This story is part of the West Side Rag’s new push to cover more of the Morningside Heights community from West 110th to 125th streets. If you have any tips for the area, please send them to info@westsiderag.com
By Gus Saltonstall
The Wilde & Co. salon and barber shop is a relative newcomer to the Morningside Heights community. Its glass window storefront at 52 Tiemann Place allows all who walk by to peer in, and it lets business owner Andrew Levine wave back.
The salon, nestled shortly before the 125th Street 1 train station and a two-minute walk from Riverside Park, is the culmination of Levine’s longtime ambition to open his own place.
“I always had some kind of entrepreneurial quality about my personality and I always wanted to create my own thing, my own spaces, create the environment that I want everybody else to experience,” Levine told the West Side Rag.
Levine worked at another New York City salon for more than a decade, before deciding not to return during the pandemic. He started out on his own with a salon suite-style setup, “a WeWork for hair,” that was more or less a single room with a chair and sink.
“I shared that suite for a couple of years, but I just knew that it would be a temporary situation because it was so small,” Levine said. “I wanted more growth, more opportunity and a community, which led me to wanting a storefront in a bigger salon.”
“So, I put my mind to it,” he added. “That’s how Wilde & Co. happened.”
Wilde & Co. opened in September of 2022 and offers cuts, colors and treatments. It has a perfect 5-star rating made up of 47 Google reviews.
“It feels like home, it really does,” Levine said of the Morningside Heights storefront. “ I live not far away uptown, so it’s my people, it’s my community, and I feel like the neighborhood has really been receptive to me opening.”
“Because of the large storefront window, watching everybody walk by to the train and always waving to people, it really makes me happy and just seeing that place where people can smile and be happy, it’s great,” he added.
The culture within the store is also a crucial part of the experience for Levine.
“Traditionally salons are men’s cut or women’s cut, it is very heteronormative, and that doesn’t always make trans, nonbinary, or people from the LGBTQ community feel invited, or feel a part of,” he said. “Overall, the culture of the salon with hiring people of color, and other diverse aspects such a variety of ages, it is not just gender, it’s more of a diverse cultural experience.”
Generally, salons are priced for either men’s or women’s cuts. Wilde & Co. instead charges based on hair length.
When it comes to what gets Levine excited to go to work, he says it’s a combination of his client and his team.
Levine’s current staff includes David, Sara, and Clarke, all whom you can read more about on the “Meet the Team” section of the Wilde & Co. website.
“It’s about supporting my team on what their goals are and what they are hoping to achieve in life,” he said. “It’s things like that which make me wake up excited, knowing people depend on you, being that person that makes things better in their lives.”
“It means everything to me.”
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A schlep from where I live, but sounds nice. I wish them lots of success!
Great to see this in West Side Rag, Andrew and team are awesome!
“Traditionally salons are men’s cut or women’s cut, it is very heteronormative, and that doesn’t always make trans, nonbinary, or people from the LGBTQ community feel invited, or feel a part of,” he said. ”
Maybe Mr. Levine has only worked in upscale salons.
I have been going to “salons” to have my hair cut (and now colored) in NYC since I was 16 –ages ago. There have been, and are, plenty of salons that did men and women’s hair. Plus many of the staff and owners are not or were not heteronormative.
People of color often went and still go to specialized salons as white hairdressers did not have the training/experience for that type of hair. (I hope that has changed).
I am a hairstylist myself, in the business for 40 years, and am so happy to see and read about your new Hair Salon. The W.S.Rag story should be helpful for introducing you and your staff to the neighborhood. When WSR did a story about my salon in 2020 it was very helpful for getting business going again, when the shutdown for Covid ended. Now, after having to downsize due to an exorbitent rent increase, it’s comforting to know that your salon is thriving! Maybe businesses CAN be successful up and down Broadway again. I’ll try to stop in and say hi when I next have dinner at the WONDERFUL Pisticci just around the corner.
Great to see you pushing northward WSR!! After years of creeping uptown (69, 73, 84, 108), I am now loving Harlem but feel like I am still an Upper West Sider forever!
Sounds like a wonderful and welcoming place. Congratulations on making your vision a reality. I wish you much continued success.
Thank you for starting to cover news further north in Morningside Heights! We really need the business.
I like their business model and will probably try them out after reading this. It’s nice to see an inclusive place that welcomes cutting all types of hair.