Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Beard Transplants Ensure No Brooklyn Cheek Left Behind
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 25, 2014
Modified Feb 25, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 25, 2014
Modified Feb 25, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
That smoothness you feel on your freshly shorn cheeks is the crushing weight of evolution correcting your existence. Lacking facial hair in 2014 is akin to lacking an opposable thumb on Bone Fight Night at Monolith Gulch. Beards tickle latte foam, ward off disease, and yank the levers of power. For the follicularly challenged there is but one reliable option: a beard transplant.
"Whether you are talking about the Brooklyn hipster or the advertising executive, the look is definitely to have a bit of facial hair," a facial plastic surgeon tells DNAinfo. The procedure can cost as much as $7,000, but cheating nature is priceless.
Another doctor who performs the transplants further describes her clientele:
"I get a lot of detail-oriented people — artists, architects," the doctor said, noting that beard-centric neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Bushwick and Park Slope have each delivered four to five clients to her practice in the past year.
In addition to beardless hipsters, doctors said their clients include men who have struggled since adolescence to grow a beard, those undergoing a gender transition from female to male, men with with facial scarring and Hasidic Jews who hope to achieve denser payot, or sidelocks. A greater awareness of facial hair transplants has also fueled the popularity of the procedure, doctors said.
The procedure involves moving hair from the patient's head and filling in the gaps in his face. One 39-year-old success story tells the reporter, "Knowing the results, I wish I hadn't wasted so much time deciding."
Are you on the right side of history?
Tagged
beards
blame james murphy
brother can you spare some scruff
facial hair
please read our book proposal it's like sweeney todd meets gogol's "the nose" set in Greenpoint but with beards
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani launches new team to help NYers keep SNAP, Medicaid benefits
Nearly 1 million in the city risk losing benefits as a result of new federal restrictions.
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 12:43 p.m. ET
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
A 26-year-old died after being shot on the platform at the Midtown station. Commuters are rattled.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
A 26-year-old died after being shot on the platform at the Midtown station. Commuters are rattled.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
These are the NYC neighborhoods that will get free 2-K next fall
By
Karen Yi
Early Addition: Get to know Wanda, the donkey in the Met's 'La Bohème'
By
James Ramsay
Eric Adams' NYC buildings boss Eric Ulrich heads to trial, 3 years after arrest
By
David Brand
and
Samantha Max
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .