Marianne Carr Falsetta has held forth at Melody Lanes in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, for 20 years, charging customers, handing out bowling shoes and keeping everyone in line with her no-nonsense personality.

“I handle the money and the shoes,” she said Tuesday night in her usual spot behind the counter, an elevated, illuminated stage where she plays the role of authoritative den mother.

“Give me a shoe, Hon,” she said to each customer. “What size are you?”

With that, each bowler handed up one piece of footwear as collateral for a pair of colorful narrow bowling shoes.

One teenager looked down at his remaining sneaker and asked, “What do we do with the other shoe?”

“Under your chair,” Ms. Carr Falsetta instructed, already turning to the next group with an introductory “What do you need?”