Category Archives: Profiles

(Neighborhood Faces) An Immigrant Who Never Intended to Stay

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He came to New York City believing the streets were paved with gold and opportunity waited for all.

The year was 1950. He stepped off the train from Baltimore and looked around at the bustle of the crowded train station—he had finally made it to New York. He walked through the station towards an employee, and in broken English, he asked for directions to Coney Island. The uniformed man scoffed, looking down at the 16-year-old Italian boy. To get to Coney Island, he chuckled, you to get to New York first. The boy gave him a puzzled glance.

Salvatore Feola, thought this was New York. He followed the man’s pointed finger and saw a sign reading “Newark Pennsylvania Station.” The boy grudgingly walked back to the platform to await his train.

He never intended to move to America. One untimely decision changed his life.

Feola was one of 12,454 Italians to immigrate to America in 1950, but he didn’t have the same intentions as many of his counterparts in search of a new life.

Feola’s first moments in America, originally settling in Coney Island, were wrought with challenges to assimilate.

“It was lousy,” Feola said, raising his arms up and shrugging.

“I was working on the boat inside the kitchen helping the chef,” Feola said.

He worked on a container ship that made multiple trips between Italy and America, docking in Norfolk, Virginia.

Salvatore Feola in his Astoria Apartment

Salvatore Feola in his Astoria Apartment

Immigration officers interviewed the crew, granting shore-leave, a pass allowing crew members to venture onto dry land, instead of staying aboard the ship, to a few of the workers.

“They come on the boat and ask if you would like to live in America. I say no, I want to go home to my mother in Italy. So they give me pass to leave the boat for a few hours,” said Feola.

He stepped ashore with a friend from the ship and walked around town for a few hours. When they arrived at the dock, they saw the ship had already departed; they were stuck in America.

After an exhausting bus ride to Baltimore, a train ride to Newark, a second train ride to New York City and a subway ride to Coney Island, Feola made it to his friend’s house, where he slept on a dirty, bare mattress.

“He was a stinking drunk. The place smelled,” he recalled.

Soon after, he moved in with his uncle in Corona, Queens. Feola struggled to find a job. “Nobody will hire you with no working papers and not speaking English,” Feola said. He eventually found work at the former Silvercup Bread Company, now a movie studio in Queens.

Feola spent years living in small houses, sharing a room with five or six other Italian immigrants. He wanted nothing more than to go home to his family, but going back on his own was not something he would do easily.

“I didn’t want to go back with no money. I leave here with less than what I came with. I was ashamed.” The only feasible way home was deportation.

“Every week the immigration officers came to the house with the picture of the guy [they were looking for] and I would go get him and tell him the officer was there.”

DSCN3847Every time the door bell rang, Feola would hope it would be for him but it never was. “I always go to the room and put my pants on and get my stuff and the officer look at me and say ‘what’re you doing, we’re not here for you.’ I kept waiting but it was never for me.”

Feola, desperate and longing for home, traveled to the INS office to turn himself in. He told the officers that he had been living in New York illegally, but to no avail.

“They give me a piece of paper and they tell me to go home and when the officers come for me to give to them.” They never came.

His oldest daughter, Ginny, said Feola always struggled in New York. “It was never easy for him here. He was homesick, didn’t speak English. He was just a kid at the time. The years of work really took a toll on him.”

After years struggling in America, trying to get deported Feola found his reason to stay: his wife, Mary. She lived across the street from him and shortly after meeting, they married. “I moved in with Mary and her aunt Kate, who helped me to pay the bills.”  Salvatore was now a citizen of the United States.

Feola bounced from job to job to help make ends meet. Because of the difficulties he faced in attaining a full-time, steady job, he decided to open his own business. Using the money he saved from his previous jobs, a small bank loan and an offer from the seller of a small store and two-story private house, he moved his family to Astoria and opened “Sal’s Pizza.”

“The guy who owned it liked me was selling his house with a store, he offered it to me for only $15,000 upfront and I could pay the rest to him little each month.” With that, Feola was a business and home owner, and the family moved to Astoria.

The "Sal's Pizza" sign is still mounted outside of the store. The new store owners leave it mounted out of respect for the former business.

The “Sal’s Pizza” sign is still mounted outside of the store. The new store owners leave it mounted out of respect for the former business.

His other daughter, Cathy, remembers her father working hard to provide for the family. “It was apparent he was never very happy living in America. He would always talk about how things were in Italy. We all knew he wanted to go back.” Cathy says she and her siblings were the only thing keeping Feola in America. He didn’t want to leave the family he had here.

“The house took a long time to pay off but it was worth it. I am still here. I have a place to live here. I own something,” Feola says. After living in Astoria for 41 years, he achieved the American dream. He had a business, a house, and a family, but it still wasn’t home. He still longed for Italy.  “It will always be my home. If I could go back in time, I would not get off that ship.” Since then, Feola has traveled back to Italy to visit his siblings, but always returns back to New York, where his children and granddaughter reside.

A Small Asian Grocery Store on 86th Street in Brooklyn: In Person and Online

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For the past two decades, according a report in “Distinct Places, Share Opportunity: A Neighborhood-based Analysis of Asian Americans in NYC,” the Asian American community has been the fastest growing group in the nation and New York City. Bensonhurst alone had their Asian population increase 57% between 2000 and 2010. New Asian immigrants not only have moved to the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn but they have also brought their cultural influences, traditions, values, and most interestingly Asian foods into the neighborhood.

The founder of the Brooklyn Chinese-American (BCA) Association, Paul Mak, decided to address these growing needs and founded on January 19, 1988. “With all the comfort that the Chinese immigrants could find in their new neighborhood, they realized there was still a significant obstacle hindering them from achieving their dreams of prosperity. They had created their own world, but they were isolated from the larger world of New York City and the United States. Notices in English about social welfare and other literatures crucial to their daily life usually went unread,” according to the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association.

Front view of US Asia Market Inc.

Front view of US Asia Market Inc.

As the Asian community drastically expanded in the neighborhood, there was a growing need for new immigrants such as bilingual social services, Asian grocery stores, restaurants, and clinics. Situated among the supermarkets, restaurants, bakeries, bubble teashops, and pharmacies on 86th Street, right outside from D train Bay Parkway station, there is a small Asian grocery store, which fulfills the needs of the growing Asian community. The store is covered with a red billboard in white and yellow letters in both English and Chinese. It says, “US Asia Market, Inc.” US Asia Market specializes in stocking grocery and food items from South East Asia, China, Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Two immigrant entrepreneurs opened it in 2011. One of them is Mr. Chee Hon, a 48-year old Malaysian immigrant. Two years ago, Mr. Hon bought the other half of ownership because his partner could not stand the daily tedious tasks. Many hats now belong to Mr. Hon because he is the manager, the storekeeper, the cashier, and lastly the “boss.” The store is open from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm, seven days a week.

- Jasmine Rice from Thiland

Jasmine Rice from Thailand

Asians' favorite "HOT" chili sauce

Asians’ favorite “HOT” chili sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tom Yum, Lady’s Choice, and Peanut Sauce

“I have been shopping in this grocery store for almost two years. I come back here again and again because Mr. Hon carries different varieties of Asian cooking ingredients like this Malaysian biryani masala one. No other stores around carry products like him,” Ms. Ni said. In addition, many loyal customers come to Mr. Hon’s store because of his excellent customer service. He speaks Malaysian, Mandarin, Cantonese, other dialects of Chinese, and a little bit of Thai.

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Goya, Milo, Ovaltine, Thai, and Chinese Tea

Fresh and Green Vegetables

“How are you today?” said Mr. Hon if someone comes into his store in a rush or stop by for chatting. Although he is always working, such as arranging new merchandise or busy checking orders from eBay, he never forgets to greet the incoming customers in a friendly manner and with a big smile. Mr. Hon has been in the States for over 19 years. He started his career in a big Asian supermarket and always wanted to do his own business. With the hard work and the inspiration from the family, his dream came true.

“It was just luck” he said, “I found this store was locked up and empty. Then, I knocked several times and met with the Italian old woman for the leasing.” Mr. Hon came up with an idea to offer different kinds and varieties of imported Asian cooking essential ingredients and seasonal fresh produces excluding meat products, which require additional storage and expenses. Besides foods, his store has merchandise from kitchen utensils to baby lotions, except beer and cigarettes. His 1,600 square-foot-store. “US Asia Market” stands out among other Chinese supermarkets in terms of his food and his service. Mr. Hon grows some produce such as melons, chilies in the summer time, and gets them from a friend’s farm in New Jersey, selling them cheap and fresh for his customers. However, vegetables and fruits sales are not steady since they easily become and are sensitive to the temperature. Up to 5%-10% of the  produce is  thrown away in the wintertime.

His primary business expenses include rent, insurance, utilities bills, employee wages, with rent being the biggest factor, the one that gives him a headache at night.”We pay around $65,000 – $70,000 a year rent and it is increasing 4% every year.” That is about $6,000 a month. His sales are steady but there is increasing competition, with a couple of grocery stores popping up few blocks away from his store, according to Mr. Hon.

 

Lotions, Gloves, and etc.

Lotions, Gloves, and etc.

“Another factor which holds back the growth of business is the space constraint,” Mr. Michael said. He is the best friend of Mr. Hon and they have been friends for a few years. Mr. Michael used to be a customer but he is now helping Mr. Hon’s business with online sales on eBay. Selling imported Asian foods and cooking ingredients with free shipping sounded startling but Mr. Hon admits that the eBay sales have been doing well since they launched the business idea in March 2015. Due to the skyrocketing rents in Bensonhurst’s commercial 86th Street, Mr. Hon could neither take over the next door nor add extra room to the store. However, a lot of his customers stop by to check out new brands of noodles and frozen Jack fruit from Thailand.

 

 

 

Sources:

http://www.aafe.org/newsroom/reports

http://www.bca.net/eng/about.html

Lucy Dawind

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Midtown West is a region representative of New York’s Fashion Capital, and is referred to by many by its sobriquet, the “Garment District”. With world-class fashion schools like Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology just a 15 minutes subway ride away, the ubiquity of buttons, ribbons, and fashion stores come as no surprise. As a district that houses such artistic potential, Midtown West is a virtual battleground of fabric stores. A quick Yelp search reveals over 1600 stores in the area. Amongst them, the second Yelp hit, Paron Fabric, is open seven days a week despite what seems to be a wide-spread practice to close on the weekends. The ratings reveal popular support for this store with four and a half stars out of a possible five.

Upon reading the Yelp reviews, the name of a single individual who diligently works at this fabric store popped up; Lucy Dawind. An enthusiastic yelp reviewer discribes her uncanny ability to reply comprehensively to all 100 of their questions pertaining to silk. Harboring mixed feelings between the desire to meet this knowledgeable, presumably amiable individual, and doubts about such an inordinately positive Yelp review, I headed to Paron Fabric. There, I found Dawind sitting in a cozy box on the right-hand side of the entrance door.

Dawind is a sweet 65 year-old woman from Poland, who immigrated to the United States when she was 20. Dawind claims that, while she did not have a say in the matter of her immigration, she had always aspired to move to the states. Perhaps the vision of pursuing the American Dream then and now remains unchanged. Dawind emphasizes her family’s immigration through a permanent visa with a flicker of pride. She adds that everything was better back then; there was less crime, and finding employment was not at all arduous, and purchasing items of value was not as difficult as it is today.

According to Dawind, her career in a fabric store was only an accident; she had neither been studying fashion, nor did she particularly have a strong interest in it. Dawind’s original Fabric store, one that she had devoted 20 years to since 1971, had closed as a result of massive urban development. ”They used to be 40 streets full of fabric, but now it’s only restaurants and hotels. NYC is catering to tours not to fabric”, she says. At the first fabric store, she studied the intricacies of the various fabrics. This required mind-numbing amounts of time devoted to memorizing fabric types, but her persistence paid off. She started working at Paron Fabric, where she has now spent 25 years; “I like working in the Fashion Capital of New York, that’s why I’m here so many years. But I don’t know if it still is.”

Dawind claims that her “Fashion Capital New York” is gradually disappearing. Numerous factories and fabric stores have been decimated, and many have been forced to shut down. “Made in the USA” has become a rarified, expensive logo, and the cloth manufacturing industry has shifted to China and its South East Asian neighbors. Designers began preferring cheaper fabric, and mass manufacturing of fabrics became a cultural norm; something Dawind cannot agree with. “I wish things are what they used to be, but I think that’s impossible.”

With rents rising exponentially, the survival of small stores such as these may be difficult. Even a veteran of the city such as Dawind is forced to face the harsh realities that accompany living in New York; every day, she must rely on public transport to commute from New Jersey.

Dawind says the city of New York is rife with change, and living here is like living in the world of a television drama. She was attracted to surprise, happiness as well as fear and disappointment in this city. Dawind’ favorite fabric is a natural, cool, yet diaphanous cotton, which resembles her very own personality: with its softness. This softness seems to be missing from the city that currently reaps satisfaction from its immersion in business.

South Slope’s transformation according to Subs “n” Stuff storeowner

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IMG_6955-1South Slope News

Everyday there are South Slope, Brooklyn residents who walk to the subway for their commute. While walking down 5th Ave. to the local Prospect Avenue R train station on 4th Ave., they are likely to pass by the newly opened deli as of last February.

Sam Sarsour, 48, owner of Subs “n” Stuff deli, located in South Slope at 624 5th Ave. moved to the neighborhood from Palestine at 10 months old with his family. He’s witnessed the rapid changes in South Slope, a neighborhood within the outskirts of 15th St. and 24th St. and Fourth Ave. through Prospect Park West.

At first, Sarsour lived on 24th St. between Third and Fourth Ave. with his parents and four brothers. “It’s the block where lady liberty looks right at you, my Mom still lives there until this day,” said Sarsour.

As a child, Sarsour remembers South Slope being called Gowanus. He described Gowanus as a grim place with stray pit bulls in packs roaming the streets freely. Neighbors were terrified of leaving their homes because of the large number of stray dogs.

“Back in the day. There was no animal control,” Sarsour said.

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“Do we have more Times?” asks Sam’s brother and co-owner of Subs “n” Stuff, Mike Sarsour, 38.

“Yeah, you do.” The man noticed another person being handed their iced coffee and said, “You have coffee too! You guys have everything I need!”

“Yeap. That’s why we’re called Subs and Stuff.”

The man was middle aged. His glasses were circular with gold frames a long beard and long silver hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

“Just making sure my favorite section is in here. Yeap, it’s here,” he said while shuffling through the Times in an Australian accent.

“There’s too much honking here, after four days, I can’t handle it anymore,” said the man while grabbing his iced coffee and heading out. He had what appeared to be a stamp on his right hand. The kinds you get when you go out clubbing the night before. It seemed like he was on a business trip.

In fact the average customer according to Sam and Mike are in their mid 20’s, Caucasian, single, male or female.

Sarsour’s dad, David, was the first to purchase property in Park Slope and started his own local business as a grocery store owner of General Market and Deli, on 201 Eighth Ave. David retired after being diagnosed with lung cancer and heart disease.

Many neighbors loved David and threw him a block party the day he closed down his store. Sarsour’s father told him and his brothers that everyone has two legs and can walk to any grocery store they wanted to. He assured them that people would walk to the store where they are treated best. “They made my dad a certificate of appreciation,” said Sarsour while his eyes gleamed.

The Sarsour brothers live by their father’s business and moral principles and are appreciative of his choice of location when investing in residential and small business properties.

The neighborhood has been referred to as Sunset Park and Greenwood, and was rezoned in 2005 as South Park Slope according to the New York Department of City Planning.

South Slope continues to have a large population of senior citizens, however, young single professionals and students are making their way in and they are here to stay. Local businesses are making the necessary changes to accommodate the younger crowd. Now there are macaroon shops, wineries, sports bars, thrift stores, bike shops and plenty of restaurants.

Sarsour believes that the neighborhood flipped and real estate rose in prices because of public schools. He went to Public School 172, the Beacon School of Excellence. P.S 172 was given a Blue Ribbon Award by the U.S Educational Department, according to the Daily News and has been considered one of the leading schools in the neighborhood for years. He also remembers the influx of people moving to South Slope after 9/11. In 2000 District 7, where South Slope is located had a total population of 120,063. In 2012 the total population was 148,990.

In 2007, Sarsour and his brothers purchased their first store on 23rd Street and 4th Avenue. Sarsour gave up his career as a chef and split the costs with his brothers for Subs “n” Stuff and their other supermarket down the street called Earths Basket.

“We wanted to be our own bosses,” said Sarsour.

They wanted to be their own bosses and make their own money. Sarsour and his siblings regret not having purchased more storefronts before 2001, when South Slope property was much lower in price.

Suki Sushi, a retail storefront at 631 5th Ave., across the street from Subs “n” Stuff was vacant for about a year and was recently purchased. The storefront is being advertised on showcase.com and leased for an asking price of five thousand dollars a month.

Sarsour, is currently renting his storefront for over 3,500 a month, according to Mike.