The coffee cart on West Broadway and Warren, which has been run by Ahmed Elsabajh for seven years, has a new look: the city just issued new permits and added the wrap for a bit of color. My neighbor is a regular, and always raves about his coffee, so this seemed like a good chance for me to stop by and chat.

Ahmed arrives on the corner at 2:30a, to catch the first of his deliveries. He works with four vendors for his baked goods, and three of them deliver to his garage in Queens, but one comes straight to West Broadway. He then spends the early morning hours prepping the cart and getting ready for his first customers, who start coming around 5 from the hotel construction site on Warren. He leaves by noonish. Back in August of 2021, he expanded to Saturdays to make up for the lost business during covid.

I asked him how business was and he shrugged: “I’m ok,” he said. He has four kids, from 13 to 18; his oldest just started at City College and is also studying for his aviation license. “I’m not hungry for money, I just want to care for my family, and thank God, everything is ok.”