Coronavirus Shutdown: Some Hair Stylists Turn To 'Underground,' Black-Market Barbering As Salons Remain Closed
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Emergency orders to maintain social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic mean salons and barber shops have been closed now for about a month, but that doesn't mean you can't find a stylist willing to do a little black-market barbering.
Richard is styling on the sly.
"I call it surviving. I call it making people look good," he said. "There's a need. There's a need."
New York shops and salons are closed by executive order, which also bars license holders from clipping and cutting.
"I've always been a risk taker," Richard told CBS2's Tony Aiello.
He's cutting it close, working mostly from his Brooklyn home.
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"I've had mothers drive with their children from Long Island. I've had people drive from Westchester," Richard said. "If you're willing to pay the money, I will travel to your house to cut your hair."
He says he recently heard from cops at a Manhattan precinct.
"We're desperate, we can get about 15, 20 officers, maybe you and someone else can come from 10 at night to 2 in the morning," Richard said. "I cut doctors at NYU the other day."
They told him it was a much-needed dose of pampering.
"You made me feel so much better because I was really starting to feel down," Richard said. "Doing hair is like that ... I'm just so happy that I have a skill that I feel is needed and I'm able to take care of those people to make them feel like they're taken care of."
One of Richard's customers is about to start a new job. He considers barbering an essential service.
"It keeps you going, it keeps your mental state right, keeps you focused on what you need to do," the customer said.
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Richard says everything is sterilized and wiped clean. He wears a mask and the clients do too.
"It's just me and that person, and I maintain the same safe protocol any doctor or medical personnel would do," he said.
Richard says he likes Gov. Andrew Cuomo, even as he and his customers defy the governor's executive order.
"They thank me so much for making them feel better," he said.
Black-market barbering -- life during quarantine.
