Albany barber aims to trim city's violence, one young person at a time

Will Aybar is opening new doors for Albany's youth.

It starts at a new barber shop tucked into an old retail store on Central Avenue.

"I'm hoping to get at least seven to eight guys here,” says Will, owner of Will’s Barber Shop.

He opened it to start a training program for young kids to learn how to cut hair, as a deterrent towards going down the wrong path.

"You can come in, staying within in the barbershop and a safe haven that will help you learn a trade in the future."

It's already getting praise from the community.

“Anything that can do anything good in this neighborhood over here, I'm all for it,” says a bystander outside the shop.

Will hopes that he can partner with local high schools to find new potential barbers. He got the idea after last summer, which was a violent one for Albany. The city had 15 homicides in 2018.

"There was so much violence that it definitely rose up a bar on my end to get this done," Will said.

New York's capital city's been homicide-free in 2019, Will hopes programs like these can keep it that way.

"I think he's just been ordained to help these youngsters,” says Jamil Hood, a local activist.

Hood is working with Will in his Full Court Peace Tours program, where he will hold speaking tours promoting peace at local parks. Hood says Will should be one of their first speakers.

"He's gonna bring a full wealth of information and talent to the table," Hood said.

Hood is still working on a start date for his first speaking event. But Will is optimistic that his new shop and school will open sometime this week.