Christmas in Brooklyn

I get my hair cut at a salon in Brooklyn called Concept Elite.  Been getting my hair cut there for about 28 years.  My friends get their hair cut at fabulous places in Manhattan, where they pay about 50 percent more for a haircut and a snotty hostess.  I love Concept Elite.  I love the microcosm that it is.  I love the community; I love the camaraderie; I hate the fact that I feel like I have to get dressed up to get a haircut.  (You should perhaps know that I win out over this feeling most of the time, and end up going in jeans or sweats.) 

The conversations are always fascinating.  Some of the time, they reaffirm why I don’t choose to hang out in Brooklyn a lot.  Some of the time, however, they reaffirm why I choose to live in Brooklyn. 

People from Brooklyn may have their own particular thing going on.  They definitely speak differently than you do.  They perhaps think differently than you do.  They do, however, know one thing for sure; your family and your friends are what come first in this world.  Sometimes, particularly in Brooklyn, your friends are your family.  Everyone is your family.  Brooklyn, more than many other places that I’ve been in this world, is a place where you look out for the guy next to you.  Brooklyn teaches you to care.  No matter where I go, for the rest of my life, I will carry Brooklyn with me.  I will wear it as a badge of honor.  I love being from Brooklyn.  When I’m around, you’d better believe Brooklyn is in the house. 

The folks at Concept Elite have suffered a bit, of late.  One of their own has been stricken with cancer.  So there are signs up in the salon; if you buy hair products, the proceeds go to this fellow.  His name is Tommy, and he has throat cancer.  The signs, and the collections, are a good thing.  What you perhaps don’t know if you just walk in for a haircut is that every employee agreed to donate part of his or her salary to this guy, for an undetermined amount of time, so that he continues to get a paycheck while he’s sick.  Tommy is single, and the people at Concept Elite really are his family.  And they demonstrate it every day they come to work.  No fuss, mind you, because this is what family does for each other.  You just do it, you don’t think about it. 

My cousin Tria was talking to her friends recently, about how Brooklyn is perceived as “the city” (as in New York City) and while it’s certainly a part of New York City, it’s also like any other small town you’ve ever seen.   It’s very neighborhood-y, and the part of Brooklyn that I come from is perhaps more neighborhood-y than any other part, period.  I was damn lucky to be born here, and to have this sense of community instilled in me by my parents and my neighbors. 

If you read this blog, you know that I still have trouble with Christmas, since my Mom died.  It’s still a very, very difficult holiday for me to deal with.  I still want to hide, from about mid-December till about mid-January, just to make sure all the lights and other trappings are gone.  This year, though, I think I’m making strides.  I will be with my family, as always, on Christmas Eve.  On Christmas Day, I am going to a friend’s house.  It’s the first time in my entire life that I’ll celebrate Christmas with someone who isn’t related to me.  It’s pretty scary, but it’s comforting as well.  Life goes on.  You make your own traditions.  And you add on to your own family with new people, who will be part of your life forever.  And maybe next year I won’t want to hide on Christmas.  The folks at Concept Elite will be a part of that, because they’ve shown me a little bit of Christmas today.  For today, I felt like part of their family.  I put some money in the jar for Tommy, and I was glad to do it.  I was glad for Tommy, who is going through a terrible time but knows he has family to count on.  I have family to count on too.  They’re all around me. 

That’s Christmas in Brooklyn. 

Comments

[Erica]

Well, that about says it in a nutshell.

Excellent post, Liz, and I wish you and your family (extended and all ... and the ones in Brooklyn and beyond) a very merry Christmas.

[Matt Levy]

Thank you. Inspiring. Honest. Pure. Proud.

And this coming from a Jew! But hey, Jesus was my homeboy. Literally.

As a Brooklyn-born officially licensed NYC tour guide (www.vintagenytours.com - im the one with the moustache) and also a native born Brooklynite (thump fist to chest twice, raise & "Represent!") and also someone who lost their mother (1998 - Breast Cancer), your words are wonderful. I look around Brooklyn everyday and Im thankful for the family I have and the city I live in.

2007 - Its Gonna Be Heaven (tm)

Matt Levy
The Levys Unique New York!

[Lisa Barbieri]

I ran across this article by accident, looking for stuff about Concept elite, I used to work there, actually the salon they had in Cedarhurst. I had a strange dream i was with Tony Fanelli, the owner, and we were crying, so i wanted to see if there was anything on the web,,,,,and i read about Tommy, geeez,,, i loved Tommy, we shared a birthday too, i hope he is ok, and i am praying for him. I am far away, but i will write a letter to see how he is. Thank you for sharing this.

[Ron the Crown Heights boy]

I spent my first years on Union Street. While I left many decades ago now, I still retain some curiosity about the area. Recently I was researching realty history and learned that (south) east Crown Heights grew rapidly with the advent of the 1900s, especially after the 1920 arrival of the IRT lines. The 1900 map (based on surveys of 1888-89 and 1897) at http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/img/maps/1888ppcan.jpg is the oldest online map which may document what today is Ford Street. (I have NOT verified the EXACT geometry to confirm same; remember, roads are sometimes condemned or moved. On the map the old "Ford" seems "unbent" to feed directly into what became East 93rd? ) Does anyone know the history of Ford Street, perhaps just how it got its name. The book "Brooklyn By Name" seems to suggest a connection to someone named A. L. Ford. Are you as curious as I am? I have fond memories walking through Lincoln "terrorist" Park to PS 189 as a lad. Even with the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world seemed a much safer place then. ;o)