For 47 Years, MC Barber Artie Cuts Through It All

By Brendan McHugh

Sports Editor

Once known as “the loneliest man on the campus,” the Jasper Barber certainly isn’t that anymore. There probably is not a person at MC more content with his or her place in Riverdale.

Artie Urrutia has been cutting hair at MC since 1962, and has no plans to stop anytime soon. He’s been here for a fire in Thomas Hall, food fights in the cafeteria, a bad time of Woodstock-influenced haircuts and both sides of the MC-CMSV relationship. Today, Artie sits quietly in his shop at the bottom of Jasper Hall waiting for his next customer.

Loneliest Man on the Campus

In 1971, Urrutia might have waited all day for one customer. A local paper dubbed him “the loneliest man on the campus,” and Artie blamed Woodstock and ROTC’s slacking requirements.

After the article came out though, Artie’s demands skyrocketed. It turned out most students were unaware MC even had a barber.

His old shop could be found in Thomas Hall, where the game room is today. A fire in the mid-70s forced him to relocate to Jasper.

In older times, Artie had two, maybe three assistants working for him to help cut hair. Today, in Jasper, it’s just him. But that’s fine with him. Urrutia has about eight to ten customers a day, he says, and most of the time they are men. “The girls take too long,” he says with a laugh, “I really can’t spend an hour on one customer.”

Everything Artie says is with some sort of laugh or smile.

Coming to MC

Urrutia has been cutting hair since the 1940s. What was originally his own barber shop is now a children’s barber shop on 238 St, near Riverdale Ave. Artie had the only barber shop around back then, and all the brothers from MC would hike up the hill to get their hair cut by him.

In 1962, Thomas Hall was built, and the brothers asked Artie to come work at MC. After a few years here, he sold his 238 St. shop and has now been at MC for 47 years.

And Urrutia still cuts the brothers’ hair. At one time, there were over 70 brothers at the school. Now, there are about 20, but they all still get their hair cut by the same man.

Just because someone leaves MC doesn’t mean they leave their barber. Former President Brother Thomas Scanlon visited Artie two weeks ago for a haircut. “For a guy who didn’t have much hair, he was in here every two weeks.” Scanlon took great pride in his appearance, Artie says. And for 20 years, anytime his hair started to fall onto his ears, he went to Artie to cut it back up.

The MC family

Just like Scanlon, students, faculty and staff all keep going to Artie long after they have left Riverdale. He has people come from as far away as Albany for a haircut. He has now found that he has been cutting the hair of the sons of people he cut in the 70s, and the parents still come back as well. “Some of them are in their 40s or 50s, but to me they are still kids,” Artie says, again with a laugh. He knows how many kids everyone has, who graduated from MC and what they’re doing now.

“I don’t feel like I’m working here, I feel like I’m socializing,” says Artie. Though Artie had a quiet afternoon, he had other people stroll in to keep him company. First, Tony comes in to chat with the barber. He and Artie go back and forth as they have been for years. He tells Tony about the Blue Bay Diner on Johnson Ave that he and his wife enjoy. “Ya know, Tony, you can get two sandwiches, two soups, two desserts and two coffees for about $16.”

Tony leaves, and Artie can barely squeeze out another story before another one of his friends stop in. This time it’s Max, an electrician for the Physical Plant, and one of Artie’s best friends. Max and Artie share some laughs before Max takes off.

Home in Riverdale

Urrutia has been married for 53 years to the girl who lived next door, Sheilah. “She asked me out,” he says with a schoolboy-like grin. Now they have three daughters and four grandchildren. His children want him to move in with them, which would mean moving to either Cape Cod or Ireland. But he has no intention on moving. He loves New York City, and he loves his rent controlled apartment on 235 St.

He remembers a student from the late 60s—Gonzales—who was a Cuban refugee. Gonzales graduated from MC in ’69, and twenty years later came back to MC as the ROTC officer. Gonzales asked Artie if he had any ambitions to get out of Riverdale and see the world, as Gonzales had done. “My ambition is to be here in the shop, near my home.”

And when he’s home, Artie keeps himself busy with his favorite pastime, painting. “That’s my love. But I can’t make a living out of it, so I cut hair.” He’s inspired by Native American culture and consistently sells his work through his wife’s cousin’s gift shop in Delaware.

A new love Artie is working on is the guitar. Every one of his four grandchildren plays an instrument, so he wanted to give it a try. He’s only been playing for a few months, but he already knows a couple of John Denver songs. “I’m gonna jam with them one of these days,” he says. His eyes glaze over as he smiles. Artie loves his family, especially his grandchildren.

No longer lonely

Artie may not live a glamorous life, but there certainly isn’t anyone else around who is more pleased with what he has. “You want to stay here for a week? I could tell you stories over and over.”

Once the loneliest man on campus, Artie Urrutia now lives and works with family, making him one of the happiest people on campus.

Tags: hair cut, Jasper Barber, Lonely, Riverdale