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Category Archives: Profiles
Elie Sutton: Man of Strength
At the tender age of 19, Elie Sutton was instructed to leave his family, his community, and his dream of becoming a doctor. In a matter of days, he was on his way to a new world, in Shanghai, China. “Whatever sacrifices my father had to make to protect our futures and shield us from danger,” Mr. Sutton whispered in an interview, “he would do at all costs.” Elie said goodbye to his family, and started the harrowing journey to spend the rest of his immediate future alone, a virtual orphan in an unknown land.
Born in Aleppo, Syria in December of 1925, Elie was raised in a deeply religious, insular and remarkably prosperous Jewish community in the Muslim world. A thriving center for trade, commerce and industry, Aleppo offered young Elie a world of exploration as he ran through the covered bazaars, smelling the spices and haggling with peddlers over goods.
However at the time, following the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a wave of sharp anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic movement flooded the community. Law authorities were inefficient and corrupt, suspected criminals were executed in public without a trial, and as a youth Elie witnessed brutal stabbings directly outside his home. His father, Selim Menashe Sutton, a stoic and respected man, announced one day to his family that each of his six sons, upon reaching a suitable age, would be sent off to a different country, away from the dangers of Syria.
The day arrived. With a Syrian passport and a few U.S dollars in his pocket, Elie Sutton travelled alone to Cairo, Egypt. He remained in the dirty and overpopulated city for weeks, desperately trying to obtain a visa to Iraq to continue his path to Shanghai despite his Jewish status. After finally succeeding, he journeyed to Iraq, then Pakistan, and then to a community in India ravaged by poverty. Months later from when he had left his home in Syria, he landed in China in 1947.
After an anxious first few weeks, Mr. Sutton completed his transition into his home at the YMCA of the vibrant and modern International Settlement. Originally introverted and serious in Aleppo, Elie now shed his insecurities and strict religious obligations to become a new man. Over the next four years, Elie’s social life and self-confidence soared as he interacted with people of many different backgrounds, and created a thriving manufacturing business.
“In Shanghai,” Sutton reminisced, “I was in control and responsible for myself. I experienced both the wonders of becoming a successful businessman at such a young age and the pleasures of an active social life with many friends. I grew tremendously over those four years. Shanghai was a special place, a place impossible to duplicate anywhere else.”
However, by 1948, the Chinese Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek collapsed and the country was overrun by a communist regime. The government monopolized entire industries, while strict regulations and penalties were enforced on businesses. It would be impossible for Sutton to continue his perfect life in Shanghai. After much deliberation, he reluctantly closed his successful business and made arrangements to voyage to America, to join his brother Mike who had travelled to a Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York.
On Monday, October 2nd, 1950, Elie Sutton landed on American soil for the first time at the age of 24. Here, in the southern part of Brooklyn, was an incredibly strong and tight-knit Syrian Jewish community. Sutton was elated. In this new home were not only immediate uncles and cousins, but also an entire population of people who were from the same place, and had the exact same language, heritage and traditions.
“It was the continuation of Aleppo,” Sutton said, “I went to a place where I knew I would be comfortable with people I can connect with. But now we had the great atmosphere, the opportunities, and the freedom to practice our religion.”
By spring of 1951, while Elie was struggling to find a consistent job, he went out with a nice young Syrian girl named Tunie Sultan. Immediately, Elie fell in love with her beauty, intuition and outgoing personality, and the two married on November 4th, 1951. At times, Sutton admitted to dreaming of his fantasy life in Shanghai, and questioned his devotion to the community. Yet, he quickly suppressed his feelings.
“To remain in America,” Elie remarked, “And to take Tunie as a wife, I had to absorb the community and allow myself to be swathed into it. I could not return to my Shanghai ways.”
With the help of his new father in law Abe Sultan, Elie conscientiously worked to construct an effective retail business, E.S Sutton Inc. Finally, the income started coming in just in time for the couple to welcome the birth of their first daughter, Adele. With a new baby, a loving wife, and a new large extended family, Elie’s life in Brooklyn had taken root.
While in America, Elie finally learned the fate of his family that had remained in Syria all those years. His father, with his business crumbling and his family in constant danger, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was sent to Beirut for immediate medical care. In Aleppo, new anti-Jewish laws were enforced. Jews would not be allowed to buy or sell property, and repaying debts to Jews was now optional, while Jewish businesses were forced to close. In the end, the Sutton family was forced to flee as a Muslim mob ravaged their neighborhood, and torched their home.
Amazingly, his mother and some children were able to escape to Brooklyn. However, his father Selim Menashe Sutton passed away in an Israeli nursing home, all alone as his son Joe was forced to leave the country out of fear of being drafted to the army. Elie now discovered that years earlier, his brother Saleh had passed away in Syria after a battle with tuberculosis, and his youngest brother Edgar tragically died at the age of 14 due to kidney failure, and due to an erroneous medical diagnosis.
After grieving over the losses in his family, Elie Sutton began to establish himself in his new community. Over the years his wife gave birth to another boy and two girls. Together, the couple traveled the world, visiting places such as Hong Kong, Russia, Italy, Brazil, Greece and Kenya. The two immediately made an impact on the Syrian community, starting a social club for couples and promoting membership for the now wonderfully successful Sephardic Community Center. Adele Sultan, the mother of Elie’s wife Tunie, had been diagnosed with dementia and was placed in a nursing home for 20 years, enduring progressively worsening mental instability. Tunie did research and started a support group for caregivers of loved ones with Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Elie took it upon himself to become a member of many synagogue committees, most notably Bet Torah Congregation. With the help of Mr. Sutton, the synagogue has grown from once struggling to get the ten men required to have a daily prayer service, to now attracting hundreds of congregants on a weekly basis. Mr. Sutton also joined a prestigious group of benefactors for Mt. Sinai Hospital, and sponsored fundraising events for Senator Bill Bradley. He spoke at schools, events, and synagogues, telling his life story, raising money for local charities, and lecturing about running successful business enterprises. When Elie elected to move to Florida for the winters he was one of the few founders of the beautiful Safra Synagogue in Aventura. He was the first designated president and served the role for three consecutive years. He also single handedly established a branch of ECHO, an organization specializing in medical referrals, in the Brooklyn community.
“Elie is an incredibly well respected man in the community,” daughter in law Mary Sutton praised, “He is constantly giving advice to community members and counseling businessmen.”
All went well for Elie Sutton until the fall of 1993, when his beloved wife Tunie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After an extremely long and painful process of chemotherapy, invasive surgeries and exhausting side effects, Tunie Sutton passed away in 1996 at the age of 64. The loss pushed Elie into a spiral of depression, as he neglected his business and mourned for weeks on end. Eventually, he restarted his life and remarried a lovely woman, ironically, named Tunie.
The interview is now over, and Elie Sutton walks outside to sit on his porch. Calmly enjoying the warm breeze, he listens to the sounds of local residents socializing and a construction crew at work, as a smile slowly spreads across his face. Today he is a proud, serene, and humble man who embodies the grand strength of human determination and resilience. His gentle and calm disposition hide the man who once experienced such enormous hardships and deep conflicts.
Parkchester’s Fruit Stand Man
At the corner of Metropolitan and McGraw Avenues, a fruit stand is set up every morning to serve passersby. This ritual has been carried out Monday through Saturday by its owner for over twenty years. The owner whose name is soon to be known should have an in depth knowledge about the demographics of the community. The stand is located on the block at the start of Parkchester’s sea of buildings with its distinct brick architecture. This fruit stand is one out of six street merchants that line this block. It is a hot commodity for these types of business people because it is located a block away from the no. 6 train station, its right before the start of Yankee Mall and it contains buildings that are not part of the Parkchester complex.
The main questions are how long have you been selling fruit in the community? Do you also live nearby? Surely, he should know of some of the key issues in Parkchester. The fact that he has definitely been in business for over twenty years should also give incite to where he sees business in the community going. The stand attracts all types of residents and shoppers he could possibly know a lot about the community activities that take place. The general area is consider to be part of Parkchester. Does he get to participate in the community planning and activism? Everyone in the neighborhood knows that on the corner is the fruit stand. Is there a formal claim to this space or has it become understood over the years?
Gerald A. Eposito, Community Board District Manager
Gerald A. Esposito was the youngest District manager that New York City has ever had and has held that position in Williamsburg for the past 35 years. Esposito has received many awards from community groups for his work. He stays actively involved with his neighborhood by being part of fraternal organizations and alumni associations
His biography on NYC.gov states, “With a sharp mind, quick action and a keen knowledge of process, he helped guide the Community Board through the city’s myriad of complex issues and resolved many problems with service delivery, budget and planning, building partnerships and problem resolution. ”
I want to interview him because he should know a lot about Williamsburg and any issues this neighborhood may have. Also he is involved in the improvement and progress of Williamsburg. There are many questions that I want to ask him like the following:
(1)Throughout your 35 years of service as District Manager, what is your biggest accomplishment? Biggest regret?(2)What is your opinion on the new condominiums that are being built in Williamsburg?(3)What is an issue that Williamsburg struggles with?
There are many people that I hope to interview as well. Some of my possible sources will include, the staff members that work with him, Williamsburg residents and community groups/organizations.
Posted in Profiles
Tagged Faces, Margarita Lappost, Williamsburg
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Neighborhood faces – SoHo
SoHo is rich in old establishments. Old galleries, old cobblestone streets that contrast with the paved roads of midtown, old buildings converted from factories into luxury apartment buildings, and old restaurants. The restaurant I work in has been at its Spring Street and 6th Avenue location for 17 years, and emulates the stuck-in-time vibe of SoHo.
A woman named Michelle, between 60 and 70 years old, is a retired longtime server at the restaurant I have been with for almost one year. She has also lived in SoHo her entire life. Michelle worked at Aquagrill from their opening in 1996 until about 2008, and places a twist on the classic female New York City server persona: bubbly and friendly, with a touch of feisty quirk and jaded warmth. She has that “I know what I’m doing” way about her. I will be interviewing Michelle as the face of SoHo, for I believe she embodies the SoHo that many older longtime residents recall: stylish and artistic and less crowded than what the neighborhood today.
As she has agreed to speak with me, although we have yet to set up an interview, I will be asking Michelle what she believes the future of SoHo holds, how she believes the neighborhood has changed, and ask about anecdotes she may have of the neighborhood over the years. I would love to ask her where she was during 9/11, for SoHo is in close proximity to the Towers. The angle I’d like to take is asking Michelle about “old SoHo vs. New SoHo” with a focus on the “cronut” phenomenon as a metaphor for the overcrowding of the neighborhood. As a retiree from the food industry, she has to have some opinion about the craze over a $5 pastry. She has no children, but she has been married to her husband for many years, so I will ask to speak to him as well about Michelle. She has friends in the area who I will also ask to speak with, and I have the feeling she takes classes or lessons of some kind, so I will ask to speak with her instructors about Michelle and perhaps their encounters with her in SoHo.
I will definitely be asking to take a few pictures, as she is a beautiful older woman with very thin features and an interesting way about her that I am eager to explore. I would love to get some shots of her in her apartment, perhaps.
Gowanus Neighborhood Face
In interest to the boom in creativity in the Gowanus area, so many people and businesses have flocked there to live and flourish in arts and media. In particular, I was happy to discover a art space called Brooklyn Art Space close to my job that Ive never really realized before.
I would love to speak to the art director who is Rhia Hurt who is also a artist and has been featured in many exhibitions all over New York and California. She originally hails from Northern California coming to Gowanus with a masters in Painting and Education. I will also speak to the art space staff and even patrons of the art space if available to find out if they live where they work and how is working with Rhia Hurt.
Posted in Neighborhoods, Profiles
Tagged Marian Thomas, neighborhood
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Cristabelle Tumola– Queens Village
Cristabelle Tumola is a Writer, Editor, Translator, Freelance Writer, And Food Editor at Italian Cooking and Living. She is one of the many who has gone through journalism school and has succeeded.
Accomplishing so much as she did in her recent years she started from columbia university graduate school of journalism and is currently working for the Queens courier as a Web Journalist and Social Media Manager.
Besides all the excitement she get to witness on an everyday basis, I think that it will be interesting to see someone in action in a field that I am interested in. She gets to see all the ins and outs of her business and can possibly lead me in the right direction as to where the conflict is in Queens since everything is so secluded.
I’m interested in getting to know more about this writer behind her work and what drives her interest in the story she choses to cover.
Patricia Ann Norris-McDonald (Malverne)
A life long resident, a compassionate individual and the Mayor of Malverne, Patricia Ann Norris-McDonald has been an active member of the community since she can remember. Out of all the residents I decided to select Norris-McDonald because she is known throughout Malverne, in a personal and professional environment and people are interested in talking about her.
Through this interview she will be questioned about what makes Malverne a unique place? Why did she decide to serve as Mayor of the village? Is there anything during her term in office that she would change? What are some of her accomplishment while in office? Through everything she has been through how does she stay positive? Has the village and its resident helped her through the difficult times she has faced? When making decisions that impact the residents what goes through her mind?
Working with her on the Board of Trustees, I would interview Trustee Joseph Hennessey and Trustee Michael Bailey about how they feel she runs the village and how they perceive her personally. However, her tenure as Mayor is only a small portion of her time in Malverne, I would also speak with other life-long residents to discover how McDonald is known. Some of these individuals include Patricia Callahan and Robert Powers, both have known her for years.
As a resident I am familiar with Mayor McDonald and through my knowledge and contacts I aim to see what makes McDonald such devoted resident and what others feel about their mayor and fellow citizen. She has suffered great tragedy in her life, she takes care of her husband that is former NYPD detective and is paralyzed from an incident on the job and still has time to focus on others.
Posted in Profiles
Tagged John Friia, Malverne, Patricia Norris-McDonald
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Neighborhood Faces Pitch; Forest Hills
With the E, F, and M subway lines running through the heart of Forest Hills, this area in central Queens is just a twenty-minute train ride from Manhattan. Residents of Forest Hills love being so close to the city, using it for work and play. However, the essence of Forest Hills is anything but city-like. Local shops, family owned businesses, and antique stores line Metropolitan Avenue. Most buildings are no more than a few stories high. One of the real draws of Forest Hills, for residents and visitors, is being able to wander shady residential streets and “The Avenue,” feeling like they are far away from the crowded streets of Manhattan.
Pat McLaughlin uses this great trait of Forest Hills to her advantage. She is an English teacher at a high school in Manhattan and regularly rides the F from the Forest Hills station into the city. Although she lives just outside of Forest Hills, in Kew Gardens, most of her free time is spent in Forest Hills.
McLaughlin, is an equestrian lover and stables her horse at Lynn’s Riding School in Forest Park, located in Forest Hills. She is an ideal person to interview for a “Neighborhood Faces” article on the neighborhood. She works in a city environment, living a short commute away from her job, but is able to enjoy aspects of what most would label a “country life.” I’d like to ask her what is so appealing about this hybrid lifestyle. Forest Hills and McLaughlin give different meaning to what living in a city “requires.”
Posted in Profiles, Story Queries
Tagged Thomas Seubert
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Elie Sutton; Gravesend
Elie Sutton, now in his mid 80’s, is a community legend. Born in Aleppo, Syria, Mr. Sutton was instructed to leave his home at the age of 19 by his father, when at the time Syrian Jews under the control of the Ottoman Empire were facing a severe economic decline and a wave of sharp anti-Semitism following the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948.
In the next 5 years, Sutton found himself traveling from Egypt to Lebanon, from Iran to Shanghai, in a perpetual state of homelessness. At the age of 24 he finally crossed the continent and found a home in Brooklyn, NY, and established himself into the Sephardic Jewish community in Gravesend. From then on, Elie Sutton was on the forefront of nearly all the major changes and progressive advancements of the community. He took a leading role on community committees, helping to create new infrastructure, schools, and religious institutions.
When I get a chance to meet Mr. Sutton, I hope to ask him firsthand of his incredible journey from Syria to Brooklyn, which is documented in a book called Alien at Home: Divine Intervention, written by Bahia Abrams. I also would like to ask him in detail about the start of my community, and through what conflicts and challenges it had to go through to become what it is today. He has been described as brilliant, clear-minded, vibrant, personable, and extremely loving and generous. I am excited to see what I could learn from such an incredible man.
In addition to Mr. Sutton, I hope to also interview my Great Grandmother Virginia Sultan, who has lived in Brooklyn all her amazing 97 years, and has truly become a longstanding pillar in the community.
Lively Quotes
Do read, “Rituals of Retail’s Past, Kept Alive On Lower East Side in the Digital Era,” NYT, 9/16/13 by David Gonzalez:
Posted in Neighborhoods, Profiles, Small Business
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