“Iron Man” Jeremy Hook.
He… is… Iron Man. And he’s coming to a Greenpoint bar tonight.
James Hook, the Greenpoint resident who’s gotten a ton of press by pressing clothing, is bringing his Brooklyn Ironers’ Union, Local 278, to Troost Cafe tonight from 9pm to midnight. So gather up the spring outfits that’ve been pathetically packed into a tupperware container all winter and get them lovingly smoothed over for free.
I know what you’re thinking: Is this some sort of kink thing? Seemingly, the only kinks Hooks will be ironing out are the ones in your clothing, though he does tout the “sensual” pleasure of putting “freshly ironed shirt onto naked skin.” Steamy!
Hook (not his real name, but rather a John Barron-esque nom de plume) is a father of three who says he just really loves ironing. He started doing it for the public during a weekly residency at Pete’s Candy Store in 2016; since then, he and his “small-but-growing collective of public ironers” have brought their boards to bars like The Diamond, Le Gamin Cafe, and Troost.
If you’re worried about getting burned, consider that the union has proper meetings as well as its own patches (iron-on, naturally). And they just earned kudos from Borough President Eric Adams, who commended them for “promoting ironing as a public service.” You can read his pun-filled proclamation below.
