Photo: Anna and Jordan Rathkopf The Cutting Den, a cozy neighborhood hair salon, first opened in 1926 in a subway arcade beneath the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn Heights. But despite nearly a century in business, it is familiar mostly to the small set of people who regularly pass through the corridor on their way to the Clark Street subway station. In fact, you probably wouldn’t know any of the seven businesses there if you don’t frequent the 2/3 stop.
Tommy LaMarca, 75, owns the Cutting Den hair salon “My grandfather opened this business in 1926. I’m the third generation, and I’ll be the final act. There’s a lot of history here. Arthur Miller, Norman Mailer, James Dean — my father cut all their hair here. Truman Capote used to come in three times a week; he’d come in for a shave, facial, and mudpack. He gave one of my workers an autographed, first-edition copy of In Cold Blood.
I’ve been here for 23 years. Before the pandemic, I never missed rent. I told my lawyer, “I want to get out of here.” We’re talking to the landlord because I owe a lot. I owe about $350,000. The coronavirus was really bad for business, and with this closure, it’s even worse. My lawyer sent them a letter, and the landlord wrote back, “Don’t move.” They want to work something out where I pay another $3,000 on top of the $15,000 each month to pay what I owe. So the rent would be basically $18,000.