This Bronx parking-lot valet started driving when Model Ts were kings of the road.
Joe Binder turned 102 yesterday, celebrating 25 years as the booth attendant at Mario’s Restaurant on Arthur Avenue — a job he landed when gas cost 89 cents a gallon.
“I still drive locally, and I just renewed my license, so I’m good until I turn 110 years old,” said Binder. “My secret? I’ve been very nice to people in my life. I got hurt along the way, but I turn the other cheek and forgive those who have wronged me.”
Binder, who has no children of his own, said that may also be “one of the reasons I’ve stayed stress-free all these years,” Binder said.
It doesn’t hurt that his girlfriend, Annette, is only 48 years old.
“There’s no sex involved, just companionship,” he said, adding they frequently go dancing.
Working at Mario’s has been an adventure, the centenarian said.
“I remember the cast from ‘The Sopranos’ came to shoot a scene here in the restaurant, I had to be here at 4 in the morning to open the lot for them. They were great.”
Another time, Fox 5 anchor Greg Kelly came by for lunch, discovered Binder, “and wanted an interview, but I was too busy. I had to turn him down.”
Binder, born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, to Jewish immigrants, is among the most beloved characters in the mostly Catholic Italian neighborhood where a huge banner was strung across Arthur Avenue wishing him happy birthday.
“Sometimes I think I’m dreaming when I think of how many people love and care for me here on Arthur Avenue.”
One of five children, his two baby sisters are 93 and 98 years old and like to go bowling, he said, fondly remembering the day his father took him and his sisters to watch soldiers parading along Fifth Avenue after they returned from fighting in World War I.
“I was young, but it was a thrill to see,” he said.
He even remembers delivering syrup to his future employer’s grandparents at Mario’s Restaurant in the late 1930s. “I had my own business for about a year and I used to deliver syrup to Mario’s Restaurant, but the business failed because we had no resources or funds for sugar,” he said.
“I can’t even remember what I ate for lunch yesterday,” Joseph Migliucci, owner of Mario’s Restaurant said as Binder vividly recalled childhood memories. “He’s a fantastic guy and our best advertisement. He’s been around our family for four generations, and he’s loved by everyone.”
As for tips, Binder said he usually doesn’t accept any.
“When and if I do, I give it to the homeless or to people who can use it,” he said. He was shocked a few years ago when a former homeless woman whom he used to help out gave him $400 for his birthday.
“She used to ask for money on Arthur Avenue, and whenever she needed money, I’d give it to her,” he said. “A few years later, she sent me a birthday card with four hundred bucks, signed Maria. I couldn’t believe it.”