At last, the beard-wearing communities of Brooklyn have come together — on the front of The New Yorker, at least.
This week, the magazine’s cover illustration, titled "Take the L Train," brings us the familiar scene of two young men riding the subway, one in the uniform of an observant Hasid and the other, outfitted in the garb of the irreverent and hip: tattoos, ripped jeans and earbuds, with a cigarette tucked just so behind a fashionably plugged ear.
This week's cover, “Take the L Train,” by Tomer Hanuka: https://t.co/cnDSkE3A1K pic.twitter.com/4hbmKgPiiO
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) April 4, 2016
The two passengers face away from each other in mirrored straphanger poses, but one aspect between them is identical — their full, conspicuously long beards, each reaching down to mid-abdomen.
The cover’s illustrator, Tomer Hanuka, calls that facial hair style a “superbeard” in a brief blurb about the image, published on the New Yorker website Monday.
“Bohemian beards may save time because you don’t have to shave, but a big beard demands commitment,” he said. “But I think superbeards can add gravitas to any face.”
The subject of Hanuka’s illustration — namely, the curious overlap between current hipster fashion and the traditional facial hair of Hasidic men — has been well-documented, both by anyone living near the cultures in question (Williamsburg, of course, and increasingly, Crown Heights) and by the popular Tumblr “Hasid or Hipster” that regularly posts pictures of men in Brooklyn and elsewhere that beg the obvious question, “Hasid or hipster?”
The Jimmy Kimmel show used that premise in a skit aired during his visit to Brooklyn in October.
On Monday, the New Yorker cover got mixed reviews on Twitter, from beard fans to those over the “tired” comparison:
This week's New Yorker cover: "Superbeards." Had no idea there was a name for those petri dishes on a face. pic.twitter.com/wnW8qiTjOE
— Lisa Goldman (@lisang) April 4, 2016
Best New Yorker cover in a long time. Gee, I wonder why I like it so much? pic.twitter.com/LdETZZfYYz
— Jeffrey Jon Smith (@jeffreyjonsmith) April 4, 2016
Hasid beards/hipster beards. Is this joke as tired as it seems? https://t.co/iqDb1mfyz3 via @newyorker
— Andrew Silow-Carroll (@SilowCarroll) April 4, 2016
CrownHeights.jpg https://t.co/1wyN9sVlaL
— muscular dryad (@jlwn) April 4, 2016