An Assault Reveals the Deep Divisions in Bay Ridge

Brian Boshell
Brian Boshell in court, via the Daily News

Brian Boshell, a notorious local figure in Bay Ridge, is responding well to treatment for drug and alcohol problems, the Daily News reported last week; he was sentenced to treatment in lieu of jail time after a violent attack on two local women last SeptemberAnyone who has spent time around the 69th Street and Fifth Avenue area probably knows Boshell: a notorious inebriate and public masturbator, prone to violent outbursts who seemed to spend most of his time on the streets, Boshell had already racked up a record of 34 prior arrests before he was taken into custody again following the attack on September 4, 2014.

Boshell had been asleep in the doorway of the offices of the Arab American Association on Fifth Avenue when local civil-rights activist Linda Sarsour and a coworker left the building. (The coworker, Kayla Santosuosso, writes for Hey Ridge and recused herself from writing about this issue.) Boshell launched into angry rant, threatening to cut off the women’s heads, brandishing a weapon that appeared to be a screwdriver and eventually hurling a public garbage can at them as they sought refuge in a local store. Police from the local precinct took 45 minutes to respond to the 911 call, even though the station house is fewer than 10 blocks away.

Though nobody was hurt in the incident, and Boshell appears finally to be getting the help he needs to deal with his issues, substance abuse and otherwise, the episode brought out a deep division within the neighborhood. Neighborhood demographics have been changing for decades, and Boshell belongs to the old-guard tribe of white, blue-collar, Irish and Italian Catholics who once dominated the neighborhood. Irish and Italian immigrants have had a fraught history of their own, but at least in Bay Ridge have unified in recent years in their resentment against the influx of newcomers who have moved to the neighborhood, altering its character irrevocably, especially in the less affluent census tracts where Boshell’s career in vagrancy was centered.

The corner of Fifth and Bay Ridge avenues is the epicenter of the Arab–American community, with a well-attended mosque, numerous hookah bars, halal delis, Middle Eastern restaurants and boutiques selling traditional Muslim fashions. To members of the old-school Tribe, Boshell was something of a class clown: a nuisance, but an affable and mostly harmless one. Denizens tolerated his behavior, stressing the tragedy of the death of his mother and sister, downplaying the undeniable fact that he was a nuisance and an embarrassment at best—a danger to himself and others at worst.

It’s the newcomers, the Arabs, the Asians, the Mexicans and Ecuadorians—even the white “hipsters”—who are the real source of resentment to the members of the Tribe. They feel their way of life is being eradicated by these outsiders, as evidenced by the comments made in innumerable public meetings about the “immigrant problem,” the many comments on Facebook complaining about “hipsters” and gentrifiers. It’s very clear to those of us who moved here from elsewhere that there is a limit to the hospitality of the locals. Outsiders are made—in many ways, large and small—to feel unwelcome here.  

#FreeBobo
#FreeBobo meme. Via National Review

So the Tribe closes ranks in solidarity against the onslaught. Boshell, affectionately known to members of the Tribe as Bobo, was one of them. But Linda Sarsour is a lightning rod for their resentment, an outspoken advocate for civil rights not only for the Arab–American community but for other immigrant and disadvantaged groups as well, with a national profile that includes appearances on numerous national cable television programs and invitations to the White House; she was a vocal critic of police surveillance of the Muslim community following 9/11. To many members of the Tribe, Bobo was a hero—someone who stood up to whom many of them perceive to be the neighborhood’s most visible interloper. (A recent comment on a Bay Ridge Facebook group when Linda Sarsour was mentioned: “Maybe someone should throw a garbage can at her…oh, yeah remind me to thank Bobo when I see his ass.”) 

Yet Sarsour, although she works on behalf of the immigrant community, is Brooklyn born and raised herself; a “homegirl in a hijab,” as the New York Times dubbed her. To be accepted as a member of the Tribe, it’s not good enough to be born and raised here. You also have to fit the right profile: the right place of birth, the right religion, the right style of dress, the right accent. Our local Tribe is animated by stringent narrow-minded parochialism.

Linda Sarsour
Linda Sarsour. Via AAANY

So how is this division to be resolved? Tribalism is a deep-rooted human impulse—we all need to feel we belong somewhere. Can the Tribe win, driving out the immigrants and regaining the neighborhood for themselves? Of course not. The Arabs, Asians, Latinos and even hipsters are never going to leave this community. It’s our community, too. As the saying goes: It’s a free country. The Tribe can rant and rail all it wants, but we’re here to stay.

Can the newcomers win, forcing out the natives and making Bay Ridge a totally new community, starting over from scratch? Not a chance. The native-born own most of the real estate and occupy most of the leadership positions in local institutions. They’re too well-entrenched to be dislodged, except as the siren call of affordable homes with big grassy yards lures them across the bridge to Staten Island. At any rate, the newcomers are too disjointed and divided to form a coalition—we don’t even speak the same languages, let alone share a set of cultural norms.

But there is an answer. We can all of us belong to something much bigger than ourselves and our own narrow little demographic. The US is one of the few countries in the world not defined by ethnicity or religion but by its devotion to an ideal: that all men and women are created equal, the ideal that putting freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear at the core of our civic life should guarantee our liberty—not our loyalty to one faction. We can all belong to the same tribe if we look at the neighborhood as the common heritage of anyone who comes here and makes their home here, for a year, for 40 years or for five generations. We all belong together as one community. It’s time for Bay Ridge to celebrate our differences while also striving together toward a better future for everyone that chooses to live here.

We are all Bay Ridge.

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25 comments on “An Assault Reveals the Deep Divisions in Bay Ridge

  1. No, Islamapobia (like other forms of racism) is not a natural impulse. It is engrained by the ruling class. The cultural “divide” in Bay Ridge has everything to do with the U.S.’ war on Muslims, including the targeting of Bay Ridge Muslims after 9-11. And if “Bobo” had been a Muslim who threatened to decapitate someone, do you think he would have received a slap on the wrist and given rehab rather than incarceration? I doubt it.

  2. Isn’t labelling group or “tribe” as narrow-minded in itself a racist/bigotted statement?

  3. Maybe if the Arab community tried to assimilate and be a little friendlier to the old guard, their wouldn’t be such such resentment. Maybe if 5th avenue wasn’t so filthy, their wouldn’t be deep divisions in the community.Linda Sarsour is a media whore who used the actions of a mentally disturbed alcoholic to raise her profile on MSNBC. It is the interlopers that have ruined Bay Ridge and sent people running for cover, not the entrenched old guard. Remember the old commercial of the crying Indian? They should make one about Bay Ridge.

    1. Right on point,and if people stopped shopping these stores that are turning this neighborhood into a eyesore they might wake up.Stop shopping there KEY 3 over priced fixed FOOD stores.ITS TIME FOR A BAY RIDGE FOOD CO-OP, SAY BYE-BYE to the gaggle of 99 CENT STORES.Lets make them clean up there sidewalks,have you ever walked passed that house of worship on BAY RIDGE AVENUE next to one of those KEY FOODS.Always filthy and never gets the SNOW & ICE removed.And with regard to there epicenter fifth avenue & bay ridge avenue,I used to live around the corner 68st where there worshipers would park their cars and leave their ashtray dropings and empty food wrappings.WHAT A PARADISE… JMCL

  4. This article fails to leave out that the Arab American and the Chinese American communities have the same sort of tribalism going on in Bay Ridge as do the old school Irish and Italian Americans… and this is a pretty important fact to omit from the article. There is a lot of racism among the Arab Americans and among the Chinese Americans also.

    I’m not sure what kind of agenda you have, Bob, but it seems that you might be a member of a community board and you’re trying to achieve some results on an agenda item or for someone in particular.

    And the main reason that we have seen an increase in homeless people and the mentally ill is because of city agencies who have failed us and politicians and community boards who have failed us and maybe you should look more into that, Bob, rather than pointing the finger in the wrong direction. This article seems to be playing the blame game subtextually and there seems to be a motive here for this article to be so slanted. As if Bob has a vendetta or something like that.

    This is the problem with the Internet is that not enough people do enough research and there are too many people with agendas on too many websites also with their own agendas and the truth is lost in the shuffle … and we are still very far from real solutions.

    1. No, Bob knows the truth just like all of us do, But, Being a politician, (prostiute) is the proper definition, They see where the vote is, sell out their fathers, mothers sister, brothers life long friends,neighbors, and the most important, Their Patiotism, the lowest life prostitute God ever put on this earth, look up DONALD TRUMP THE AMERICANS REVOLUTION ALL CAPITOL LETTERS, ON FACEBOOK, GET A REAL INSIGHT INTO “THE GOOD MUSLIMS”,,,

    2. Joey has a point. Liberalism is not a knee-jerk response to prescribed and presumed ‘evils’. It means giving everyone a chance without prejudging them. If the rest of us bought into Bob’s arguments Donald Trump would win the presidency hands down. Even white majorities deserve a break now and then Bob–read the Preamble again!

  5. Everything changes and so do neighborhoods. Sure, Bay Ridge is not the same as it was in the sixties and no one can expect it to be.Many of the old tribe moved out after marriage because the homes cost a lot even then. People moved to Staten Island, Long Island and Jersey. None of those places are the same either.Many of the old tribe who are still in Bay Ridge are prejudiced and that is their problem. Everyone has to learn how to live together in harmony. That is the best way. Bay Ridge is not the same. It seems much more populated. 86th street is so full of stores and people. In the 60’s , it was less busy and the signs on the stores were not as gaudy. But Brooklyn is still a great place to live and I am proud to come from Bay Ridge !

  6. WHAT “HIPSTERS” AND WHATS UP WITH ALL THE LABELING AND NAME CALLING (THE OLD GUARD) . WHAT BS.

  7. DOES ANYBODY WHO KNOWS BOSHELL THINKS HE WOULD EVER SAY “SHARMOOTA” LIKE ITS IN HIS vocabulary. AND THE NERVE OF DISCUSSING HIS FAMILYS PRIVATE MOMENTS,WHERE IS THEIR PRIVACY? What is sarsours agenda?

    1. Interesting article. This is an opinion blog, so there is no pretense of objectivity. I do find it interesting that the author describes the predominately white Bay Ridge old guard as a “tribe”, engaged in “tribalism”. A sweeping characterization that I doubt he would have used to characterize the Muslim or Chinese communities. By the way, the Bay Ridge old guard includes many hundreds of Christian Arabs who fled oppression in their former homelands.

      There is conflict between recent

      1. Gee, I wonder who called the police and waited all that time to be there when they arrived, Terrorist schools teach agitation, along with how to kill women and children without feeling guilty, Praise Allah” Do you think she didnt make a statement? really, as Obama says, Americans are stupid, Thats how we’ll pass Affordable health care, a nightmare in the making!

  8. “Bobo” is a known criminal, and he should be locked up, ideally for a long time. That should have happened before the incident mentioned in the article – he has a long history of convictions and is a blight on our (or any) community (and his tough life doesn’t excuse him in a U.S. where lots of families have it tough). But despite some media articles to the contrary, there’s no evidence that the average Bay Ridger supports Bobo. I certainly don’t.

    And although I can applaud the author for bringing up an ugly incident that should never be tolerated by law-abiding folks, especially in a neighborhood of families, I don’t buy the author’s viewpoint of a Bay Ridge tribalism that rejects the non-white or otherwise different outsider. I think the average Bay Ridger is just looking for neighbors who are good citizens who are family-oriented, work for a living, and contribute to a safe neighborhood. And most of us know individuals from all ethnic and religious backgrounds that meet that criteria. Few care about skin color or ethnic background, and those that do tend to be marginalized members (or perhaps non-members) of our community, living in an outdated world where they’re no longer accepted or wanted.

    1. You should have been on the 69 st, pier on 911, I was installing a boiler and had no idea what happened, I thought they won the gold cup in soccer or something like that, My way of thinking was changed from that day on, That was all the good Muslims jumping up and down with Joy, at one of the worst days in the history of attacks on our shore’s,

    2. Salaam, JT –

      You clearly don’t understand who Bobo is. And I’m not sure that your apparent erudition also includes understanding alcoholism or homelessness or the fact that the city agencies in charge of these things have let us all down, especially Bobo and others who are suffering and are handicapped by mental illness and addiction.

      You’re also merely shamelessly propping up Linda here, probably asked by her to post here as a favor to her. She is very adept at this social media stuff. As a lot of us know now. She gets what she wants. And she is ruthlessly ambitious.

      You should really reveal what you do or if you work for Linda or are related to her… and what about Brian you actually know, so that your opinion can seem more legitimate, because as it stands now, you simply seem to be stuffing this thread with a “glowing review” for your friend Linda, as if this were Yelp or Amazon.

      Leave the campaigning for 2017, neighbor.

      1. Joey, to answer your question, I have no personal connection to Sarsour or Brian – I’ve never met them nor has a member of my family. I’m also an Irish-American and practicing Catholic, so I feel no personal connection to Islam or Sarsour’s organization (though I’d support and defend either when they’re consistent with American values of liberty and justice). I also don’t support Sarsour politically – I’m a Republican, and I’d end up campaigning against her if she ran against Gentile in the Democratic primary and won. So if you disagree with my views, I can respect your opinion, but there’s no ulterior motive that forms my views (and I’d ask you to provide evidence if you feel otherwise). With that out of the way, I don’t think a member of our community (someone who lives or works here), regardless of political affiliation, should have a garbage can thrown at them by anyone. If it had been anyone else – our spouse, our daughter, a grandmother – would we be OK with it? Would we make excuses or downplay it? There’s little disagreement in this country that mental illness, alcoholism, and homelessness are vital problems that we need to address (though there’s plenty of disagreement about potential solutions). But regardless of the challenges a man or woman faces, their behavior can still be judged as acceptable or unacceptable – and the idea that someone with a tough life has an excuse for violence is faulty. Lots of families struggle (often silently behind closed walls) with unemployment, bad or stressful jobs, alcohol and drug abuse, depression, friends and family that have died before we ever could imagine they would. They still contribute to our communities without causing harm to others. The main point of my original post was to make the point that Bay Ridge is a great community that focuses on the character and actions of the folks we live with. In this response, I’ve focused on other items that have been raised, but I ultimately feel the same way as my original post – I’m proud to live in Bay Ridge, a neighborhood where most of us are looking to make a living, support our families, and live with others who are seeking to do the same.

  9. Brian has been a bay ridge knight for years. I would see him by the 4th ave train station all the time, he would always say “Hi have a nice day” in a harmless way. I can honestly say I don’t blame him for who he is now. He’s a person who needed help and someone to talk to a long time ago but never got the help. After experiencing and watching our city get attacked on 9/11 no matter what age or where you were on that day, it was a tragic horrible sight and feeling. We all have felt and still feel a way about it and that will never change! That being said I understand Brian’s anger. Also he did have a tragic loss his mother and sister. My point is you never know what people go through in life and how they will take it and react. Like I said he needed the “help” a long time ago not just being put in a jail cell..

    1. Something Linda should have known better about, particularly since she seeks elected office and is vying for Gentile’s council seat in 2017.

      It is possible that our elected officials will only get worse than they already are. The next generation of people who seek to represent us seems even shallower than the current one. Is that even possible? It may be.

      Who knows what kind of megalomania or grudges drives people. But I sure don’t know how Linda Sarsour can portray herself as a victim of any kind whatsoever. She was raised a privileged child of a successful Palestinian Bay Ridge family and has never suffered a day in her life. Her anger only comes from feeling victimized by Israel, which she is not, having lived and prospered here in Bay Ridge. And Palestine has certainly engaged in its fair share of killing, also, no saints are they, either. Israel and Palestine are both not right in their “heads”. But Sarsour seems particularly adept at getting people to think that Black Lives Matters somehow includes her and the Arab community. Anyone who falls for that has only their lack of knowledge to blame. Linda seems to be bent on convincing people that Arabs have somehow had the same history at African Americans. This is not only wrong, it is slanderous and borderline criminal to perpetrate such lies.

      Seriously, terrible form, Sarsour.

  10. Salaam, friend –

    You clearly don’t understand who Bobo is, JT. And I’m not sure that your apparent erudition also includes understanding alcoholism or homelessness or the fact that the city agencies in charge of these things have let us all down, especially Bobo and others who are suffering and are handicapped by mental illness and addiction.

    You’re also merely shamelessly propping up Linda here, probably asked by her to post here as a favor to her. She is very adept at this social media stuff. As a lot of us know now. She gets what she wants. And she is ruthlessly ambitious.

    You should really reveal what you do or if you work for Linda or are related to her… and what about Brian you actually know, so that your opinion can seem more legitimate, because as it stands now, you simply seem to be stuffing this thread with a “glowing review” for your friend Linda, as if this were Yelp or Amazon.

    Leave the campaigning for 2017, neighbor.

  11. Who knows what kind of megalomania or grudges drives people. But I sure
    don’t know how Linda Sarsour can portray herself as a victim of any
    kind whatsoever. She was raised a privileged child of a successful
    Palestinian Bay Ridge family and has never suffered a day in her life.
    Her anger only comes from feeling victimized by Israel, which she is
    not, having lived and prospered here in Bay Ridge. And Palestine has
    certainly engaged in its fair share of killing, also, no saints are
    they, either. Israel and Palestine are both not right in their “heads”.
    But Sarsour seems particularly adept at getting people to think that
    Black Lives Matters somehow includes her and the Arab community. Anyone
    who falls for that has only their lack of knowledge to blame. Linda
    seems to be bent on convincing people that Arabs have somehow had the
    same history at African Americans. This is not only wrong, it is
    slanderous and borderline criminal to perpetrate such lies

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