From The Peopling of New York City
Mr. Shiv Charan Dass is the former president of the Jackson Heights Merchants’ Association (JHMA). He is the owner of Lavanya and Karishma, clothing stores, and Sri Krishna Jewelers, a jewelry store. They are all on the west side of 74th street.
Shiv Dass: You know about the Ellis Island Award? I recently got it. I have to go to Ellis Island to get it now.
Lakshman Kalasapudi: Wow! That’s great! Congratulations! I saw your picture for the ad your friends put in the paper. It’s wonderful.
LK: Please tell me a little about the Jackson Heights Merchants’ Association.
SD: We have over 200 merchants in our organization who are Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali, Tibetian, and others. We are mostly on 72nd, 74th, and 75th streets. We started in 1973 when there were only American stores here. We are instrumental in developing Indian culture in New York City. You know we started celebrating Diwali festival every year. We close down the street and have a stage and seats. We also started celebrating Indian Independence at City Hall. One of our biggest accomplishments is renaming 74th street Kalpana Chowla Way. “The name will be there as long as the city is there!”
LK: Is there a Bangladeshi business association nearby? How are the interactions between the various sub-ethnic groups?
SD: There is the Bangladeshi Business Association but it is very small. They are on 73rd street and you know, they are very small because it is only half a street. But we don’t interact with them very much. We don’t have the tensions from back home. It is different here; we have no politics. “We came here for a better life.”
LK: Can you tell me a little about the businesses here? Why is that there are so many jewelry and clothing stores in such close proximity?
SD: It is an international market. People come here from all over the world. Anybody from ministers to regular visitors – they come to do their shopping here. People from Virginia and all over the country too. We are also by the subway stop, so it is very convenient for people to come here. There are so many different types of stores because they come for variety. My wife goes to so many different grocery stores. I ask her, “Why are you going to so many different stores” and she tells me that some things are good in one stores and something are better in other stores.
LK: Where do most of the employees come from?
SD: They are mostly local. We have a 25% Bangladeshi customer base, so it is important that there should be Bengali-speaking people working here. See, the Indian girls get good jobs because they are educated. The cheap labor comes from Bangladeshi girls – they don’t have much education.
LK: I heard things about undocumented workers…
SD: No, no, no! No one employs illegal workers. “That’s a crime.”
LK: So tell me a little more about how you came here.
SD: I came to the country in 1966 through the UN. My term expired in 1971, I applied for a visa and got it! I started my business in 1980. Back then the local population resented us…they still do. But we argue that we are here for the betterment of the community. We increase its visibility. Before us, who knew Jackson Heights? No one knew Jackson Heights. After we came, people started know this area. We participate in beautification projects and help the community in other ways.
LK: Do have any connection with Andolan?
SD: No contact…they get government grants. We don’t get any government grants…
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