The Bogolan Merchants Association in Fort Greene
Brooklyn has been very successful in improving its piece of Fulton
Street. So successful, in fact, that some of its businesses have left
the area entirely.
"It became too much of a good thing," says Jonathan Adewumi, former
chairman of Bogolan, "I did not foresee it." Adewumi owns Nigerian
Fabrics and Fashions, a high end African clothing store. He resigned
from his post and moved to a far less fashionable Nostrand in May, "The
rent went up 200 percent overnight."
Black and white flags hang smartly from streetlamps in this leafy
section of the city. "Welcome to Bogolan Brooklyn," the flags read, "
the soul of the Brooklyn renaissance." A few African clothing stores
occupy the ground floors of large brownstones. A Chinese Laundromat sits
between them.
"The area has been going through an organic rebirth," says Adewumi
who helped spearhead Bogolan's initiatives, "but it is a microcosm of
what happens all over America. Small business work to build up an area
and then developers move in."
"We have lost a couple of businesses because of the high rent," Says
Linda Howard as she sits on a custom made Ghanaian chair, "but I don't
think it has had an impact on the association." Howard is a co-owner of
Ashanti Origins a high end importer of West African furniture and art.
Subtle animal prints and wooden furniture sit elegantly in the space.
Bogolan was started in 1995 to promote African culture and business
in Fort Greene. The group organized performances and art exhibits to
show off the renaissance. But over the past year rent has increased
dramatically as professionals move in from Manhattan. The drop in crime
and the increase of cultural options have also had an impact.
"Bogolan started as a cultural organization," says Howard, who also
serves as the groups treasurer, "but it has developed into a business
group." The name refers to a type of traditional cloth made in Mali.
"The names means more than cloth, it is also a ethnic group in Mali," says Howard, "it was a cultural decision."
"They should have called it African Village, not Bogolan," says
Ganue Demu, former owner of Demu Cafe, "The fashion people pushed for
it." He is not a member.
"Demu Cafe is still here," says Demu at his desk in a prefabricated
building on Fulton street with papers strewn around him. He speaks
metaphorically. Demu owned Demu Cafe a Nigerian restaurant on Fulton.
Last year he closed because of rising rents. Now an upscale restaurant
serving American fare occupies the space.
"Landlords don't hate the people," he says in a black t-shirt and
African skull cap, "they have to go along with the market." At the end
of the 90s Demu Cafe was lauded in New York newspapers as an epicenter
of African Arts and culture. A place for poetry and cassava. Now there
is only one African restaurant in the area
"Rent has been rising," says Salif Cisse, owner and operator of Keur
'n Deye Senegalese restaurant, "but if you do good business rentals
won't matter." People have not been arriving quickly enough for some.
"The landlords are increasing rents because of projected interest in the
area," admits Howard, her furniture store devoid of customers, "but
right now we need the foot traffic."
Business owners in the area claim that the projected interest was
driven by nearby Brooklyn Academy of Music. The institution joined up
with organizations like Bogolan and announced a move to transform Fort
Greene into a cultural district. Consequently, rents skyrocketed. And
black owned businesses moved out.
"I am buying the building," says Raven, the 'Harlem Cake Man, " so
it doesn't affect me." His small bakery is crowded with customers on
Sunday evening, praises waft down from the prayer service upstairs.
Operators who own their property, though rare in Fort Greene, are happy
with the influx of new residents. Demu now runs a general-purpose office
center. But the squat building with rusted metal security gates rarely
looks open. He intends to reopen Demu Cafe in the small plot because he
owns it.
On the whole, the heart of Bogolan has a distinctly non-African
feel. On one block a piano bar, express grocery store and a video store
vie for customers. "I have not heard of Bogolan," says Kay Lee, manager
of One Green Sushi and Sashimi Restaurant, a Bogolan flag hanging
outside her building, "No-one approached me about it."
Demu thinks all should be part of an African Village. He admits that
many of the businesses have nothing to do with Africa. They love the
African community, Africa is a label for them.
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