BIENVENID@! Welcome to the East Harlem branch of Repair Cafe. We’re the only Repair Cafe in New York City!
Repair Cafe El Barrio: Where our beloved but broken possessions find a new life.
Repair Cafes are free, community-led events where volunteer experts help visitors diagnose and fix broken household items. They originated in The Netherlands in 2009, and now run in cities and communities all around the world.
** We are looking for volunteers to join our team in 2024. Just dedicating 4 hours of your month can unleash a ripple effect of positive impact. Your unique skills and generous personality are exactly what we're looking for to make Repair Cafe El Barrio a hub of innovation and positive change. Head to our volunteer page, share your story, and let us know when we can witness your incredible contributions in action. The time to make a difference is now! **
JOIN US ON OUR SECOND YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!
Sunday October 20th from 11 to 5pm in collaboration with NYC Fair Trade
At Repair Cafe El Barrio the objects we most commonly repair are vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, lamps and clocks but our services extend to clothing, bikes, toys and audiovisual equipment.
Our job is to empower our visitors with super duper repairing skills and we do this voluntarily. We don’t work for you, we work with you!
We meet once a month in the main gallery of El Barrio Artspace at 215 East 99th street. Each Sunday session runs from 11am to 2pm and is free and open to the public. We only require that you contact us in advance with a photo and brief description of what you need repaired. Once the assignment is agreed on, we will reserve your attendance on a specific date. Due to the growing demand of repairs on our location, we are starting to limit the number of times a visitor can bring an item to repair. Contact us in advance for more information & Stay tuned for 2024 dates.
Repair Cafe El Barrio featured on BBC Earth!
A Day at Repair Cafe El Barrio
Meet Our Team of Volunteers!
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Rocio Salceda
FOUNDER
Fashion designer, troublemaker from Madrid based in NYC and founder of Repair Café El Barrio. Her specialties include sewing, adjusting clothing, repurposing textiles, and chatting with our visitors.
IG: @RocioRSalceda
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Miguel Angel Rivera Reyes
ALL STAR REPAIRER
Puerto Rico in da house! Miguel is a multidisciplinary artist and our star repairer. He can fix anything under the sun, swiftly and with style. Miguel’s specialties are appliances and electronics, but we often try him for something that doesn’t fall under those categories, and he delivers! Miguel lives for the challenges.
IG: @marr_art
Want to help out?
If you would like to become a volunteer and join the team of Repair Cafe El Barrio, please contact us! Let us know who you are, what you do, what you can do for Repair Café.
DONATIONS
We accept cash donations during our events but please share your support anytime! We can receive online donations via our Venmo account @repaircafeelbarrio — every little bit helps!
100% of our donations are reinvested at Repair Cafe on equipment maintenance, materials, food for visitors, and marketing materials such as this website.