Twin Forks Bicycles Owner Ready to Ride into Downtown

Nick Attisano, owner of on Osborn Avenue, is about four weeks away from riding into downtown, and he said last week that while parting with Polish Town will be bittersweet, moving to East Main Street is something he's looking forward to.

"There were about six or eight spaces down there I was looking at, and I got the space I wanted the most," he said last Friday.

Attisano is moving into the former home of Crave Computers, at 121 East Main St. The location doesn't have a basement, a benefit considering the area is prone to flooding from the Peconic River on occasion. And across the street, the , a draw Attisano sees as very important not just to his business, but to all of downtown.

"I see Riverhead and Patchouge as kind of sister towns," said Attisano, a Patchogue native who currently lives in Medford. "Between the performing arts theater and different kinds of restaurants, there's live entertainment every night. That's the way I see Riverhead coming back."

Twin Forks Bicycles will be just the latest to open its doors as Supervisor Sean Walter continues to preach a "store-by-store, block-by-block" approach downtown, while he attempts to recruit businesses one-by-one to Main Street.

"I call a lot of small businesses a couple times a month to come downtown, because you never know what you're going to get," Walter said. "I'm very happy the bike shop is coming to Main Street. With the riverfront behind it, and with , it's going to fit in wonderfully."

Attisano has been working with bikes since the age of 13, and save for a few years when he found himself working for a bike distributor and one year in the medical field, he has been in a bike shop since. The 40-year-old has leased out his space in Polish Town for the past five years, and says that while he has enjoyed his time there, "there's no cross-pollination between downtown and Polish Town."

"I'm looking forward to being part of that sense of community, and being part of something bigger" he said. With a laugh, he added, "You better believe we're going to have a cardboard boat in next year's boat race."

Looking forward to next year's riding season and beyond, Attisano said that 20 bike racks that the town is getting through a grant will be a nice boost to local riders. In addition, , paid for with federal stimulus funding, will connect Calverton to Northville, giving riders a means to get from rack to rack.