outfield. i was terrible. anthony: which outfield? that matters. heems: i would usually go to the right side. ali: the right field. anthony: yeah, yeah. anthony: heems joins me for dinner along with his friend and neighborhood advocate ali najmi. man on podium: i now would like to call up a close friend of mine mr. ali najmi. [ applause ] ali: i m really involved in politics, local elections, and empowering new voters and then advocating for particular issues that come up. ali: mr. president elect i know you re not too good at listening, but you re going to have to hear us now. muslim americans are not going anywhere. latino americans are not going anywhere and we contribute to this country. it turns out we pay more taxes than you do. anthony: why give a [ bleep]? ali: i have sense of what i think is right, and what needs to be done, and i can t sit back and let people who are being underserved continue to be underserved. anthony: you re going to have your work cu
organize. ali: it s both unique and disturbing that you re also from quee, because the values t you have been running on are not guarantee you one thing we i all of us, will make sure you don t forget where you came from. anthony: how much traction are you getting within the community? is there a hunger for that, or is it taking some convincing? ali: definitely a lot of people, that because it s such a new community they re just trying to make it in america. they re trying to maximize whatever they have, even space. we have a cell phone store, a phone card store, we have a little bit of space let s put a restaurant here and maximize everything we can, but then there are other people that get it, that believe in the promise of america that believe in their rights. anthony: thin thuk, hand torn noodle soup with chili s and ginger. anthony: do you think it s only a matter of time till were replaced by either another incoming group or you know hipster apocalypse. ali: you kno
new arrivals from tibet being an example. sandwiched in between two cell phone stores and a couple of jelry shopis lhasa fast food. ali: this particular neighborhood that we are in now, jackson heights, has historically been the first stop for the newest immigrants. it s a big latino neighborhood but the south asian s community s presence is pretty well known and i think it s very fitting that now this huge tibetan community which is very new looking for a home where are they going to go? they re going to go near the indians right? anthony: so you guys grew up together? ali: yeah we grew up in queens. heems: i remember we were in the same little league. anthony: what position did you play in little league? heems: oh, they put me in the
you know, we ve transformed these neighborhoods that we ve moved into. heems: it s hard to make a claim for ownership when my parents moved here too, you know? there s this constant i don t want this neighborhood to be gentrified but am i gentrifying it. anthony: shaptra, or chili fried beef, thin panes of beef with chili oil and soy and sichuan pepper corns. sha momo, steamed dumplings stuffed with beef. anthony: there are a lot of people that you ll see in this community and for them its like the nightmare scenario. what s the best thing about queens other than diversity just as a everyday practical matter? ali: you wake up in queens everyday and you re allowed to be who you are. you can t say that in every place. maybe not even the places where our parents come from. with this level of intelligence. it s a supercomputer. with this grade of protection. it s a fortress. and with this standard of luxury.