HARLEM — Claudio the Barber, who was facing eviction from the East Harlem storefront he has occupied for 60 years, has reached an agreement with the landlord until the end of the year.
But the future of the 80-year-old's well known business is still up in the air.
Claudio Caponigro has agreed to pay rent of $1,375 per month for the space at East 116th Street, more than double the $650 per month he was paying but less than the $1,650 the landlord believes is market rate.
"I'm going to stay, but we are still going to fight," Caponigro said Tuesday as he prepared to cut a client's hair. "It's not right. This 15 foot by 15 foot space should not cost more than $600 or $700."
Local elected officials, including Rep. Charles Rangel, Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez and East Harlem Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, have rallied to Caponigro's defense, saying that his is a neighborhood institution that should be allowed to stay. Caponigro's business is one of the last holdovers from a time when East Harlem was a refuge for Italian immigrants.
