Coney Island Avenue
The mile and a half long strip of Coney Island Avenue between Church Avenue and Avenue H has become a renowned home to Pakistani immigrants and visitors abroad. A once Jewish neighborhood, the area has converted to a home for followers of Islam emigrated from South East Asia from as early the 1990’s.Despite some persecution following the tragic 9/11 bombings, the neighborhood has gone on to be a refuge for the Pakistani community where first, second and third generation migrants continue to reside.
The first thing which catches your eye as you walk through the neighborhood is the aroma. The abundance of restaurants floods the area with the spicy, savory smells of their indigenous foods, such as garlic naan and chicken tikka, as well as the sweet, mouthwatering smells of such desserts as Ras Malai or Jalebi. Islaam is the official religion of Pakistan. Thus follows, the majority of the restaurants along this stretch of Coney Island Avenue serve halal food. There are also an abundance of markets and meat stores which sell halal meats. These markets have hours unusual to the typical 8am – 10pm of typical grocery stores. Particularly during the celebration of Eid, their shops can be open as late as 3 am, in order to cater to the dietary needs of the community.
Aside from the food, there is also a myriad of beautifully decorated stores where native garb is manufactured, sometimes by hand, and sold. Men often wear simple salwar kameez, kurta, and headpieces, typically in varying shades of brown, white or black. The women on the other hand, while wearing clothing of similar names, wear much more elaborate colours, ranging from vibrant violets and lucious pinks to golds that reflect that outshine the sun. Along with the their beautiful apparel, it is common for women to wear an abundance of gold. Hence, the necessity for and presence of several jewelry stores. Particularly during festivals, marriages, and other ceremonies, these stores are busy with customers searching for the perfect head piece, or nose ring, or the best bangles, which each store boasts to be in possession of.
Hidden behind the beauty of the area is a bit of sorrow. After the bombing of the world trade center on 9/11, the FBI swarmed the neighborhood, seeking to question natives of the neighborhood. The Department of Homeland Security had instituted the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which required male citizens age 16 and older from 25, mostly Muslim, countries in Africa and Asia to register with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Community members recall horror stories of homes being torn into, officers claiming to look for one person but apprehending several more. Fear flooded the streets, as immigrants were terrified by what the police, the very people meant to protect them in this new country, could do. Some store owners claim that business dropped as dramatically as by 50%. Several people had moved away, some to other parts of New York City, others to Canada, and others even returned to their homeland of Pakistan.
The registration system became outlawed in 2011.Even before that, however, the community had begun to bounce back from the horrors faced during this post 9/11 frenzy. And not all that came from this was tragedy. The local people’s advocacy group, Council of People’s Organization, COPO, developed as a way for the people to band together and withstand other forms of oppression. In more recent times, the neighborhood has again begun to grow. People who had fled away have begun to return. New businesses are popping up. Families are being raised and expanded. It is a multigenerational neighborhood for sure. And even with a new president posing threats to immigrants from Muslim countries, this little neighborhood is stronger than before and prepared to continue growing, no matter what oppression or other obstacles may face them.
People of Pakistani Descent by Census Tract, via American Communities Survey 2015; highest concentrations surrounding Coney Island Avenue between Flatbush and Kensington (1)
During our time visiting Little Pakistan, we stopped in at various small local businesses and did our best to open dialogue with the owners and customers to get a greater sense of the area. In one encounter, we spoke with a small grocery store owner, who requested not to be named or recorded. He had moved to the neighborhood about six months prior from Atlanta, Georgia. He cited no particular reasons for his move, other than to be near family he had in the area. In regards to the community feel and culture of the area, he said the transition was very smooth from the Pakistani enclave he left behind in Georgia, where he had lived for seven years. He was also pleased that his store found such a large clientele of Pakistani families. In the back of his store, we also spoke to the butcher and a customer at the Halal meat counter. He also asked not to be recorded, citing poor English as the reason, but we found him to be in fact quite fluent. He also told us he was new to the area. Both men had a lot of questions regarding the nature of our assignments and questions, and seemed a bit uneasy about answering questions. It seems as though the recent political climate has influenced the neighborhood and put everyone a bit on edge around being questioned, though understandably so.
Excerpt from interview with restaurant employees (Syed Afaq Bukhari and Syed Tauseef Bukhari), Hadi Halal Restaurant, 683 Coney Island Avenue
Sweet Rice
Seviyaan (Vermicelli Milk Pudding)
It was also during our Monday visit to the area that we had an opportunity to sit down with Syed Afaq Bukhari and Syed Tauseef Bukhari, an employee at the Hadi Halal Restaurant and his cousin, and have a more in-depth discussion about their journeys to New York and Little Pakistan in particular. Syed Afaq detailed to us a story about his grandfather’s wish for all of his children and family to come to the United States in search of economic opportunity, education, and better lives. It was at that time, about five years prior to our interview, that he came with his immediate family directly to Little Pakistan, where he worked for a few months before enrolling at Kingsborough Community College. We had a brief conversation about the college experience, and Syed Afaq said he was exceptionally grateful for the opportunity, and was thinking of pursuing a position in the New York Police Department. His cousin, Syed Tauseef, had moved only a year before our interview, part of a later group of his family to make the transition. While Syed Tauseef’s English skills were not quite up to par with Syed Afaq, he still spoke clearly and with conviction. He still works at the Hadi Halal Restaurant, and didn’t detail any particular plans to pursue an education in the immediate future.
An unexpected note from the two men was that their transition to living in Little Pakistan was almost seamless, except for a few aspects. They had already heard, spoken, and written some forms of English in Pakistan and even said that Coney Island Avenue was remarkably similar in physicality to their home neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan. Another unexpected response was the friendliness and hospitality of everyone at the Hadi Halal Restaurant. They were very patient with our questions, did not seek much further questioning after we requested an interview, and even brought us free bowls of two of their delicious signature dishes, Sweet Rice and Seviyaan (pictured above.) They even commented on how much they enjoyed people in New York being so friendly, if you can imagine that.
The impression we walked away with was one of surprise accompanied by hope and optimism. For these two Pakistani transplants directly from the country itself, the transition to the United States style of life did not seem too harrowing or violent. In fact, it seemed to be nearly seamless. With institutions like the Council of People’s Organization providing so many services to ease integration and help people start their new lives in New York, it seems as though there is still hope for peaceful acceptance of those with different customs and cultures from our own into our society, even with the disappointing direction of the new federal administration’s policies and the support they seemed to amass.
Between Beverley and Foster, on Coney Island Avenue, the Little Pakistan community seemingly thrives. A variety of Pakistani restaurants and businesses might indicate a community on the rise, and a neighborhood in which the American dream is lived each day by Pakistani immigrants paving their own path in New York City.
But this community has suffered, and though resilient, the people of Little Pakistan continue to suffer in the ever changing political and social landscape of a constantly reinvented America. Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Pakistani neighborhood became the target of hate crimes, that were so severe and so frequent, that many businesses were forced to closed. People no longer felt safe in their own neighborhood, and the community was rattled. Racial profiling and selective immigration enforcement at the hands of government officials only made matters worse- the suspicion some citizens unfairly harbored for Pakistani immigrants did not exist only in a social sphere, but it was made evident now by government officials. The Council of Peoples Organization, or as it is formerly known, the Council of Pakistan Organization, was formed in response to this aggressive backlash. It was believed that the COPO could aid the community in their time of need, and help them to heal.
The COPO was formed as a temporary solution for what many had hoped would be a temporary problem. However, various other issues came to light during this period of tragedy. According to the COPO website, “Prior to 9/11, the Pakistani community was an isolated and poverty stricken one. The people toiled at below-minimum wages, lived in substandard housing, had limited access to healthcare, and lacked proficiency in English.”
The COPO has thus become a vital piece in the fabric of a growing community. They offer legal services, health education, youth, adult and community empowerment programs. They address the social issues that face Pakistani immigrants, that had once been largely ignored, and they educate people on their rights and responsibilities as Americans. COPO is making a strong community stronger.
Recently, we had the privilege of speaking with Mohammad Razvi, the Executive Director of COPO. He is passionate about his work and in the ten minutes we spoke with him, he showed to us a map of hate crimes that have taken place across the country since the recent Presidential election, and pulled out alarmingly large binders filled with hate crime reports. He spoke to us about the challenges community members face and about the expansion of COPO, both in outreach, as the organization is no longer focused on exclusively Pakistani members of the community, and in services, like their recent addition of a pre- school.
He also remarked about a recent youth career day- which he stressed the importance. The event allowed young children, who might not ordinarily trust government agencies, like the police or fire departments, to spend a full day with officers and firefighters, learning to trust them, and perhaps beginning to consider those jobs as plausible career paths. It was an opportunity for children to begin to trust the world around them, and to dream. And that is an opportunity to foster hope.
(1) Maps and Tables. (n.d.). Retrieved May 01, 2017, from http://www.socialexplorer.com/
(2) COPO Official Logo. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2017, from http://www.copo.org/
by Brighidnora Gutch, Simmeon Chanka, and Matthew Tomko
