Egyptian immigrant families in Bay Ridge bought first homes through pooled rental income

Evidence

When they weren’t in school, they were everywhere else—on the subway to the city, at one another’s houses, at the movies, shopping, or eating. They were especially fond of Times Square, miles away from Brooklyn and full of tourist glitz and cheap madness. Gaby was a year younger than Rasha, so Rasha, who felt herself growing into her own skin with her friends, became a big sister to Gaby. All three spent so much time together that they became like their own family. When, in the spring of 2000, Rasha and Nicky graduated from Madison, Rasha moved, but not far away. Her father had now saved enough money that they could afford to buy a place in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, with its limestone row houses and numerous Arabs. This was the first property the family had owned, and her parents were very proud of the accomplishment. The girls came over to see the new house. Rasha shared a room with her sister, Wassim and the two little brothers had another bedroom, and Munir slept downstairs. Two Egyptian tenants, whose rent helped with the mortgage, lived in a separate apartment carved into the basement. The friends stayed close after high school, and Rasha started college in September 2001. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 80

Categorization

• XREF: The basement rental to cover a mortgage parallels the immigrant-housing economy described in The Namesake and Miles’ chapters.