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Astor Place Hair Stylists, the iconic salon and barbershop that has been an East Village fixture for 73 years, is the latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
Management at the basement barber shop, which counted everyone from actors Robert de Niro and Kevin Bacon to artist Andy Warhol, Mayor de Blasio and disgraced former state assembly speaker Sheldon Silver as loyal customers, told staffers Friday that the doors will close just before Thanksgiving.
Astor Place Hair Stylists, the iconic salon and barbershop that has been an East Village fixture for 73 years, is the latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
Management at the basement barber shop, which counted everyone from actors Robert de Niro and Kevin Bacon to artist Andy Warhol, Mayor de Blasio and disgraced former state assembly speaker Sheldon Silver as loyal customers, told staffers Friday that the doors will close just before Thanksgiving.
Though I never patronized the place (for some reason I thought it was a barbershop for men only, plus I have been cutting my own hair forever), I do know where it is, and am very sorry to hear about closure of such a historic business. But it sounds as though they could reopen. Hopefully they might. Way too much of the old Manhattan has vanished that should have been preserved. This place is actually something that would have been worthy of being subsidized by taxpayers through the Covid year. Why does this city subsidize generational welfare and generational crime rather than generational small businesses?
Though I never patronized the place (for some reason I thought it was a barbershop for men only, plus I have been cutting my own hair forever), I do know where it is, and am very sorry to hear about closure of such a historic business. But it sounds as though they could reopen. Hopefully they might. Way too much of the old Manhattan has vanished that should have been preserved. This place is actually something that would have been worthy of being subsidized by taxpayers through the Covid year. Why does this city subsidize generational welfare and generational crime rather than generational small businesses?
Astor Place barbershop is suffering same thing as tons of other retail, services, etc.... lack of customers.
Tourists aren't here in huge numbers. Many people have packed up and moved, this especially in Manhattan were many neighborhoods still seem deserted.
Laundries and dry cleaners, hair places.... you name it and places are shutting down due to lack of business.
There was an uptick for barbers, hair salons, and other such places when PAUSE orders were lifted and they were allowed to reopen. But much of that pent up demand is now gone. Many barber/beauty shop owners, stylists, etc.... report a good part of their regular client base has left city. Of those who remain things may be tight financially because they're unemployed or otherwise dealing with reduced finances.
Many hair places depend on some extent upon walk in business. Well with large parts of city empty, and or otherwise seeing reduced foot traffic, those customers aren't showing up either. Meanwhile a shop has to pay rent, utility bills, etc....
Keep in mind also Il Duce put into place all sorts of restrictions for indoor beauty salons, barber shops, hair places... So owners had to spend money to revamp their shops not knowing if they would make those sums back with customers.
I once went to Astor Place for a haircut. I left with orange hair !
That's why I never went. It was too radical for me but I know it was quite popular with classmates in high school/college. It's a NYC institution. Sad to see it go.
This is very sad news to read. I remember going to Astor place for my haircuts when I attended NYU in the late 90s and early 2000s. Great barbers, never had a bad cut. Very sad to hear they are closing.
All these closings, apparently due to Covid, show how initially fragile the businesses were, and maybe how high the rent is that you can no longer operate it at a profit when there is a crisis. Many more neighborhood businesses in the boroughs survived despite the lockdown and following restrictions. How hard should it theoretically be to hold a business down in Manhattan?
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