We chatted with John Schmidt, 94, who has owned Silver Arrow Antiques at 275 City Island Ave. for 45 years about why he loves running a business on City Island.
Why did you open an antiques shop on City Island?
I just wanted to see what made people tick and I wanted to learn about people. I wanted to fix things and that’s the whole thing and it went on like that for 45 years.
What kind of stuff do you sell in your shop?
Paintings, jewelry, watches, clocks, all kinds of figurines. Just about anything and a lot of things that are unusual that no one else has.
What do you like about the island?
The wonderful part about City Island is that all the ethnic groups get together. There are no problems. The whole island is almost like family and everyone is welcome here. People come from all over the world here. Generally everybody is welcomed here and it’s a great place to relax.
