Fades and Friendships

The barbershop holds a special place in the hearts of men. It’s an integral part of growing up in a city, a place for grandsons to bond with their grandfathers, fathers with their sons. A place where real men get together and have manly conversations.
In Williamsburg, where even some tough guys are hip, Brooklyn General Barber on Bedford Avenue keeps them stylish in reasonably priced shaggy scissor cuts, close skin fades and beard and mustache trims.
Reggae radio churns out mellow beats and Sugar, the shop’s white parrot, squawks as owner Tamir Kraft sets his piercing blue eyes on the task at hand – the slightly graying short hair of a middle-aged man in Converse sneakers. He quickly cuts his hair and moves on to the next customer, a lanky dark-haired young man in Nikes. Mainly men and boys come into the barbershop, but Kraft said women and girls occasionally stop by as well.
“We get everybody in here, conservatives, punks, hipsters, sometimes little girls and women,” said Kraft. “This is a very diverse and eclectic neighborhood, so you come across everybody.”
The store’s décor is as eclectic as the clientele. A huge curtained parrot cage hangs in the corner. Small children can get their hair cut in a red airplane. An inflatable Spiderman mallet and baseball gloves grace the walls. All sorts of kitschy goodies can be purchased here, from whoopee cushions to mini bowling sets, to squeaking alligators, to insect clickers and a variety of old-school sweets that would make even the surliest hipster as happy as a kid in a 1950’s candy store.

Kraft said he and his business partner, Meredith Chesney who owns Mousey Brown salon on Lorimer Street, wanted to make a nostalgic barber shop when they opened Brooklyn General five years ago. Kraft said stepping into the shop is like stepping back in time. Kraft’s favorite item in the barbershop is his signature red velvet “pimp” chair in which he serves his customers.
Originally from Israel, Kraft grew up in New York City. For this barber, hair styling is in his blood–three of his great uncles were barbers. Kraft began cutting his family members’ and friends’ hair when he was nine years old, and hasn’t stopped since. He even cuts his own longish tresses himself.
“I’ve always wanted to be a barber since I was a kid,” said Kraft. “I love barbering.”
He especially enjoys doing skin fades—a short buzz cut—because it involves shaving the neck with straight blade. He likes the precision cleanliness of shaping with straight blade, he said. But more than that, he likes the interaction with the customers. Because barbering is such a personal procedure, Kraft said customers tell him a lot of things, about “partying, going out, everything, really.” People he’s been serving since the first week the salon opened have gotten married, had children. Now he cuts their children’s’ hair.
“It makes you feel special when you’ve been cutting somebody and now you’re cutting their kid’s hair,” said Kraft.
“It’s Williamsburg, so it’s always an adventure, you are always meeting interesting characters,” he added.
He said he feels blessed to be constantly working.
Indeed the steady flow of customers doesn’t seem to slow down. At about four-thirty on a Friday afternoon, three young men sporting skinny jeans and glasses all waited to get their shaggy hair trimmed by their favorite barber.