If the worldwide financial crisis is a 195-car pileup caused by a bunch of manicured dicks in bespoke suits driving around drunk while rifling through a dossier of cooked-up financial portfolios, then pawnshops are the hospitals where the innocent...
If the worldwide financial crisis is a 195-car pileup caused by a bunch of manicured dicks in bespoke suits driving around drunk while rifling through a dossier of cooked-up financial portfolios, then pawnshops are the hospitals where the innocent survivors come to heal. Vice checked in with pawnbrokers (and a few customers) across the globe to find out the stories behind why people are being forced to peddle Auntie Esther’s whalebone punch bowl encrusted with peridot cabochons for pennies on the dollar.
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INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS BY ELLIS JONESMost pawnshops in America are clusterfucks of weird and totally useless items stacked haphazardly in dimly lit rooms that smell of garbage, feet, and sadness. Strangely enough, New York City’s are completely spotless. Many don’t hold much inventory, and brokers relax comfortably behind huge panes of bulletproof glass listening to Lil Wayne and solving sudoku puzzles. We visited Brian Cabrera, the really sweet owner of 5 Boroughs Pawn, who walked us through the business of trading people cash for their most cherished treasures.Vice: Hey, Brian. Please excuse me for thinking this place would be gross. It’s really clean! What do people sell you?Brian Cabrera:We get everything here, but 80 percent of it is jewelry. Gold is hot right now.Any major changes since the dollar tanked?We’re seeing an array of people that you wouldn’t normally see: union workers, MTA employees, teachers, police officers. Business has always been steady. I say this all the time, but people are going to pawn when the economy is goodandwhen we’re in a recession. People are always going to pawn because jobs are not paying.How strict are the regulations on pawnshops in New York?Pretty strict. The fees we charge are regulated. They tell us what we’re supposed to charge, how many months we have to hold items for, and what we have to do before we get rid of it. These are all regulations through the state and federal governments. Wall Street had no regulation and look what happened! They’ve probably destroyed the US for at least the next 15 years.
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Any really sad stories to tell?One woman came down here while marshals were waiting to turn off her electricity. They gave her a half hour, so she came here to get a couple bucks to keep her electricity on! Picture what’d it be like with no pawnshops around. I’m telling you, it’d be a lot worse.You’re scaring me.I’ve got one customer who brings his 19-inch monitor in twice a month. These are like $80 to $100 brand-new, and I’ll give him $20. That holds him over for a day or two before he gets his check. Imagine how people who were living paycheck to paycheck before the recession are living now. It’s a sad thing, and you still see the rich getting richer.CONTINUED: A PAWNSHOP IN…New York | Mexico City & Brussels | Amsterdam & Vienna | Paris & Milan | Berlin & São Paulo | Helsinki & Barcelona | Melbourne & Tokyo | Vancouver & Aukland | Stockholm & London |
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