NYC's Mercantile Mayhem: Inhumane ICE, Equitable Brooklyn, Gohar World's Strawberries, Founders' Immigration, A New Zine and Lebanese Treats
A newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City with a focus on immigrant-owned, storefront retail and CPG enterprises.
The world seems out of control, it might be difficult to concentrate. But I hope you can take a moment to read about the wonderful independent businesses in New York City that add value and humanity to our lives.
ICE IS AN INHUMANE SHIT SHOW
I went to an anti-ICE demonstration on Tuesday and took this picture of young protesters. I never know if I get a good photo until after I get home and examine it. Now, I can’t stop looking at their faces, I wish I had talked with them to find out their stories. I have no idea if they were born in the US, or abroad (I did ask if I could take their photo and they said yes) and obviously I’m only going on vibes here and it’s total projection on my part, but they seemed like such good kids, the type of kids we want in our country.
Watching ICE hunt people down and rip apart families is disgusting and horrifying. What the Trump administration is doing is inhumane, please read this free article by Luis Ferré-Sadurní in the NYT [gift article]. Who are these goons rounding up people on the fields or at immigration courthouses? Why are they so craven? How are they getting paid (per person?) and how is it legal that they do not wear any identification? It’s only a matter of time before they shove someone on the street into a car and people think it’s a kidnapping, or worse, and shoot an ICE agent. Maybe that’s what Trump wants, to foment more division.
I finally read Jasmine Mooney’s first person account of her time in detention, it’s harrowing—and she’s a Canadian white woman who speaks English with a North American accent. Imagine what it’s like for people of color who don’t speak English fluently. According to New York City Tourism + Conventions, international tourism is projected be down 17% this year in New York City. I think you’d have to be crazy to travel here, unless you are looking to get arrested, detained or disappeared.
What we need is immigration reform, which sadly isn’t going to be happening any time in the near future given the divided Congress. I think there needs to be a visa with or without a pathway to citizenship for people who don’t qualify for O-1 or EB-5 visas, or other work/investment visas, who are enterprising and come to the US to work. More about immigration further down the newsletter.
CENTER FOR AN URBAN FUTURE: IDEAS FOR A MORE EQUITABLE BROOKLYN
Last week the Center for an Urban Future organized the symposium Ideas for Creating a Stronger and More Equitable Brooklyn. The event had two panel discussions, the first was with Brooklyn heavies: Jocelynne Rainey of Brooklyn Org, Gregg Bishop of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation's Social Justice Fund, Jimmy Chen of Propel, Michelle de la Uz of Fifth Avenue Committee and Blondel Pinnock of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp, moderated by Eli Dvorkin.
Ideas about housing, mental health, open streets, transit, the creative arts, nonprofits, education, among others ideas were pitched from the stage and audience members, in hopes of keeping Brooklyn as equitable as possible.
I always zero in on ideas around the survival of independent businesses. A few ideas put forward from the audience, some are more specific and concrete than others.
Create a commercial property tax abatement for owners who lease at reduced rates to underrepresented or low-income business owners, prioritizing district residents.
Launch a grant program to support small businesses in the creative economy.
Create an alternative funding pathway that leverages public and private partnerships for small businesses to pool resources together and build up capital.
Reduce the requirements for organizations and businesses applying to or receiving government grants, specifically the administrative burden of paperwork.
Promote the expansion of worker-owned cooperatives by providing workers interested in this model with education, workshops, and technical assistance.
Create and subsidize more co-working spaces in Brooklyn for people who want to start their own businesses.
The full list of ideas can be found here, a video of the event can be watched here.
The second panel included Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Council Members Rita Joseph and Crystal Hudson, but I left so I didn’t hear their ideas. And speaking of elected officials and ideas about independent businesses, have any of the mayoral candidates laid out any plans to help independent businesses?
GOHAR WORLD’S STRAWBERRY PARTY
It was totally worth getting doored (I am fine, I was biking slowly) on my way over to Gohar World’s Strawberry Day party. It was actually a strawberry party that might be conducive to shopping, but it wasn’t mandatory. Which is good because it’s sliiiiightly out of my price range.
I love Gohar World and if it’s sounding familiar, I’ve written about them before. Gohar World a tableware company (among other enterprising endeavors) designed/owned by the Gohar sisters, Laila and Nadia. The Gohar sensibility is elegant and refined, yet a bit off the wall with sausage candles, cuffed rubber gloves with pearls and black lace draped over a bowl of oranges. They have pieces, like mouth blown glassware, crafted by family ateliers in various countries all over the globe. The cottons and linens are sourced in Egypt, where the Gohar sisters grew up.
We should all learn a little about hospitality from Gohar World. There was strawberry ice cream, strawberry snacks, wine and other beverages awaiting anyone who walked through the doors.
IMMIGRANT STARTUP FOUNDERS BOND AND BAND TOGETHER
I attended a packed event last week geared for foreign-born founders during NY Tech Week. It was was created and hosted by Foreign Founders, a project by Andy Nobutaka Chiang that features immigrant founders via a podcast, Substack newsletter and in-person community to socialize, network and share information.
I used to write more articles about immigrant startup founders with visa issues before the sector seemed to spawn “tech right” oligarchies, monopolies and radical income inequality. This event was part of NY Tech Week, financed in part by a16z, the venture capital firm cofounded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who are now Trump supporters for AI and crypto regulatory reasons.
Back to the event, there are so many more immigration platforms, resources, groups and networks that have sprung up over the last several years to help startup founders with immigration visa issues. Many of these businesses and nonprofits were present: Open Avenue Foundation/The Open Avenues Build Fellowship, Lawfully and Imera. The Iranian-rooted Back Home Beer was flowing, as was Ginjan’s bissap; crunchy cactus snacks by Nemi and coffee sachets by Kahawa 1893 were also available, all owned by immigrant or first gen founders. This American Woman a book by comedian and writer Zarna Garg was also available.
The headliner was a conversation between immigration attorney Jacob Sapochnick who is based in San Diego, originally from Israel and Iqram Magdon-Ismail, co-founder of Venmo and JellyJelly: Video Chats that has a Solana (cryptocurrency) component. Sapochnick and Magdon-Ismail talked about today’s new paradigm of immigration to the US compared to even four months ago: the travel ban, the student visa situation at Harvard that could spread and the possible end to the OPT (Optional Practical Training) that gives foreign students authorization to work post-graduation. However, Sapochnick said, “With chaos comes opportunities.”
Sapochnick did give a few pointers what current or future founders can do to help their potential O-1 application. “Educate yourselves,” about immigration law and students should get involved with projects and start building. He also regaled the room with some unpleasant realities of building a startup while applying for a visa or green card. There is a tricky balance of being in or out of the US when applying and what visa you can be on if you are in the US. Most immigration lawyers I know are advising their clients to stay in the country, even if they have a visa, because they might not be let back in. Some founders are faced with dire questions, like should they apply for a green card but not see their family for years? “Should I go to my mom’s funeral or lose my career?” Sapochnick asked rhetorically.
Magdon-Ismail seemed a little sedate during the conversation, perhaps because he immigrated from Zimbabwe as a kid with part of his family, which is a different experience than applying for a visa or green card as an adult today, until he filmed audience questions for JellyJelly and became quite jazzed. Magdon-Ismail also organizes periodic Immigrant Gala parties centered on the immigrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.
A NEW MONOPOLY ZINE
If you are sick of oligarchies, corporate monopolies, duopolies, ultra consolidated power and money, but don’t quite know what to do about it? There’s a zine for that! Resist Monopolies!: How To Fight Corporate Control and Support an Economy That Matters by Ron Knox, senior researcher and policy advocate at ILSR, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Knox gave a reading at Blue Stockings while in New York City and a Q&A portion with Ryan Gerety, the director of the Athena Coalition.
The zine outlines monopoly history, the evolution of monopolies over the decades and ways to organize against them. “Where we shop keeps the lights on, keeps the door open,” Knox stressed. And no, corporations do not have communities in mind when they open a Walmart or Dollar Store, it’s about corporate strategy to extract money. There is a growing movement to fight back against concentrations of power and money, this zine outlines a few steps to take.
FROM BEIRUT WITH LOVE IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
Last week I did some lurking, as I do, to find interesting independent businesses, often in the nooks and crannies of unusual spaces. I found both established and emerging businesses, some edible/drinkable items, art, jewelry and homewares, at the From Beirut With Love marketplace event the last Saturday in May.
OPEN CALL FOR TEST THURSDAY AT WELCOME TO CHINATOWN
There is an open call for independent food and beverage businesses at Welcome to Chinatown’s Test Thursday initiative. Welcome to Chinatown has a beautiful co-working and community space on the Bowery in Chinatown, with a kitchen. Test Thursdays are opportunities for emerging and established businesses to sell their goods. Click here for more details.
THE WORLD OF NYC BOOKSTORES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
The latest The World at Your Fingertips I worked on with Accompany Capital (yes, one of my amazing sponsors!) is about some of out city’s exquisite bookstores that have a direct or tangential connection to food.
The bookstores include Sweet Pickle Books in the Lower East Side, which sells used books and jarred pickles; there is a used books in exchange for pickles part of the business. Sullaluna is a family-owned bookstore/bistro in the West Village that sells illustrated books in both Italian and English and has a lovely Italian menu. The legendary Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in the East Village sells out of print cookbooks and a selection of antique kitchen gadgets. Liz’s Book Bar in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, is a bookstore, bar and cafe, with events ranging from readings to games.
Thank you to Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor Accompany Capital. Based in New York City, Accompany Capital, a CDFI, helps immigrants and refugees with loans and free financial services. Please read about it here.
Thank you to Small Business Majority, Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor. SBM supports and empowers small businesses across the US with a focus on public policy. Please read about SBM here and the finance resource platform Venturize.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPONSOR MERCANTILE MAYHEM?
Yes, I am still looking for one additional sponsor, three in total, the individuals, businesses, organizations or foundations that believe independent businesses in New York City need to survive. Do you want a city full of just Chipotles, Starbucks and bank ATMs? Do you value the character that independent businesses bring to New York City?
If you would like to know sponsorship rates and newsletter stats (open rates and such) please email me: ninarobertsnyc@gmail.com and I’ll send you the details. Please forward this newsletter to others.
OPPORTUNITIES
The Future Co Accelerator is accepting applications for Cohort 2, this is for businesses in the food & agriculture, health, wellness and “consciousness” sectors, click here for details. Deadline is June 16, 2025.
WomensNet offers a number of grants to women-owned businesses on a rolling basis, peruse grant information here.
The grant cycle is open! Small businesses in New York City could win a micro grant up to $5,000 through CitizensNYC. Deadline is July 25, 2025.
NYC Boss Up Veterans, planning ahead… pitch competition applications for entrepreneurs who are veterans of the US military will be open July 1, 2025. Children, siblings, spouses or parents of a Gold Star Family, or military spouses, are also eligible. Winners will receive a grant of $20,000. Applications close September 15, 2025, click here for more information.
Thank you for another great newsletter. Important information about ICE antics in addition to the exciting and expanding group of small businesses.