SNS: How did you two start working here?

Fawzy: Okay, I used to own a restaurant close by here that was a Mediterranean shop. I used to come here for breakfast and she was working across the street at Stage and I used to go there for breakfast also. There used to be two owners here and when they decided to sell the place back in 2003 I took over. Then I met Ola in 2004 at the Stage. Then we get together, we go out, get married. She’s my partner.

(Ola laughs)

Ola: He was tricky! He was my customer and at the same time he was my flame already! (Both laugh) But it’s true. When I first came to America in 2004 he was my customer by the counter. What I love about this guy is he was always a nice customer. He always left a big tip and smiled, he was always patient and that caught my attention. Every time he stopped by he had dirty glasses. So this is how we started our relationship because I took a napkin and cleaned his glasses. That’s the first time. The second time he came again with the glasses like this, so I cleaned them again, and I don’t really want to say thank you because at this time I didn’t really speak perfect English to understand what he meant or what he said. So after like a month and a half, he followed me and watched me from the window from B&H, which is across the street so it’s not too far, he would watch how I’m working, how I do like this, then he followed me to the subway and asked me to give him just five minutes to talk to him so this is how we started. We took the subway around like three blocks and talked and found that we have a lot of good things in common. It was like we knew each other a long time so we became friends. When he grabbed me to be at B&H his friend Roman was surprised because I (had been) just across the street. He liked me and trained me. He was a good worker. But since I’ve been here behind the counter, I’m like an employee. I’m like everybody.

Fawzy: It’s like we’re together 24/7. We come to work together, we go home together so don’t have to be apart. SNS: How has Covid affected you as a New York staple? I’m sure it’s been very difficult.

Fawzy: It’s been very difficult. The first experience from the pandemic, like when we heard the news, like everybody we heard about it in early March. There were two cases and then we followed the news. Then I decided to close the place. My first concern was I wanted all my employees to stay home and be safe with their families until we find out what the next steps are. We stayed home for three months and then we decided to do the GoFundMe campaign around March 18th and by early August there was about $60,000 and that helped us pay the bills, pay the rent, and help the employees. That was very successful and very generous of all the customers to keep the B&H running and open for business.

Ola: Of course the pandemic was a big surprise because we never expected something to happen like this. Five years ago when we had the explosion* I thought there couldn’t be anything worse than that.

SNS: The explosion next door?

Ola: Yes, five years ago. So we were closed that time for five months. The customers also helped us then. They helped us stay for the five months, pay rent and keep the place running. Right now I see the empty chairs and the empty counter and it’s hard. Of course we do the tables outside, the outdoor dining, but it’s not the same. We miss you guys here. You know, the relationship is like a big family. We always ask everybody how’s everyone feeling, how are you, how’s your mom, how’s your dad, your family, so we miss those conversations. We miss all our customers. We have a connection to some of them on the phone but of course it’s not the same thing. It’s a really, really hard time. I really hope we escape this. Nobody could imagine it was going to be bad this long.

SNS: Can you tell us a little about the GoFundMe you have now?

Fawzy: We don’t know how it’s going to be. We’re at this point, fine for right now. We’ve paid all the bills and are up to date with everything. We’re thinking about what is the next step because in the winter there probably won’t be any dining in and dining out because of the weather so what are we supposed to do? We’ll have to-go and pick-up but this won’t be enough. So we’re thinking ahead about how it’s gonna be in the winter. So far the campaign has helped us a whole lot but at this point we’ve closed the campaign.

SNS: So it’s closed now?

Fawzy: Yeah, it’s closed now. Because the goal was $60,000 and we reached the goal.

Ola: The customers helped us a lot. We can’t use them to say, “Help me, help me” because everybody needs help. This is the place for them. So ever since March this has really helped a lot. Also they stopped by and bought the t-shirts, and shopped online.

Fawzy: They’ve helped pay to keep the place running.

Ola: Yeah but this is a lot of need, and I don’t wanna use them to ask for more, and more, and more. I think this is the right time to say we really appreciate them. We’ve shared the video with them, and we really appreciate what they do for us.

Fawzy: We also applied for the loans, the SBA, we’re applying to different places with the BBB. Still at this point we don’t have an answer but we should get an answer by the middle of September. So we’ll find out.

__SNS: You’re still waiting on city grants? __

Fawzy: Yeah.

SNS: They haven’t come in yet?

Fawzy: Not yet. We just caught one that was a program but it’s not really gonna help much.

Ola: It helped a little with the rent. The lady said we’re lucky.

SNS: To get the grant?

Ola: Yeah.

SNS: A lot of people haven’t gotten it?

Fawzy: A lot of people haven’t gotten it. We are doing much better than a lot of places. So many places are already closed. When you see how things run- they’ve got employees, rent, supplies, vegetables…

Ola: Back in March we threw out everything. We kept only soda and bottled water.

SNS: You guys had to throw everything away?

Ola: Yes, yes. All the food, we didn’t give it to anybody because we didn’t want to take a risk so we threw out something like five thousand… we threw out everything, cheese, everything. For protection you know because we can’t keep everything inside the store. Everybody thinks, “Oh what do you need the money for?” but we need the money for a lot of things!

Fawzy: I just want to say one important thing- we aren’t running B&H for the money. We aren’t in it for the money. B&H is about the community. It’s a part of the culture and history of New York. If anybody comes and doesn’t have money, we’ll give them food. Some people come and they don’t have food, they don’t have money, we give them food. It’s not a problem. We try to keep the place running, but we’re not about the money, no. We are focused on keeping the place open so everybody has a job, everybody can pay the bills and take care of their families, this is our goal and really our concern. We’re satisfied. We’re not thinking about the money you know.

SNS: What are you looking most forward to with everything getting back to normal?

Fawzy: To me, in my opinion, everything won’t get back to normal until at least one year from now. When the schools open, when the airports open for all countries, when the tourists come back, when the local citizens come back. To me, this is going to be like this until the vaccine comes and we don’t expect a vaccine until like a year from now. Six months up to a year. Our goal is how to keep going. This is our concern.

SNS: What have you learned from what’s been happening? For New York City, for your business?

Fawzy: What I always say is a bad day in New York is better than a good day anywhere else. We’re doing much better than a lot of places, a lot of countries, a lot of people. People were listening, people were wearing masks and using sanitizer, they social distance because they followed rules and it kept the numbers going down and kept us safe. It’s a good experience… I don’t want to say it’s a bad experience, but it’s a hard experience. But it’s good for the future for us to be ready for things that could happen. I don’t say it’s a bad experience. It’s a very good experience for all New Yorkers. We learned a lot. I learned to think about tomorrow, how it’s gonna be. If I have something today don’t spend it, think about tomorrow and save some for the next day.

Ola: (Laughs) We learn!

SNS: So you’ve been here for so long why don’t you tell us a little about how the neighborhood has changed; the good, the bad.

Fawzy: Luxury. The neighborhood changed for more luxury. So the area’s very expensive now. For rich people to come and there’s new buildings around. We miss the old culture, the older people that used to live around here. Me, myself, I know a lot of friends that moved out of the city. They moved out of the neighborhood. That’s why there used to be a lot of places like B&H around in the fifties and sixties. That’s why B&H is the only one left. They could tell that the neighborhood changed.

(Ola laughs)

SNS: What do you think about the neighborhood’s change?

Ola: I think, of course the older ones are gone because the family takes them away from the city because it was really dangerous for them. We had one guy for example who was seventy-six years old who used to order delivery everyday for his wife and for him. French toast, pancakes, and always two containers of ice cream. Always. He says, “For me and for my wife.” So after the pandemic, after we came back, I have a lot of phone numbers for the customers, I know them very well and I knew they need a lot of help so I deliver to them. I called them but nobody picked up the phone because they don’t live there anymore. So the family grabbed them to put them in a safe place like New Jersey, Staten Island, more apart from us. So now they come for example on the weekend, they call for a bigger table and they come with the family. But still it’s not enough to see them, to see if they need something, if they’re okay. Especially the students too, we miss them so much. We hope they’re okay. We hope that one day we can just be together laughing at the counter again with a tuna melt and we’re gonna serve them with a big smile and happiness. I believe it’s gonna be like this one day. I’m an optimist.

Fawzy: I want to say thank you from all of us to the employees. We have Raffi, we have Leo, Bernardo, Bogusia. These people have been working with us for many years and they’re trying to help us keep this place running so I do have a lot of appreciation for them, for what they do for us. We are all like one family here. Raf, Leo, Bernardo, thank you.

*On March 26, 2015 a gas explosion at 121 2nd Avenue in the East Village destroyed three buildings, killed two people, and forced surrounding businesses to close for months.