Merchant Spotlight
Local Merchant Closes Doors
after 35 Years on West 75
I recently sat down with Alex Alluia, who just weeks
ago permanently closed the doors to his barbershop/beauty salon, New
York Haircutters, after 35 years on West 75th Street between
Broadway and West End Avenue.
Alluia, who is now almost 70 years old, came to New
York from Bahia, Brazil when he was 19 to study hair design. In the
past, he has worked in the West Village near Stonewall when the
riots occurred, at 72nd and Broadway, and then in the Garment
Center. Wanting to have his own shop and the loving this
neighborhood bought him to the Upper West Side in 1975.
He fondly recalled when there were many small stores
and restaurants in the neighborhood. Especially, when Fairway and
Citarella were less than half their current sizes. He also talked
about how today is so different because of the number of young
children and their nannies passing his store on their way home to
their apartments.
His favorite spot in the neighborhood was Steps on
Broadway above Fairway, where he took many dance classes. His
favorite restaurants were Niko’s and The Cottage. And one of his
favorite memories of the block is of a gypsy fortune teller who was
next door to his shop for a number of years.
Many of his clients were people from the arts, as
well as the patrons of the gay bar under his shop, and Joan
Franklin, the late president of the West 75th Street Block
Association.
Over the years Alex enjoyed helping people from
Russia, Greece, France, Italy, and Brazil who had hair cutting
experience, giving them their first jobs in this country at his
shop.
Last year was his roughest ever due to the economy,
and he attributes it to President Bush. He said that the President
Clinton years were his best because the country was less stressed
out and the economy was better.
Alex was not forced out by escalating rent like many
others in the neighborhood. He felt it was time to retire and go
back to his roots in Brazil—to lie in the sun on the beach, attend
Carnivale in Rio de Janeiro, watch some football (soccer) games, and
get involved with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
He finally said that what he will miss most is
coming uptown from his Chelsea apartment every morning, getting off
at the 72nd Street subway station and walking to his shop.
Good luck Alex—we will miss you!
Scot Steinberg
Block Leader-for
Small Business Outreach
Beacon Paint & Hardware
371 Amsterdam Avenue nr 77th Street
Tel: (212) 787-1090
Fax:- (212) 877-1468
http://www.beaconpaint.com
Beacon has long been a merchant member of W75BA and
is a strong supporter at Block Association events. We are pleased
beyond words to report that one of our favorite local West Side
stores
was recently one of just three finalists [out of 4,000+ nominees
nationwide!) for the Shine A Light Award sponsored by American
Express and NBC Universal!
As one of
the top three local businesses in the United States.,
Beacon was awarded a
$10,000 marketing grant.
Congratulations, Beacon!
 Many
of you voted for Beacon in in the Shine A Light event, and owner
Bruce Stark has written to W75BA to thank everyone for their support and good wishes.
"It was extremely gratifying
and almost overwhelming the support our friends, family,
neighbors, customers, and vendors showed us.
"From going to so much effort—
just navigating the Amex website — you should win an award, to
re-connecting to people we lost touch with, to people who sent
out repeated emails on their contacts list, the many school
lists, and my personal favorite — those of you who told me the
dog and cat voted for us (several times), we remain forever in
your debt."
In yet another gift to the West Side community,
Beacon will sponsor a street painting day on November 14th, with the help of the Boy Scouts.
They will paint
over any graffiti on mailboxes, as well as re-painting fire
hydrants in the neighborhood.
On Tuesday, November 10,
Beacon will host a Neighborhood
Appreciation Day
7:30 AM
- 9:30 AM- Beacon and Eggs
( Bagels and coffee, too)
5:30 PM - 8
PM - Wine tasting and
cheese, along with coupons, discounts, and gifts.
The Beacon Paint & Hardware Story
Beacon Paint has been on the same street for 109
years. We are proof that longevity alone does not always tell the
story. Our warmth and hospitality is well known in the neighborhood.
We are proud of our generosity and community minded spirit. It is
not enough for us just to help with the usual community appeals; we
like to go above and beyond. We have become a household name to the
entire P.S. 87 and P.S. 334 community. We donate vast amounts of
paint (most recently P.S. 334 moved and we donated over 70 gallons
of paint for their new home). We provide lighting for P.S. 87's
annual international night, donate materials for their haunted house
on Halloween, and received an award for all our help in their new
garden.
 Every child who enters the store — regardless of what school they go
to — will invariably walk out with either a balloon, crayons,
stuffed animal or a toy. Dogs in the neighbor make our store a daily
stop, for both cookies and to visit our mascot, a black Labrador
retriever named Bru. There are also endeavors closer to our heart.
Every year, we sponsor a walkathon for the Xeroderma Pigmentosum
Society. XP is disease where children who have it cannot be exposed
to light. We schedule the Walkathon, at night, so anyone who has XP
will be able to attend. This event is totally sponsored by us. From
t- shirts to gifts to food to horse-drawn carriage rides, we pay for
it all.
We also sponsor a clean up day. We supply the paint and get
volunteers to paint over any graffiti on mail boxes or lamp posts.
We also repaint fire hydrants to make them look clean. We sponsor
this in its entirety, too. It is our neighborhood, we live here, and
we support the neighborhood as much as they support us. We recycle
fluorescent bulbs at no charge to the consumer.
Bruce Stark, the owner, is proud when people call him "The mayor of
the Upper West Side." He was proud to meet and have breakfast with
the real mayor of New York recently. He was one of 20 community
leaders invited to Gracie Mansion to meet the mayor and discuss any
concerns I might have. It was not the first time Bruce met Mayor
Bloomberg. In 2008, Beacon was awarded the New York City Small
Business of the Year Award. The ceremony was also held at Gracie
Mansion and the mayor presented us with the award.
Earlier in the year, we received the North American Paint Dealer of
the Year award. (We have also won a West Side Spirit Small Business
Award, as well as Forbes Enterprise Award.
We are proud of these awards, but more proud that none of them had
anything to do with sales or profits. The only criteria were
community service and customer service. We display these awards
right next to the drawings and thank you letters from children who
have thanked us for the gift we give.
Return to top
West 75th Street Block Association
33 Riverside Drive, #2A
New York, NY 10023
info@w75ba.org
Home | About Us |
Calendar |
News |
Resources |
Contact Us |
Membership/Support | Site Map
|
