Cookies, coffee blunt the cold

evergreening

BY SARAH NELSON

Mirko Deluca and Carla Alcalde have run their Christmas tree business on Seventh Avenue between 18th and 19th Streets for three consecutive years. Alcalde is originally from Spain, and has worked as a tree vendor for six years. For the remaining eleven months, she is a coffee farmer in Columbia and a part-time diving instructor. It was during her time as an instructor in the Caribbean where she first decided to sell Christmas trees. A former vendor had left the business, and she applied for their piece of sidewalk. She asked Deluca, a diving instructor from Italy, to join her for the holidays running the small business in New York. Though both agree the long hours and physical labor is tough, the neighborhood is thoroughly enjoyable.

“I like to spend time here selling trees. You get really good contacts,” Alcalde said. “They (locals) give us cookies or homemade stuff. It’s awesome. I love it.”

For Deluca, selling Christmas trees is the quintessential way to engage in New York culture.

“It’s being part of the neighborhood. If you want to know New York, this is the best way to do it,” he said. “People are very nice people. They stop by to see if you’re OK, giving you coffee.”