BY KEVIN DUGGAN
From close shaves to
closed doors.
Workers at Brooklyn’s
barber shops, tattoo parlors,
and nail salons are facing an
uncertain future after Governor
Andrew Cuomo announced
mandatory closures
to help contain the spread of
the novel coronavirus.
“These temporary closures
are not going to be
easy, but they are necessary
to protect the public health,”
the governor said.
Shops deemed “non-essential”
across New York
— as well as the rest of the
tri-state area — had to close
their doors to patrons by 8
pm on March 21, assuring a
major economic hit to small
businesses at a particularly
devastating time, according
to one Crown Heights
piercer.
“Around this time is usually
our best time. Because
of tax season, everybody has
a little more money to spend
on piercings and tattoos,”
said Alex Paez, who works
at Gothic City Ink on Union
Street near Utica Avenue.
The forced closures come
after an uncertain work
week, where customers had
been canceling their ink
and pierce jobs and opting
to spend money on essentials
like food and medicine
instead, according to Paez.
One Park Slope barber
said that he’s had fewer customers
BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY
COURIER LIFE,14 MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2020
overall — although
some have come in for lastminute
shape-ups before
heading into quarantine.
“We had some people today
who said they wouldn’t
know when they can get a
haircut again,” said Serj Yu,
a manager at Elegant Barber
on Seventh Avenue near
15th Street.
Yu said that the shop will
remain open until the evening
before the ban to attract
as much business as
possible, but he understands
the imperative to close the
businesses affected by the
ban during this peculiar
situation.
“I understand people being
cautious so there’s really
nobody to blame,” he
said. “It’s a worldwide situation
and there’s nothing we
can do.”
When reached for comment,
dozens of businesses
across the borough did not
answer their phones — and
many had voice messages
informing customers that
they’d closed due to virus
fears.
The owner of a Crown
Heights nail salon said that
he had sent his employees
home last week, after many
workers feared coming into
close contact with people
on the job during the pandemic.
“Workers were all scared
to come in,” said Jack Xia,
who owns Sammy’s Nail
Salon on Nostrand Avenue
and Pacific Street. “You’re
touching hands and you’re
Alex Paez says less people have come to get tattoos and piercings since
the spread of the novel coronavirus. Photo by Kevin Duggan
close to people’s face and
you don’t know who has the
virus.”
And while businesses
will be closed, demand from
customers continues, according
to the owner of a
Kings Highway nail studio
— who said they’ve still
been getting a half a dozen
would-be customers each
day calling for manicures
and pedicures, despite having
closed up shop earlier
this week.
“We’ve been getting calls
but we’ve been turning them
down,” said the owner who
only gave her name as Rita,
and whose daughter translated
from Chinese for her.
“We were just scared and we
didn’t want to put ourselves
at risk.”
CORONA CUTS
Barber shops, tattoo parlors, nail salons deal with shutdown
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