In a vanishing Little Italy, only a few old world businesses remain on the East Side. Nope, we are not talking about the Lower East Side, but East Harlem in fact. Claudio Caponegro immigrated from Salerno, Italy and opened his business 60 years ago. The store front still has the classic barber pole, the original mint-colored barber chairs and presides in a well-appointed, single-level building. Since the shop's beginnings, Mr. Caponegro has become a neighborhood fixture and says that he will only close the shop if he retires. We were originally marveling at the barber shop revival downtown on a previous post, but East Harlem seems to have the original. Who needs to go down to Astor Place Barbers when you have Claudio's? Lower photo of Claudio at work by Ben Pivens. The barber shop is located on 116th Street and 1st Avenue.
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