New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020nypost.comBy IsaBel VIncentAstor Place Hair Styl-
ists, the iconic salon and
barbershop that has been
an East Village fixture for
73 years, is the latest casu-
alty of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Management at the
basement barber shop,
which counted everyone
from actors Robert De
Niro and Kevin Bacon to
artist Andy Warhol,
Mayor de Blasio and dis-
graced former state As-
sembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver as loyal customers,
told staffers Friday that
the doors will close just
before Thanksgiving.
“We’re down 90 percent
of our business,” manager
Michael Saviello told The
Post, adding many of the
offices and shops nearby
have shuttered because of
the infection. “We’ve been
open every day since re-
opening in June, but we’ve
reduced our hours.”
The decision devastated
the 40 hairstylists, some
of whom have worked at
the shop longer than the
40 years put in by Saviello
— aka “Big Mike.”
“A lot of people cried
when we told them the
news,” he said. “Some ofour customers cried be-
cause they came here as
kids and now bring their
kids to get their hair cut.”
Stylist Valentino Gogu,
72, who has worked at As-
tor Hair since arriving in
New York from Romania
in 1984, was in disbelief,
Saviello said. Gogu has
worked seven days a week
at the barber shop and fa-
mously cut Hilary
Swank’s hair for the 1999
film “Boys Don’t Cry.”
The budget-friendly
barber shop has been
owned by the same family
for three generations. En-
rico Vezza opened the
shop with the motto that
no matter their economicbackground, everyone
needs a haircut, which
start at $23, Saviello said.
Known as “the United
Nations of hair cutting,”
where stylists speak sev-
eral languages, the
sprawling single-room sa-
lon attracted tourists from
around the world.
Stylists’ stations are
crowded with auto-
graphed photos of their
celebrity clients, and Savi-
ello has set up an artists’
studio where he paints
portraits during his lunch
hours.
“Maybe we’ll come back
when the city comes back,
but right now it’s not fea-
sible,” Saviello said.‘chop’ for
famed shop
Hair & gone: With the pandemic sapping business,
co-owner John Vezza is closing the 73-year-old Astor Hair.Helayne SeidmanSinger-songwriter Jerry
Jeff Walker, who wrote the
pop song “Mr. Bojangles,”
has died at age 78.
Walker died Friday of can-
cer, family spokesman John
T. Davis said.
Walker emerged from the
Greenwich Village folk
scene in the 1960s, and
moved to Texas in the 1970s.
He and the Lost Gonzo
Band in 1973 recorded an al-
bum live called “Viva Terlin-
gua” that became a classic of
country-rock music. He re-
leased more than 30 albums.
Walker wrote “Mr. Bojan-
gles” in 1968 after meeting a
street performer by that
name in a New Orleans
drunk tank. AP
‘Bojangles’
song guy dies
The Lion
Queen is
back.
A Brooklyn
woman infa-
mous for
stepping into
the lion’s den
at the Bronx
Zoo, and
dancing and
waving at one
of the beasts
in a caught-on-camera mo-
ment (pictured), has resur-
faced, sources said.
Myah Autry was taken into
custody by police Wednes-
day evening after she alleg-
edly threatened to jumpfrom Steeple-
chase Pier in
Coney Island.
Autry was
brought to
Coney Island
Hospital for
psychiatric
evaluation,
the sourc es
said.
Autry’s an-
tics included
claiming she was a “reincar-
nated” lion, and taunting
cops on social media as
they looked to arrest her on
criminal-trespass charges
for the stunt on Sept. 28,- Dean Balsamini
Bx. Zoo lion dancer
back in psych ward
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