COURIER L 14 IFE, JULY 5–11, 2019 M BR B G
A cut above
Jack’s Barber Shop closes after
more than 50 years of business
SHEAR PLEASURE: Jack Skolnic has practiced the art of cutting hair for 17 years old, and
has operated a barber shop in Brighton Beach since 1964!
Photo by Erica Price
BY ROSE ADAMS
It’s the end of an hair-a!
The king of Brighton
Beach hair cuts hung up
his shears on Saturday
after more than 50 years.
Jack Skolnick, 76, fi rst
opened his aptly named
“Jack’s Barber Shop” on
Brighton 13th Street in
1964, and he still retains
many of his earliest clients.
In fact, some of Skolnick’s
most loyal customers
have been visiting
him since he worked at
his fi rst barbershop as a
teenager.
“I cut Nathan’s hair
since he was 10 years
old,” Jack said about
one of his clients, who’s
sought out Skolnick for
his cuts since before he
opened his shop. “He
used to come here and
we used to trade comic
books. He still comes
in.”
Now in its third location
on Brighton Beach
Avenue between Brighton
14th and 15th streets,
Jack’s Barber Shop continues
to dole out reliable,
affordable hair cuts
while adapting to changing
hairstyles. In its 50
years, the shop has mastered
every trend, from
mop tops to mullets to the
buzzcuts of today.
Skolnick’s barber
shop’s largest contribution
was its impact on
the community. Since
its founding, Jack’s has
become a local meeting
place, where neighbors
and old friends would
gossip and talk about
sports.
“We spoke a lot about
the community,” said Assemblyman
Steve Cymbrowitz
(D-Sheepshead
Bay), who has visited
Jack regularly since the
1980s. “I knew about his
life and his family.”
“I think it’s going to
be very diffi cult to fi nd
another barber who I
can trust,” Cymbrowitz
added.
Skolnick’s Brighton
Beach hair roots grow
deep. A neighborhood native,
Jack quickly developed
a knack for cutting
hair in his teenage years,
and obtained his barbering
apprentice license at
age 17.
“I couldn’t sing or
dance, so I became a barber,”
he said.
After a two-year military
stint in Louisiana
during the Cuban Missile
Crisis, Jack returned
home and earned his master
barber license in 1960,
four years before opening
his shop. Jack has worked
relentlessly ever since,
taking off a week or two
every summer. Still, his
upcoming retirement is
not an easy pill for him to
swallow.
“It’s bittersweet,” Jack
said about the shop’s closing.
“I’ve met a lot of nice
people and I’m going to
miss them.”
Jack hopes to spend
more time with his
wife, Linda, his two
daughters, and his
three granddaughters
in his retirement.
He also plans to take
classes in art — an interest
he has never
been able to explore.
Brighton Beach residents
prepared for the
shop’s closing during
the week, as regulars
sat in the shop’s original
1960s chairs for their
last trims, and barbering
mirrors were laid in
front of the shop for sale.
Propped on a ledge stood
a sign that once hung
in the window: “Enter
as strangers, leave as
friends,” it read.
“I met a lot of nice people
in all these years and
I appreciate their business,”
said Skolnick. “I
hope it was of value to
them.”
2020
BEST LOBSTER ROLL