Two men tell THE CITY they did not sign petition objections submitted to the Board of Elections in their names and linked to a top Kings County Democrats lawyer. "You think we’re a bunch of idiots," says one targeted office-holder in Brownsville.
anthony: it s tempting to think when reflecting on jackson heights of indian, but queens is always changing, always in flux, a landing spot for people from all over the world. new arrivals from tibet being an example. sandwiched in between two cell phone stores and a couple of jewelry shops is 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
underserved. anthony: you re going to have your work cut out for you for the next four years. ali: we are but you know what? we have to organize. there is no other way to do it. america wouldn t be as great as it is right now if people didn t organize. ali: it s both unique and disturbing that you re also from queens, because the values that you have been running on are not the queens values we know and i guarantee you one thing we 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
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 know the story of new york is that neighborhoods are constantly changing you know everything s in flux nothing is static and even all our communities that have come in. 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 m