Longtime LI milkman loves his 'storybook' job

Nelson Ferrara, one of Long Island's few remaining milkmen, says bystanders often look at him curiously while he works his route.

"They look at you like you just walked out of a storybook," said Ferrara, 69, as he drives his aging white refrigerated box truck from house to house in Islip on a sunny July morning. "It's something that they heard about, something they read about, but to see it in real life today, it's unheard of for most people."

Ferrara, of West Islip, has been delivering milk to Long Island homes since 1976, when the sight of a milkman wasn't surprising. Over the years, Long Island's dairy processors and their accompanying home delivery operations shut down, drivers retired, and milk became a loss leader at chain supermarkets and convenience stores.

Now, as one of 10 contract deliverymen who work with Crestwood Farms, Ferrara is the most senior milkman among his colleagues.

A 10-hour day

He works about 10 hours a day, five and a half days a week, delivering in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. A typical day's delivery run starts at 7 a.m. after he loads about 75 crates of milk, juice and other items, including ice to keep products cool inside customer's doorstep milk boxes.

Sitting in the front cab of his truck, where the interior is covered in addresses, customer bills and a few old photos, Ferrara says that as people cut back on milk, his offerings have grown to include almond milk, lactose-free milk, eggs, butter and bread. Still, among his milk customers, the most popular item is glass-bottled milk, courtesy of the cows at Battenkill Valley Creamery, an upstate dairy farm.

Arriving curbside at his stops, he disappears into the small opening to the fridge behind the driver's seat. Ferrara emerges with one or more clinking glass bottles of cold milk, and makes his way up customer driveways. If someone is at home, Ferrara will hand over his product before retrieving empty bottles that will be cleaned, and reused upstate.

Unlike the other drivers who work primarily at night, Ferrara prefers day shifts. Getting to know his customers face to face strengthens customer service and keeps existing buyers happy, he says.

Ferrara had more than 600 customers in the 1980s, and now delivers to about 350. Many have been with him for 10 years or more.

"He's watched my children grow up and get married and now he's delivering to their families," said Islip resident Linda Krasnoff, 66, a loyal Ferrara customer for more than 20 years.

Ferrara enjoys the connections. "Over the years it started with the parents and today what's amazing is I'm delivering to people that are their children," he said. "It's a good feeling to know that you're remembered."

Many of his customers say that beyond his personable demeanor -- Ferrara enjoys shooting the breeze between deliveries -- his reputation as a reliable fixture in their lives is what amazes them.

Snow no deterrent

"I've got three little girls so that's why it's important to have Nelson," said Sly Sylvester, 50, of Islip Manor. No matter the weather, the retired police detective said, Ferrara always comes through twice a week to deliver the milk. "If I forget to go to the store, boom, it's here."

Snow doesn't stop him. During the surprising snowfall of 1978 -- the worst year Ferrara says he has seen -- he used a sled to make it to the houses inaccessible by car. "I haven't missed a snowflake, let's put it that way," he says.

He doesn't know how many more Island winters he'll face before retiring. Ferrara said he's at a point in his career where he can "lay back a little bit" and enjoy the relationships he's built.

Still, he hopes that the tradition of the milkman carries on after he decides to call it quits.

"Even after I'm not here, I would still love to know that's it's still going strong," he said.