This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
Even if you and your car wanted to, it’s impossible to pass by Astoria Auto Detailing Center without gawking.
Amid the boring brick buildings of the block, it presides, in construction-cone orange and caution-light yellow, like a psychedelic peacock.
Advertisement
You have no choice but to slow down and watch the workers hand wash and wax the cars in a complex choreography set to the siren sound of Latin pop songs.
Their soap-and-shine water ballet plays out against a backdrop of murals that sport classic cars, automotive logos, and because this is New York, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.
When Joaquin Maza opened Astoria Auto Detailing Center in the three-bay mechanic’s garage six years ago, it didn’t announce itself so boldly.
Advertisement
It was a respectable, old-lady grey.
Three years ago, when it was time to repaint, he hired artist Jaime Obando to add some pizazz.
“I told him I wanted to show the evolution of the car from 1935 to the present,” Joaquin says. “I said I wanted people to see me. When we went to Home Depot and he picked out orange and yellow paint, I was freaking out.”
Joaquin, who is bold and bald and always ready to shake your hand, laughs at his hue hesitation.
“When it was done, everybody started talking about it,” he says. “People sometimes stop by just to take photos.”
Astoria Auto Detailing Center, a day spa for dirty cars that attracts drivers from as far as Long Island and Staten Island, is not Joaquin’s first business.
Advertisement
At one time, he co-owned a bar and a nightclub in Astoria as well as a restaurant in Manhattan. And before that, he drove and owned a Medallion taxi.
Joaquin, who is from Santa Ana, the second largest city in El Salvador, comes from a mom-and-pop-business family.
His parents owned a grocery store, and he grew up in the back.
At 8, Joaquin started helping out at the counter and cash register, and by the time he was 11, he was working as a manager in his uncle’s restaurant after school.
When he was 18, he traded that job for one at his uncle’s gas station while he went to college.
Advertisement
“I was attacked and the country was very violent, so I decided to come to New York City,” he says. “My mother and one of my three sisters were already here.”
Although English was a required course in high school, Joaquin never attended the classes.
“They were at 7 in the morning,” he says. “I never got up in time. I could not even say ‘hi.’ The teacher told me, ‘I feel very sorry for you because I know for sure you’re never going to learn the language.’”
Joaquin is grinning. He tells his story in flawless English.
“When I came here, I worked as a food delivery boy, and I picked up English in three months,” he says. “I never took any classes.”
Advertisement
Joaquin was advised that the best way to get a job was to get good grades or a great referral.
“But I didn’t know anybody here or have any social relationships,” he says. “I went to college to learn how to repair computers, and I made sure I had good grades. I had a 3.7 or 3.8 grade-point average.”
It wasn’t enough, however, to keep Joaquin in school.
He was more interested in working, especially after he married Cynthia, a woman from Mexico who was a waitress in a restaurant two blocks from where he was living.
Joaquin never planned to open an auto-detailing shop. Indeed, he didn’t know anything about that kind of work.
Advertisement
“When I walked out of the bar business, I was running out of cash,” he says. “I needed to do something, and a friend suggested this. I had to teach myself the business.”
Up until recently, Joaquin worked at Astoria Auto Detailing Center seven days a week from 9 a.m. until midnight.
“We open at 7, but the mornings aren’t always busy, so I come after I drop my 11-year-old daughter, Sofia, off at school,” he says.
Advertisement
Joaquin’s favorite car is a Maserati, but he plays daddy chauffeur in a silver Toyota Sienna minivan that doesn’t always shine.
“I don’t get the car washed too much because the shop gets too busy,” he says. “I spend a lot of time with my customers.”
Joaquin’s 16-year-old son, Joaquin Jr., manages the center on Sundays and fills in when he finishes classes at Bryant High, where he is the captain of the volleyball team.
He started helping out when he was 12.
“He’s like my best friend,” Joaquin Sr. says. “We always talk, and he gives me ideas about how to proceed with my business.”
Advertisement
Joaquin Jr. does indeed have big plans for Astoria Auto Detailing Center.
“After I finish college,” he says. “I’m going to come back to run the business and expand it.”
Joaquin Sr. says that sounds good to him.
Nancy A. Ruhling may be reached at Nruhling@gmail.com; @nancyruhling on Twitter; nruhling on Instagram; nancyruhling.com; astoriacharacters.com.
Copyright 2017 by Nancy A. Ruhling
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.