S and K Convenient Mart, Inc. sits at the vertex of Crescent Street and Astoria Boulevard, and it’s a neighborhood staple; a place where you can get a coffee and a bacon, egg, and cheese for under $5, along with detergent, dog food, a 40 oz Old English, and a newspaper. Its variety befits the definition of bodega, which the rest of the country knows as a corner store, a deli, or a grocery. Bodega, meaning small grocery store or warehouse, started as a reference for both local shops serving poor neighborhoods in Latin America and those run predominantly by Dominican and Puerto Ricans in small cultural alcoves across New York City, but has now become interchangeable with any term referring to the convenience store around the corner where one can get both their eggs and their cigarettes.  

While bodegas have become synonymous with any other small store, they are definitely a unique element of NYC. They are run by Hispanics, Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asians, and generally every other nationality under the sun that has made this city home. While real New Yorkers generally call all delis bodegas, there is a set of criteria generally accepted to distinguish the two. While the requirements are by no means official, but The Gothamist and Spoiled, two sites dedicated to the everyday New Yorker, have pretty much summed up what is expected of a bodega. There is often a cat lurking about, dust covers the shelves, an ATM sits in the back, the proprietor is actually the guy behind the counter, plexiglass holds condoms, calling cards, scratch-offs, batteries, single packets of alka-seltzer and tylenol, and random single pieces of candy. While these places do have deli counters serving up cheap sandwiches wrapped in paper, the same stores also have baking soda, toilet paper, beer, and cleaning supplies.

All of this is true for S and K, including a propensity for using red and yellow in its awning, and a cluster of local men speaking in a shared language out front. But while the bodega has Spanish roots, the European history of the surrounding neighborhood of Astoria is equally as important to the business’ story.

Astoria, named for local millionaire (and richest man in America in his time) John Jacob Astor in an attempt to coerce him to invest, was originally known as Hallet’s Cove. The area was developed by fur merchant Sir Stephen A. Halsey in the 1830’s, but was first settled in 1659 by William Hallett and his wife Elizabeth Fones, the niece of John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Once these English roots were set, the Dutch immigrants made the area home in the late 1600’s, understandable as New York had originally been a Dutch colony. Germans were also part of the mix, and one in particular, a Mr. Henry Steinway, brought the first industry to the area in 1853 in the form of the Steinway piano factory, which is still in operation.

The Irish were next in the 19th and 20th centuries, and then the Italians followed, especially after the World Wars, and their influence is still visible with the number of Italian bakeries and authentic, Italian-run pizzerias scattered around, including Rose and Joe’s, a Ditmars staple. A large Jewish population came to New York City in the 1880’s largely due to Russia’s Alexander II’s assassination, and a considerable portion established the Mishkan Israel congregation in Astoria. This later developed into the Astoria Center of Israel in 1925, an institution that has found its way onto the National Register of Historic Places.

That said, it is the Greek population that generally defines Astoria. The Hellenic people known for their fish, figs, and feta first began settling in large numbers in the late 19th/early 20th centuries due to financial issues in the home country. While the immigrants, 95% of them men between 1900 and 1917, sent money home and didn’t intend to stay, they couldn’t help but influence the neighborhood by establishing groceries, countless Zorba restaurants, and Orthodox Churches, including neighborhood staple St. Demetrios. Immigrant acts in 1922 and 1924 limited the immigration, but the Immigration Act allowed the second wave of Greeks to come, this time in families. The boom lasted well into the ‘80’s, as evidenced by a New York Times article entitled ‘Astoria, A Greek Isle in A New York City Sea,’ and included families. While the immigration slowed because Greece enjoyed economic prosperity after joining the European Union in 1981, yet another economic crisis erupted about three years ago and thus Astoria is in another wave of Greek immigration.

But it is important to note that Greeks are not the only group in Astoria. While the 2010 census showed that the 154,000-strong population was almost a majority white, diversity has definitely grown.It cannot be forgotten that S and K happens to be situated in an area with a considerable percentage of people of color in comparison to Astoria overall.  While the black population is limited, the hispanic population is the second largest group. Another considerable group is that of the Muslim population, which has allegedly increased 80% since the 1990’s. Their presence is felt largely on Steinway Street, a long stretch packed with hookah bars delicious falafel and shawarma spots that may have been nicknamed Little Morocco but has Muslims and Middle Eastern immigrants from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq et cetera.

Muslims have of course branched out past Steinway Street and share an affinity for deli ownership with Astoria’s Asian population, which stood at 14.2% of the total. While the 2010 census showed that Astoria’s Indian population declined, one Indian the area did not lose was S and K’s proprietor Doug Patel. It also cannot be forgotten that S and K happens to be situated in an area with a considerable percentage of people of color in comparison to Astoria overall. 

Born in India, Patel came to the U.S. to get his Bachelor’s degree and work in his brother’s store. After he learned the ropes, he was able to buy his own business and was fortunately business savvy enough to buy a pre-existing business. This saved him the trouble of building a business and establishing a client base, and he has been operating the bodega for over 14 years. Patel’s immigrant success story is what all small, family-owned businesses aspire to, be it the Korean nail salon a few avenues away, the old Italian restaurant by the train, or the local cloth store run by a nice Cypriot family.

Unfortunately, these small businesses have found an enemy in the latest wave to hit Astoria: that of yuppies, hipsters, and all those who come with gentrification. This is not the first time Astoria has been the neighborhood du jour: the neighborhood was dotted with the mansions and summer homes of Manhattan’s wealthy as early as the late 18th century. The establishment of the Steinway factory brought a considerable amount of traffic to the area, as did the completion of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909, which was made famous by F Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. On its heels was the completion of the Hell Gate Bridge in 1916, which connected many main Railroad lines, and the establishment of the film industry in 1920 thanks to the opening of Kaufman Astoria Studios, which is still in use to this day. All of this made Astoria quite a fruitful neighborhood.

The new fruitfulness has come from an influx of young professionals, who began crossing the bridge a few years back in hopes of finding space and affordable housing. While a Starbucks has been a mainstay on the corner of Ditmars for years, these migrants brought with them even more chains, as well as organic kale-loving, gluten-free health stores, artisanal $6-a-coffee cafes, and a Crossfit. While there is nothing inherently bad about new age establishments, they are the exact enemies of small businesses like S and K.The culprit is the rising rent and lease costs which have put tons of mom-and-pop stores out of business. The graveyard includes the now sadly-defunct Frankie’s Pizza which was a local establishment for 50 years, and is threatening some of Astoria’s iconic diners, including the Bel-Aire and Neptune.

Patel of course is hoping not to be cursed to a similar fate. With a chuckle he stated that he hoped to double or triple his business, but he also defined the issue sagely by saying “I mean, it helps the economy, but I don’t see no good changes.” With the influx of people came competition, as Patel said, “last three or four years there are a lot of the same businesses starting, so it hurts.” Beyond competition is the unavoidable issue of money. As Astoria has become popular, inflation  has cropped up and real estate moguls and landlords raise prices because they can, because the transplanted Manhattanites are willing to pay. When asked about the impact that gentrification has had, Patel responded with “Big effect. Big time….Cost of goods is increasing, rent is increasing, and the profit lowers so…” The money issue is also what has put a limit on Patel’s future, as while he would like to franchise, it is an expensive venture and he just doesn’t have the money.

Frachising is a big element of gentrification, but the issue is that it is not the privately owned businesses who succeed in the endeavor, instead it’s the chain stores like Starbucks that crop up and push out local fixtures. These corporate spots, along with the observation of an ever-filling N train are not the only sign of the change: a recent study conducted by NYU named Astoria #11 of the 15 most actively gentrifying neighborhoods in NYC for 2015. According to the report, rent in Astoria has risen 27.6% since 1990, and this aligns with the fact that almost half of all Astorians are paying at least $1250 a month for rent. Astoria also shows other elements of gentrified areas, these being a larger percentage of educated residents, a younger average age, a median household income transformation from low in 1990 to higher in 2014, and surprisingly, a drop in population. While an influx of millennials has infiltrated the neighborhood, Astoria still lost 10,000 residents between 2000 and 2010. This isn’t unheard of, as it is common for locals to be displaced because they can’t afford the place that they once called home.

Patel has noticed this, as he has noted that while there has been a considerable amount of change in the last few years with ‘all new people in the neighborhood now,’ he has also noticed that “[there’s] less volume than a few years back, less business.” That said, Patel made clear that he has no desire to leave the neighborhood that he has made home. In complete seriousness, he stated that he enjoyed working. The job according to him is not too difficult, as he explained that his only duties are to “come here, make the coffee, set out the newspaper and collecting the money, that’s it.” As an independent owner Patel must also deal with maintaining inventory, keeping licenses et all up to date, and of course dealing with the customers themselves, which is not always easy as “some of the people give me hard time.” 

Of course, difficult people are nothing new for Astoria, or for New York in general.  While the neighborhood on the whole has changed, the stretch of Astoria Boulevard where Patel has set down roots is a continually older, quieter area. The nearby Astoria World Manor has been the pinnacle of Sweet 16 locations since 1965, and while the stores closer to the subway have faced turnover, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church has been a stone’s throw away since 1872. These staples represent the families who have lived there for generations, the same families who frequent Patel’s deli. Like any bodega, S and K has its regulars, and customer loyalty is what saves Patel the added expense of advertising. Like the small Greek villages that the neighborhood used to emulate, the area’s older businesses get by on word of mouth rather than via newspaper/TV ads or social media campaigns. As Patel said, “We really don’t promote. It’s in the neighborhood so people pass by and stop and we get business.”

That familiarity feels like home, and that is the essence of storefront survivors. Despite the upheaval of changing demographics and rising prices, these stores have something about them which keeps them afloat. When asked what he thought that was, Patel simply smiled and said, “I guess my personality.” While Patel’s S and K is still relatively young at 14 years old, the proprietor’s humor and sunny disposition has stood the test of time, and he has shown that the spot where one picks up their daily BEC and Arizona, a staple New York breakfast, really does matter.

Attached below is the full interview transcript.