Lexington Express Barber Shop & Shoe Repair

Came here on a whim because my watch link broke during an interview. Nestled in the subway on Lex and 86^th, this place is a little gem with simultaneous barber shop and shoe repair (keys and passport photo! a true swiss army knife). They were very fast, and it was only $ 5. Not sketchy, got the job done.

Exceptionally fast and well-​priced. I needed a watch fixed and he did it immediately and $ 12 dollars later I was on my way with my repaired watch. I will definitely be coming back for any and all watch repairs! Thank you, thank you!

Mel is the best hair man in the 5 boroughs. Only place I’ll go to get my dome done. Mel is the Best!

RIP OFF ALERT!
Went in to have two pairs of shoes polished.
The proprietor whined so much about my needing new soles that I finally succumbed and agreed that he could repair ONE pair. Went in today to pick up the shoes and was told they’d «made a mistake» and repaired both pairs. Of course, in order to retrieve my shoes I had to pay for both repairs. Scam? I certainly think so. And throughout, this proprietor was surly, hostile and disagreeable.
All very unpleasant and more costly than it should have been. Will never go back.

This place is great, they have fixed many watches for me. They are quick and if possible, fix the watch while I sit and wait for only a few minutes. I love that they’re in the subway, makes it quicker to just run in and hop back on the train to work if need be. The prices are relative to the upper east side and of course might be a dollar or 2 more because of convenience of being right there! I don’t mind paying it when the customer service is great, which it is. A lot of cheaper places have rude employees or owners and even though they get the job done, they make their customers feel stupid for even coming there. This is not the case here! I’ll be back with my next watch malfunction or shoe issue. Thanks guys!

Review states Hidden Gem! THIS IS A HIDDEN RIP OFF !!!
Stopped in Under Ground in subway station where rents are cheap and was quoted an outrageous price to change an ordinary watch battery!
The prices are Higher than on Park Avenue!
STAY AWAY… DONT GET RIPED OFF!

I, too, have kind of always thought this place was sketchy until I searched Unilocal for a watch battery replacement up here… but Unilocal users generally steer right, so I just went to this place on my way home from the subway. As stated, it’s a great little Manhattan time bubble where you kind of forget everything else that’s going on out there… and find really great service without the big city intimidation or price. The man behind the counter replaced my battery and added a link in probably 5 minutes, and you can tell he’s been doing this for a long time. $ 20 total which is a freakin steal for the city, and I’d absolutely come again. Do it!

Very simple review. I had a watch that was too big, and I had a watch that was missing a pin. Now, I have a watch that fits absolutely perfectly, and a watch that has a pin.
Service was fast and done on the spot.
Not really sure there’s much more to be said.

FINALLY picked up my fiancé’s (broken but now PRISTINE) chronograph watch tonight, which was «unfixable» and deem «obsolete» by FOUR other watch repairs prior to finding Lexington Express Barber Shoo & Shoe Repair. FURTHERMORE, I dropped the not-​working watch off in AUGUST (they did say it might take a few weeks), but right afterwards my purse (unfortunately) w/​wallet, phone & watch ticket vanishing with it. So, it took me until today January 25, 2014 to have the «oh crap» moment. I went into the store somewhat frazzled, but before I could even complete my story — their was the watch laying on the counter, in better than new condition AND STILL THERE AFTER 5 MONTHS! They truly are only liable for watches up to a month, but as the owner remarked of this «policy» was this: «That’s a policy, but forget policies… These are people personal & valuable pieces… I think we still have watches from the 80s! But, my advice to you: just don’t push your luck because there are not many shops like this anymore. :)» SO TRUE! I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOU & the Lexington Express Barber Shoo & Shoe Repair Store for your way of doing business, for fixing an unfixable and showing how awesome NYC personnel can be. Netting this out: go here, don’t even consider an alternative.

I would not have come in here if it weren’t for the Unilocal reviews, and they definitely steered me in the right direction! The watch man took some links off of a new watch band for $ 8, and it only took 5 minutes. Everyone there was friendly, can’t ask for much more!

Halfway between the sidewalk and the subway on 86^th and Lex is an underground barbershop. I’d been before, but I’d never gotten a shave from the infamous Mel.
Today the shop is empty and Mel is the only barber. I take a seat.
Mel talks quickly, but with a thick accent I can’t place, and in a soft voice. I see a picture of Al Gore at his station, along with a sign about the Irish meaning of the name Mel. Mel is not Irish.
Mel asks me how old I am. 42, I say. He laughs and tells me he is 75. And that he’s been shaving professionally since he was 14. He also sings and talks to himself. The dialogue is constant, but so soft that I find it soothing.
Mel’s tools are simple. Straight-​edge razor, towel warmed in a microwave, basic shaving cream from a can. He a jar of mystery cream with a tiger on it.
The head shave is fast. It always is. Scalp skin is taught and the hair grows pretty conventionally. It’s easy to get seduced by the ease of shaving a head. Mel now expands the audience of his monologue to include my scalp. And whatever my scalp says to him, he finds humorous. Inbetween songs and chortles, he tells me that it’s important to shave the parts where no hair grows. «It’s in there, sleeping. After years and years… it may come back.»
First pass of the scalp, more tiger balm, second pass against the grain. Rub your hand any direction on my head and you won’t feel a single offending folacle. «Ah, Hue, so glad you came in today.» He sings and talks as though me walking in was the best thing that’s happened to him in recent memory.
Then the face. Tiger balm, shaving cream, then the hot towel on top. «Last customer who came in, he says No No Mel, it’s too hot! I say be a man!» The towel’s hot but I don’t say anything.
Right away, the face is more challenging. Hair grows every which way. My beard hair is curly, and while I didn’t inherit my father’s razor bumps, the anarchy of my facial hair contrasts with the gentility of my scalp. I feel the blade start to catch on my skin. This happens when the straight-​edge gets dull. Most barbers alocate one blade per shave, and leave you to deal with the burn. But Mel senses the pull from my skin and changes razors. Thanks Mel, I say silently. Not outloud because I don’t want to interrupt Mel. He’s the one with the blade.
One side of the face done. «Oh, deep section» he says to the crevice in my upper lip. As soon as he starts the other side, he changes razors again. Three razors in one shave!
He finishes the face and goes for the second round against the grain. For most barbers, the second shave is ceremonial. It makes you feel like you’re getting something special, since you don’t shave twice at home. I expect a gentle skimming, and then off I go. But Mel grabs my face like it’s putty, turns the blade perpendicular to my skin, and starts a-​scrapin’. Now that the road has been paved by the first shave, Mel is driving fast. This way, that way, my skin is mushed and massaged, lest any little hair hide itself under skin or cream. It burns, and I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or not.
He reaches for a bottle of green aftershave. I know by the smell that it’s going to hit my face hard. It does. We are not in the world of high-​end skin products or designer fragrances. Not here in the underground barbershop, where I can hear both the trains and their even noiser New York passangers. I take my medicine, followed by one last rub-​down of tiger balm, then he wraps my face in a light paper cloth and massages, massages. «Underneath my fingers, ah, your pores are closing, good… good.» He removes the paper and says «ahh…better than the plastic surgeon.»
I pay my bill, tip in cash, walk out on the street and gasp a little. That aftershave has a second life when the wind hits it. As I cross the street and hustle to catch the cross-​town bus, I feel my face.
Nice shave, Mel.

This is a really great Barber, and a hidden gem… in the 86^th st Lexington ave subway, of all places.
They have two barbers and both are great guys, really experienced and always do a top notch job.
They also do watch/​shoe repair.
FYI You have to enter on «uptown» side

I really don’t know what I would do without this place.
Conveniently located on the 4÷5÷6 lie at 86^th, this is the PERECT spot to go if you want a service done (anything from polishing your shoes to fixing a cracked iPhone sceen). Their prices are very competitve, and the owner is very friendly.

Passed by this place so many times before and thought it looked sketch. Thank god for the reviews on here! I tried it out with 5 watches and it was flawless. Great prices and incredibly fast turn around time. Also very friendly service. Hidden gem in a subway station but great. (I only went for watch repair so I can’t speak to any other services)

Convenient, polite and efficient and got 3 of my 4 watches running in minutes. The fourth has been used and abused and they talked to me about the challenges and didn’t just throw it together to sell me a battery. That’s as good as it gets, in my book!

I had been watchless for a few months after my watch had run out of a battery, I was busy with school, and I didn’t know of a fast local place to get the battery replaced — then I realized I had been overlooking this subterranean business. Super fast watch battery replacement and repair. They know what they’re doing and they do it fast.

I went here for one reason and one reason alone. I wanted a hot towel shave. I have never had one before and I needed to shave and I was lazy. I did not have Mel but some other guy who was very nice as well. The shave was relaxing and fast. It left my face feeling extremely smooth. If I lived here I would come back.

Never had a haircut here but this place is a godsend when you realize your watch battery has died. For a decent price they will replace the battery pretty quickly and can also repair watches too. Good price for a quality shoe shine also. Quick and efficient and you are on your way.

Tucked away in the 86^th and Lexington Subway station, this place is like some sort of hidden gem. I was in a rush to get to the hospital, but at the same time I looked like &$@#* and desperately needed a haircut… in comes Mel to the rescue. This guy there knows how to cut Asian hair and does a proper fade in a time efficient manner. I didn’t tell him I needed him to rush, but it was almost as if he knew that I was in a hurry. I guess he gets a lot of busy subway travelers.
With plenty of time left, I also asked for a royal shave treatment. Wow! Best feeling ever. except for the part where he rubs the aftershave on. lol just like in the scene in Home Alone.Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

One of the very best hot towel shaves in the City of New York… no kidding! Hidden away in the uptown subway station at 86^th Street and Lexington Avenue is an extraordinary treat: an old-​time barbershop shave from Mel at Lexington Express. I have tried at least two dozen barbers in New York (hey, what can I say? I love the incredible, inexpensive luxury of spending 20 minutes reclining in an antique barber chair with hot, moist towels swaddling my face and coming out with a face as smooth as a sheet of glass) and can state without reservation that Mel is at the top of the game in New York… and perhaps even in the country. If you have no idea why this is such an incredible treat, you owe it to yourself to visit the subway station and cough up $ 16 plus tip for an experience that is likely to turn you into a blithering shave addict.
(I’m actually sitting here debating whether or not to post this review and share the secret, thus possibly risking my ability to walk in on the spur of the moment and bliss-​out. But I’m such a nice guy…[sigh].)