer near their pre-assigned kiosk and sell Christmas trees provided to them by a mysterious New Yorker called Kevin Hammer, the “Myth” says.
Their presence in New York has become as typical of the pre-Christmas period as the department store windows of the 5e Avenue or the Rockettes show at Radio City Music Hall.
However, unable to cross the border in the vehicle in which they sleep to save money, many Quebecers have overlooked New York this year, including the Madelinots who sold Christmas trees at the intersection. from the 3e Avenue and 32e Street for 22 years.
“Me, I rented an apartment that costs me $ 3,000 for a month,” said Marc, their replacement, who also paid $ 400 for a plane ticket. “Then I had to have a screening test in hand that declared me negative for COVID-19 48 hours before I arrived in New York and I had to pass another four days later before I could go out and work. . ”
Despite the fees and the tests, Marc managed to convince a friend from Quebec, who had also sold Christmas trees in New York before, to go with him and run a kiosk in another Manhattan neighborhood.
We said to ourselves: why not go crazy, one last tour in New York?
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Marc
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Chicken fingers and cognac
Even if he prefers to keep his last name silent, Marc is more talkative than most other Quebecers who have braved COVID-19 to sell Christmas trees in New York.
“I would love to talk to you, but my rational side tells me to shut up,” said one, whose booth is in Greenwich Village, where he had his first New York experience as a salesperson. of Christmas trees.
It must be said that Kevin Hammer, president of Evergreen East, does not like his employees talking to the media. In 2006, one of them, originally from Quebec, explained to a journalist from the New York Sun, daily deceased, the operation of the business of “Myth”. Vendors, he said, respond to supervisors, who provide them with trees and tools, and at the end of each day have to hand over their daily receipts, in cash, to a collector.
“I don’t think the supervisors are the ones watching us from afar, but we have the impression that there is always someone watching us”, said this Quebecer on condition of anonymity while tasting ” chicken fingers and a brandy in a bar near the Manhattan kiosk where he sells trees ”, to use the description of Sun.
Typically, Christmas tree vendors are paid on the evening of December 24. Some of them can earn more than $ 10,000. However, that year, the Quebecer and his partner would not have received the money they were owed. Their supervisor reportedly texted the more chatty of the two: “Apparently you steal and talk too much. Chicken fingers and brandy are not a good combination. ”
Kevin Hammer has denied the Quebecers’ claims after they filed a complaint with New York City. But history has only increased the “myth” of this man who himself keeps the media at bay.
The “Guy Lafleur” of the fir trees
Quebecers owe Fiorello La Guardia the right to sell Christmas trees in New York. In 1938, this former New York mayor enacted a law prohibiting any merchant from selling his products on the sidewalk without a permit. When the public realized that the law applied to Christmas tree vendors, a public outcry led to the passage of a new law creating a “coniferous” exception. The only condition is that tree vendors must obtain permission from businesses facing their kiosks.
You only need to spend a moment with Quebec vendors to realize that some of them are part of the fabric of the neighborhood where they are located. “Hi Guy Lafleur! A passer-by said to one of them, who has been selling Christmas trees in the same place for several years.
“Guy Lafleur ?, said the journalist who witnessed the scene.
– His son is working with Gary Bettman on the preparation of the National Hockey League schedule. Since he knows I’m from Quebec, he always calls me Guy Lafleur, ”explained the salesperson. Shortly after, a former customer stopped in front of his kiosk. “You sold me two years ago the most beautiful Christmas tree I have ever bought,” he said. Do you have another like it? “
At the intersection of 3e Avenue and 32e Rue, Marc does not regret the impulse that prompted him to postpone his winter stay in the Caribbean for a few weeks. “People are super nice,” he says. They tell us: ‘We’re glad you’re here, it smells so good.’ There are a number of people who have left Manhattan because of COVID-19. Those who stay need some atmosphere. They need to feel something. So much so that the sales are extraordinary. »What to dream of Madelinots and other Quebecers who stayed at home.
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