Barber takes students from streets to salon

GREENBURGH - Anthony Barton, electric clipper in hand, gave a free haircut on the outside patio at Town Hall Wednesday as a motley bunch of men looked on.

Among them were parolees and ex-convicts, a white-haired Irish-accented retiree and an auto technician looking for a career change.

Barton was wearing an old-fashioned white barber's coat that buttoned at the collarbone, with a comb and an oversized cellphone poking out of the breast pocket. He finished trimming around the ear, then folded the arch down lightly to show off his handiwork. His five students leaned in for a closer look.

One of them, 51-year-old Mario DeOliveira, was a student for the first day. "This is kind of like being an artist," he said.

Barton, the owner of Anthony's Barber Shop on Russell Street in White Plains, has been teaching barber skills to unemployed or under-employed men - many of them seeking to turn their lives around after troubled pasts. He offers free haircuts Mondays and Wednesdays to members of the community.

Since the program started in October, he and his students have given more than 125 free cuts, first at the town community center, and now at Town Hall, where they have relocated for the summer. Three students have become licensed apprentices and four now have jobs cutting hair professionally.

Something out of nothing

Greg Brown had never cut hair four months ago when he ran into Barton in front of his shop. Brown, 25, had served time in prison and by his description returned to the streets.

Barton asked what Brown was doing these days and Brown said "Nothing."

"I really meant that," he said. "I wasn't doing anything with myself."

After being mentored by Barton, Brown has found a passion for the craft. Today he sports a mohawk, lightened the tip of his beard to brown and changed his Facebook name to "Barber Brown."

He's also moved from the boys' club of the barber shop to work at a salon, Creacions by Candace and Terry near the White Plains DMV.

"I was that kid"

Barton, now 48, was 17 when he gave his first haircut as an inmate at Coxsackie prison. A troubled upbringing in the Bronx, with parents addicted to drugs, ended with him doing a four-year stint for robbery.

In 2007 during the recession, he lost a job at a hospital and returned to cutting hair as a way to support his family.

"I learned the skill in order to survive," he said.

Two years ago, he bought the shop in White Plains and now has the goal of opening a barber school in the Hudson Valley based on the curriculum he has been using in his free-haircut program.

He says his rough background seasoned him to mentor people with few options or kids experiencing the troubles of the street.

"I'm able to relate and identify," he said. "I was that kid."

Resources sought

Barton is running thin on resources and looking for outside grants and other options to continue the program. His equipment for "class" is one suitcase and shared clippers plugged into a single extension cord.

It's not just about the craft, he said, but imparting life skills and advice about being a professional. Barton told the students at the end of a recent class that they won't get repeat customers by wearing low-hanging pants, blasting hip-hop music or smelling like cigarettes or blunts.

A trip to the barber shop should be serene for customers, without the stresses of the outside world, he said: "No bills, no wife, no loss of a loved one, no policeman uniform, no fireman uniform, no parole, no probation."

Daniel Rodriguez, an alumnus of the class who now works at Barton's shop, came back to teach a bit himself. Rogriguez, 32, said it was gratifying to do so.

"It's helping out people who need a chance, who deserve a chance, just like we all need a chance," he said.

Twitter: @marklungariello

About the program:

Free haircuts are given 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at Greenburgh Town Hall.

The program runs through Sept. 2.

The classes are open to anyone.

First-time students will be the first to cut hair on a given day.

For more information, contact 914-804-9091 or abartonthinks@yahoo.com.