Daily News from New York, New York • 202

Schneider admires the bell above the clocks (left); he and Whaley finish oiling the mechanical insides of one of the clocks in the tower. Schneider paid a call on the fully mechanical clock at the Arsenal in Central Park and got it running again, and Whaley and Schneider even got the historic clock in Herald Square working for a time. (It is now stopped because, according to Schneider, the city has shown little interest in it. "I'm willing to maintain it," he says, "if I could get support from the Parks The Clock Doctors' work has gained them some official recognition. This past February, when the New York Life building and its clock tower were finally given landmark status, Marvin, Eric and George heard themselves described as "Citizen Patriots" by the Landmarks Commission.

Landmarks Chairman Gene Norman later commented, "What they did was to recognize that this was an important element historically for the whole city to appreciate. They took their own time, and dedicated themselves to seeing that this artifact continued to operate. That's a very special act." Schneider, whose energy and sly humor seem inexhaustible, has become unofficial curator of the clock tower. He has visited the Baltimore headquarters of the makers of the tower's bell as big as the Liberty and has researched the strange disappearance of the gigantic globe and eagle sculpture that sat atop the tower until the late 1940s. He proudly recalls the time during the restoration work when Woody Allen came up to consider the tower as a location for "Stardust Memories" didn't use it, but we made him autograph the and marvels at the raunchy scene filmed by Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger in the tower for Weeks." Schneider continues to scout the city for old clocks to repair.

"I've been called a pest- -and I am," he says, unapologetically. "You want to see certain things preserved. If you're lucky, you get to see that wish come true. I'm lucky." Ira Wolfman is a freelance writer who specializes in New York City architecture. TO VIEW THE CLOCK The winding of the clock and the interior of the New York Life clock tower are open to the public from 12 noon to 1 p.m.

on Wednesdays. If you'd like to visit at some other time, make an appointment by calling 212-433-7545..