Marine Park Clock Repair Shop With Grandfather House Calls

The Clock Repair People at 1839 Ryder Street in Marine Park, Brooklyn, is the clock repair shop for families south of Flatbush who want a clockmaker to come to the grandfather clock rather than the other way round. The owner calls himself a third-generation clockmaker, offers in-home service on tall-case clocks, and promises that costs are always discussed upfront before any work starts.

The homepage is written in the owner's own voice: he is a third-generation clockmaker who learned the trade at the knee of his father and grandfather. The Better Business Bureau lists the business start date as 1941 and names Chris Hauer as principal, with an A rating. The site also carries membership of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors.

This is a small, personal operation run from a residential block in Marine Park rather than a storefront on a commercial avenue. That shapes how you use it. There are no posted walk-in hours on the website, then a time to drop off or a date for a house.

The repair list on the homepage is broad: wall clocks, mantel clocks, anniversary clocks, cuckoo clocks, and French, German, Swiss and American clocks. Anniversary clocks, the 400-day clocks with a spinning torsion pendulum under a glass dome, are worth noting, because their suspension springs are fragile and many general repairers turn them away.

The shop also keeps a selection of clock parts for sale, from complete movements down to a single wheel, which helps with older American clocks whose makers closed decades ago. He works for the trade as well, so antique dealers in the borough send pieces here, and he buys antique clocks, from a single piece to an entire collection in an estate.

The most useful service for a Brooklyn apartment or row house is the in-home repair. The site says he offers in-home service on large wall clocks, tall-case clocks and grandfather clocks whenever possible, and the repairs page asks anyone in the New York area to call and set an appointment. That keeps a heavy case and its weights off the stairs.

Before the visit, leave the weights hanging and the pendulum in place if the clock has simply stopped, and clear a path to it. If the clock was recently moved and now runs for a few minutes before stopping, say so on the phone; the shop notes that a clock that has been moved almost always needs at least an adjustment of its beat.

For smaller clocks, he offers pickup and delivery to fit a busy schedule, which is handy in a neighborhood where parking near Flatbush Avenue can be slow. You can also start by email: the repairs page says pricing for a repair is given in the reply to your email, so send clear photos of the dial, the movement through the back and any maker's label inside the case.

The same page says he does not charge for repair advice or research about a customer's clock. If you have inherited a clock and do not know whether it is worth fixing, that free first answer is a low-risk way to find out what it is, roughly when it was made and what kind of work it needs.

Bring the right form of payment. The site states that the business accepts personal checks, money orders and cashier's checks, and does not accept credit cards or PayPal. That is unusual in 2026, so plan for it before pickup rather than discovering it at the door with the clock in your arms.

The homepage describes the prices and fees as fair and reasonable and says costs are always discussed upfront. The BBB profile notes one unresolved complaint, which is worth knowing alongside the long record, so get the agreed price and the expected completion date written down, and keep a photo of the clock as you handed it over.

The contact page includes an order form for customers who ship clocks in from elsewhere, and it gives a practical warning: when a clock is shipped it is almost certain to need an adjustment, even if only to correct the beat. If you are sending a mantel clock to Brooklyn, remove the pendulum, wrap it separately, and pack the movement so it cannot shift inside the case.

On the return leg, expect the same thing in reverse. When the clock arrives home, set it level, hang the pendulum, and listen for an even tick-tock; an uneven beat after shipping is normal, and the shop can talk you through correcting it by phone or email.

Ryder Street runs through the quiet residential grid of Marine Park, one of the most suburban corners of Brooklyn. A few blocks east lies Marine Park itself, the borough's largest park, with ball fields along Avenue U and a long nature trail into the salt marshes of Gerritsen Creek, where herons and egrets feed at low tide.

The Salt Marsh Nature Center at the park's edge is the best place to start that trail, with exhibits on the marsh and a boardwalk out to the water. If you would rather shop, Kings Plaza Shopping Center sits at the end of Flatbush Avenue near Mill Basin, a short drive or B41 bus ride south of the shop.

Address: 1839 Ryder Street, Brooklyn, NY 11234, in Marine Park. Email: yeoldtimekeeper@aol.com. No walk-in hours are posted on the website, so call or email first to arrange a drop-off, pickup or house call. Repair advice is free, and costs are discussed before work begins.

Payment: personal checks, money orders and cashier's checks only; no credit cards or PayPal. Services: wall, mantel, anniversary, cuckoo, French, German, Swiss and American clocks, in-home grandfather clock repair, clock parts, and buying antique clocks. Transit: the B41 bus runs on Flatbush Avenue near the shop.