Evicted Barbers Are Heroes for Helping Homeless

* Jim Carcioppolo and Tom Wilson, featured in “Evicted Barbers Sweep Up for Last Time” (March 27), would not remember, but I used to take my two sons in for haircuts when they were little. Going into the barbershop was like setting foot in the ‘50s of my childhood. I noticed the old calendars and the ancient piano, wondering if anyone ever played it anymore.

We have lived in this neighborhood for 18 years and never expected to see our local barbershop close, and for the most ridiculous of reasons.

Jim and Tom were part of the solution to the problem of homelessness, giving free haircuts and providing a small haven of camaraderie and caring to those down on their luck.

For the landlord to evict them for this reason really stinks! It seems to me that the landlord is contributing to the problem.

He could provide odd jobs for them in the spaces that he rents out. He could encourage his tenants to provide discounts for their merchandise and services (in return for a rental discount) and he could offer them gift certificates to Lucky’s (across the street) when they are hungry.

He could now even consider converting the vacant barbershop into a day shelter or donating the space to a food bank or other social service agency.

Homeless people are just that: people, like all of us. Most of them are not dangerous, and the problems they have will not disappear until we treat them with dignity. For their gentle kindness, Jim and Tom are quiet heroes to my entire family.

BARBARA SINGER

North Hollywood