Peekskill Herald – February 1996 By Mary Judith Conklin Piano rebuilder John Ford stood in the midst of over 30 pianos in various stages of assembly, as picturesque in his old-fashioned apron as his Main Street shop overlooking the Hudson. One piano he was in the process of...
The Journal News – February 1999 Below, John Ford, owner of Ford Piano Rebuilding in Peekskill, plays a 1909 small grand Steinway piano that he rebuilt in his shop. Not shown, Chris Gonzalez, an employee, reattaches the lyre and pedal assembly on the vintage piano, which is...
The Star – January 2001 By Susan Chitwood John Ford has rebuilt pianos for any number of famous professional musicians, including John Lennon, Roberta Flack and Stephen Soundheim. He has also restored pianos for the rich amateur musician, including Middle Eastern Sheik whose malachite grand piano needed resuscitation. But when...
Westchester County Business Journal – April 2001 John Ford started Ford Piano Co. in 1985 in Peekskill to carry on a century-old family tradition that his grandfather brought to America from Hungary. John Fekete, who emigrated to the United States from Hungary in the 1890s, opened Fekete Pianos...
The New York Times – June 2001 By: Mark Ferris John Ford Jr. Can Rebuild an Instrument From the Bottom Up… Like people, pianos decay over time. The instruments seem to be static, but the strings exert 20 tons of pressure on the frame, which eventually tears the...
Signs tentative deal to acquire Hermax building. By Brian J. Howard John Ford has grand plans for downtown Peekskill, and he’s hopeful a deal he swung last week with the city will make them real. Ford owns Ford Piano, a piano rebuilding business on Division Street, and lists...
Keys to third-generation shop owner’s passion are all in the music Abigail Klingbeil Kim Papa sits near the back of Ford Piano tapping the keys on one of the shop’s shiny black instruments. Boom. Boom. Bing.The untrained ear can differentiate the low booms from the high-pitched bings. ...
North County News By Jim Roberts When Janos Fekete crossed the Atlantic in the late 1880′s, he couldn’t have known that more than 100 years later his grandson John Ford would play a role in redeveloping downtown Peekskill. Today, a fourth generation of Fords (it was changed from...
Step into the confines of Ford Piano in Peekskill, and the trip from the sidewalk to repair shop is like stepping into a past century. It’s a world of wood, wires, varnish, hand tools and manual labor — 18th-century technology and craftsmanship at its finest. It’s...
A worker puts down plywood at the F-Sharp Restaurant and Music Hall in Peekskill. / Photos by Ricky Flores/The Journal News PEEKSKILL — John Ford has spent the past few decades refurbishing pianos. Now, at 61, the Ford Piano owner said he wants to spend the...