In time, competing movers with вЂњJewish namesвЂќ sprang up, and the house-moving market began to be dominated by Israelis. The firm squeezed out veteran companies in the moving business, founded mainly by Irish and Italian immigrants. The business expanded rapidly into a company with 33 light-red trucks and 180 employees in matching uniforms.

Nevertheless, with the reputation he had forged and a group of clients he gathered, he managed to scrape together the funds to acquire another van and founded MoisheвЂ™s Moving. Mana: вЂњI told him, вЂOne day I will be a billionaire, but I will never forget that $3,859, because thatвЂ™s all I have in life.вЂ™ I was left with nothing.вЂќ The contractor owed him $3,859 в€’ a number Mana can still rattle off in his sleep. When the business started to develop, the partner demanded ownership of the van and effectively dispossessed Mana, who was left indigent. He continued to siphon off the profits to the contractor and then opened a business в€’ The Man with the Van в€’ that made deliveries for $12.50 an hour. The most common route involved picking up towels from gay saunas, delivering them to a laundry on the Upper West Side and returning them for $40 a trip. The compromise was that the payment would be deferred but that in the meantime Mana could use the manвЂ™s van to make occasional deliveries at night. However, while the renovation was still in progress, the contractor told Mana that he wouldnвЂ™t be able to pay him. The agreement was that he would be a partner in the restoration of a wrecked building and would get a percentage of future apartment sales or rentals in the renovated structure. Mana hooked up with an Israeli renovations contractor and started to work with him. вЂњItвЂ™s like an Archimedean law, or the Law of Communicating Vessels.вЂќ вЂњThe artists arrive first and the others in their wake,вЂќ he says. According to the Mana doctrine, art is a springboard for pushing up the value of land on which, when the time comes, residential neighborhoods can be built. So, if all goes as planned, the Mana complex will be a magnet for artists and, along the way, will increase the value of his other real-estate holdings exponentially. In addition to the area designated for the ambitious art project, Mana owns many other properties in New Jersey в€’ вЂњhundreds of thousands of square feet,вЂќ he says. But only if you donвЂ™t take into account the other variable in the equation: real estate. вЂњThe whole idea of buying the complex and the lots around it entails a commitment of tens of millions of dollars, but I decided to go for it all-out,вЂќ Mana tells Haaretz, adding, вЂњI wanted to build a field of dreams for my groups.вЂќ On the face of it, the transition from MoisheвЂ™s mundane areas of expertise в€’ moving and storage в€’ to the art world looks unnatural, off-the-wall almost, perhaps even irresponsible.

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