Rickford Dhoman’s car shop, with its giant red doors, is hard to miss when you’re walking down 49th Avenue and Fifth Street in Long Island City. Dhoman, who’s been a mechanic since he was 16 years old, has been working out of the location for more than three decades.

KNR AutoRepairs, which Dhoman runs with his wife Katie, is open for now, but it’s on borrowed time.

Dhoman’s landlord told them they have to leave the location by late March.

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Rickford Dhoman, who runs KNR AutoRepairs with his wife Katie, has been working out of his Long Island City location for more than three decades

Dhoman’s landlord recently told them they have to leave the location by late March. Many of Dhoman’s customers told NY1 it will be a big loss for the neighborhood

Dhoman says the property value has increased so much that the landlord told him he wants to find a more profitable use for the building. NY1 wasn’t able to reach the landlord for comment

“It’s just sad for me to close the shop and move out of the neighborhood, because I been here such a long time,” he said. “And I got so many clients and so many friends here.”

Over the 30 years, he’s watched low-rise buildings make way for new, shiny residential towers that are all around his one-story car shop.

Thirty years ago, Long Island City was a bustling industrial neighborhood with factories and warehouses. The population in Long Island City and Hunter’s Point went from 6,200 people in 2000 to more than 32,000 in 2020 — and developers say even more now.

The residential boom didn’t start until the early 2000s, when the Bloomberg administration allowed for more mixed-use development in Long Island City.

Since 2009, developers have added 33,000 housing units, with around 15,000 more planned after the City Council’s approval to rezone 54 blocks of Long Island City to allow for residential development.

Dhoman says the property value has increased so much that the landlord told him he wants to find a more profitable use for the building. NY1 wasn’t able to get in touch with the landlord to confirm this.

“I know they gonna develop the property, I know about that, because he already said that they wanna demolish as soon as I get out of the property, that’s what he told me,” Dhoman said. “There used to be a lot of shops in the neighborhood before. Most of the shops finally closed down, and they become like high rise buildings. I’m the last guy in this location.”

Many of Dhoman’s customers told NY1 it will be a big loss for the neighborhood.

“He’s like an uncle to me, when it comes to honesty, he’s a standup guy,” said 27-year-old Ben Karameti, who has been coming to Dhoman since he was in his late teens with his first car.

Jay Jay Nesheim, another customer, has been coming to Dhoman for around 15 years. She says she likes him because he’s nearby, and someone she can count on. 

“Last year, when my car battery was dead, Rick walked back to my garage with me, and jump-started it in the garage, and then drove it back here to change the battery,” Nesheim said. “That’s not the type of service that you get from these kind of bigger chain places, so I think it’s going to be a huge loss for Long Island City to lose Rick’s shop.”

And Rick Rosa, another customer, says Dhoman has been working on his car for 20 years now. Rosa has been in the neighborhood since 1999, and has seen the transformation.

“The old businesses are leaving, and it’s paving the way for the new buildings that are coming in. It’s a sad story, it’s happened over and over again, but it hits home when it’s someone that you know,” he said.

Dhoman and his wife, who are trying to embrace the change, are looking to find another location. They’re concerned rents will be too high to make the business work in Long Island City, so they’re also looking to open a shop closer to where they live, in Kew Gardens.

“I’m hopeful for the future,” Dhoman said. “I’m trying to find something in this neighborhood that I could keep on doing what I love to do.”

Dhoman says his two workers want to stick it out with him until he figures out his next steps with the business, and are hoping the business can stay open in another location.