How did New York institutions like the Indian Seamen’s Club and the Bengal Garden aid in the establishment of Indian communities?
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In the 1940s and 1950s, restaurants became a common way for Indian ex-seamen to make a livelihood if they could gather enough money. These restaurants were located in areas ranging from Harlem to the Theater District in midtown Manhattan, such as Bengal Garden.
Bengal Garden, founded in 1948 by Habib Ullah, his Puerto Rican wife Victoria Ullah, and Ibrahim Choudry, emerged as a pioneering restaurant (although short-lived), uniting New York’s South Asian Muslim community. This restaurant was of great importance for ex-seamen, providing a place to enjoy familiar food, converse in Bengali or Punjabi, and connect with their community—especially during the unstable period following the partition of India and the creation of East and West Pakistan. The first person you saw walking into Bengal Garden was Puerto Rican, emphasizing the racially and ethnically mixed management structure, as well as the diverse clientele. Halal food brought South Asians and African Muslims together to meet and socialize. However, the restaurant closed soon after it opened, as there were other Indian restaurants in the Theater District with better financial backing. Additionally, North Americans were unfamiliar with Indian food, finding it too “spicy” and “unknown” to consume frequently. Regardless, Habib Ullah, with plenty of experience, became instrumental in the Bengali community in Harlem. He became the go-to person for advice on how to open a restaurant. In this sense, his experience with Bengal Garden enriched the knowledge within Bengali communities in New York.
Ibrahim Choudry was another trailblazer in community-building, opening the Indian Seamen’s Club. During WWII, the British government opened clubs to boost merchant sailors’ spirits. However, due to racial dynamics in British maritime labor, Indian seamen seldom visited these clubs. Choudry convinced the British Consul General in New York to fund a club specifically for Indian seamen. He became the first manager of this club, which included a prayer room, a recreation room, and a mess hall that seated eighty people. Visiting seamen could get fresh Indian meals served three times a day by a staff cook, Secunder Meah. This club was a major success. Based on the estimated number of Indian maritime workers in New York in the 1940s, it became the most popular British Merchant Navy Club in the entire United States, with 66,221 visits and 198,200 meals served. After building so many connections, Ibrahim Choudry became “the guy to call when there was a problem,” keeping a spare room for those who had just arrived in the city with no place to stay as well as helping ex-seamen with immigration issues.