His father found a busy spot when he opened his watch repair shop in Grand Central Terminal. That was in 1952 and he started with just a small space.
"It was really confined. It was probably 5 by 12 feet," Kivel explained.
Central Watch has since expanded, sort of.
"It's still 5 feet deep, but the width has expanded to some 40 odd feet," he said.
And now there are as many as 7 people working there at any one, including Larry and his son Steve.
Steve enjoyed taking the watches apart as a kid, but later wanted to learn how to put them together.
So they fix watches, sell watches and keep their customers for years.
The shop is located near track 38, and down the 45th Street passage.
"I found it through world of mouth," one customer told us.
And that's what keeps Central Watch ticking.
"It's a small space and it's a small store, so you would never think that we were a big business, but we do a very unique service with the repairs that we do. Not too many people can handle these watches," Steve Kivel said.
And these days, thanks to Steve, dad is sleeping in a little, taking the 6;13 train in the morning instead of the 5:01. The torch is being passed.
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