NEW YORK // Omar Mohammed stands behind the counter of his food cart turning skewers of sizzling kebabs, the pungent smoke enveloping him as it pours off the small grill into the pulsating rush of Times Square.
On the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, a babel of tourists stared up at the digital canyon of giant screens and flashing advertisements whose surreal lights wash out any trace of sunset, holding maps and snapping pictures.
“I like working here – all the people, the lights – it’s never dull,” says Mr Mohammed, 41, an Egyptian who has served food on this small strip of pavement real estate for three years. “It really reminds me of Port Said, where I’m from.”
He wraps the lamb kebabs in bread, adds a squirt of yogurt sauce and the requisite salad, and hands them to a waiting construction worker. He has been standing in the tropical July heat, cooking and serving food all day while observing a 16-hour Ramadan fast.
But his natural exuberance has not wilted. “Mickey, Minnie! Hi, how are you!” he calls to a pair of costumed characters working a crowd next to his cart.
There are nearly a million Muslims in New York City, many of them working-class immigrants such as Mr Mohammed, from the Middle East, South Asia and West Africa. A large proportion of the roughly 20,000 street food vendors in the city are from Egypt and Bangladesh, and work the halal food carts that have become a ubiquitous part of the Manhattan landscape.
During this summer Ramadan, the observant among them also have one of the more trying fasts, physically, and as they scratch out a living in an industry with little city oversight and a predatory “mafia”, as many of the workers describe it.
“The smoke is always coming, the weather is hot, but what can I do?” Mr Mohammed says. “At least I get skinny.” The food is not much of a temptation. He ate his fill of kebabs and hot dogs long ago.
Instead, for his iftar, one of his three teenage daughters or his wife travels an hour and a half by ferry and metro from their home on Staten Island to bring him a home-cooked Egyptian meal.
On this Friday evening, his eldest daughter, Donna, stands next to the cart, its row of bare bulbs and flashing colored lights illuminating pictures of his offerings – kebabs, knishes, hot dogs and falafel. “I think it’s the hardest job in Times Square,” says the 17-year-old aspiring doctor.
Because of his long hours, she does not get to spend much time with her father – “we barely see him” – so the trek to share an iftar meal takes on added importance.
The call to prayer sounds on his cart’s stereo speakers, and Mr Mohammed turns down the love songs by his favourite Port Said singers that he likes to play.
Donna opens the packed iftar of stuffed zucchini and eggplant, and chicken. Mr Mohammed reaches into his cooler for bottles of homemade apricot juice, and father and daughter break their fasts together.
New York’s halal food cart explosion began in the late 1990s, and can be traced back to three Egyptians who ran a hot dog stand that eventually added halal lamb and chicken over rice to cater to the many taxi drivers who stopped at nearby hotels.
The novel Middle Eastern-style lunch food quickly caught on and the idea spread citywide.
When Mr Mohammed emigrated to the United States four years ago and was looking for work, like many Egyptians before him, he ended up running a halal food cart through word of mouth.
He found someone who owned a permit and rented the cart and a space on a busy midtown pavement. Mr Mohammed soon discovered that the business was governed by unwritten rules and an exploitative cartel of permit holders, mostly Egyptians who had come in the early days, staking out turf and controlling the limited number of permits that are effectively no longer available.
The city put a cap on the number of permits in the 1980s, under pressure from real estate developers and business owners who viewed the carts as a nuisance and an eyesore. Up to 4,000 of the renewable permits were issued by then, and virtually none have been given since.
The city limited the industry, but has done little to ensure that its workers are being treated fairly, allowing an informal and often abusive system to flourish.
“There is a black market for permits because the scarcity allows people to command a very hefty price to illegally rent them out to people who want to work as vendors,” said Matthew Shapiro, an attorney at the Street Vendor Project, a political and legal advocacy group.
Two-year permits that are officially issued for US$200 (Dh734), now command up to $25,000, according to Mr Shapiro and other vendors.
The city only allows vending in certain areas, so there is a premium on space as well. Vendors at an SVP meeting claimed that a block in midtown – public property officially worth nothing and not for sale – was recently “sold” for $140,000.
Mr Mohammed quickly learned the rules of the game. Even though there is no law that gives a permit holder rights to any pavement, he and other vendors say they pay a weekly fee to the person who “owns” the area. For lucrative turf, like Times Square, he pays $300 per week along with a flat fee for renting the cart, to a young man who comes by to collect every Monday.
“If you want to work alone, you cannot, they force you to come to them and ask and they say ‘OK, go work in this place,’” he says. “If you don’t they will make problems.”
He knows because he says he once fell foul of the local cart godfather after refusing to pay $2,000 to remain in a spot he had worked for months.
“They beat someone up and sent him to the police to say ‘Omar did this’.” Mr Mohammed says he eventually settled with the man and the charges were dropped.
In between grilling kebabs and hot dogs, Mr Mohammed runs to a nearby McDonald’s to buy Donna an ice-cream cone, and lights his first cigarette. “Man! 16 hours!” a tour bus operator he knows well yells from down the street.
“Ramadan is very different here. Here you work alone, and on Eid, I don’t go to the masjid, I stay here and work,” Mr Mohammed says.
“Why? If I’m off, my spot will be sold.”
Soon, after the tourists thin out, he will turn off the grill and push his cart across 42nd Street, then down 8th Avenue to 37th, to a garage. He will clean up, get on the subway and head home for a few hours of sleep before fajr prayers and starting his day anew.
“This is life in America,” he says. “It’s a good life, but not easy.”
tkhan@thenationa.ae
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Sean Kirrane (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Falaj Hazza – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Arim W’Rsan, Dane O’Neill, Jaci Wickham
6pm: Al Basrah – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Kalifano De Ghazal, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
6.30pm: Oud Al Touba – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Pharitz Oubai, Sean Kirrane, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: Sieh bin Amaar – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Oxord, Richard Mullen, Abdalla Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: AF Ramz, Sean Kirrane, Khalifa Al Neyadi
8pm: Al Saad – Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Sea Skimmer, Gabriele Malune, Kareem Ramadan
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
The%20specs
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Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
