Although he would prefer to stay close to home, the worsening economic climate has forced Jawara to alter the way he runs his small business, sending him on a journey to explore different locations as he tries to make money wherever and whenever he can.
"Utica Avenue was a bit slow, with the economy of today, you know the climate in the country today, and in the city in particular, New York City, business is really tough," Jawara says. Struggling to turn a profit in Crown Heights, Jawara decided to come to Manhattan, "to try out my expertise on the folks here in the Wall Street area, which is the heart of capitalism." Even though he originally relocated to downtown Manhattan with the hopes of expanding his business, the effects that bankruptcy filings and bank failings could have on his sales forced Jawara to move yet again.
"It's becoming kind of difficult to pay the bills," says Jawara. "When my customer base is affected, it affects me as well." Jawara is an observant Muslim and fasts through the duration of daylight hours during Ramadan. For a time, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, seven a.m. to seven p.m., Jawara was located at the Bowling Green subway station, in the shadow of Wall Street, where he targeted commuting customers. On a good day, he could make $250 at Bowling Green. From three to eight p.m. on other weekdays he would continue to sell at the corner of Utica Avenue and retire with significantly less.
Jawara checked out several locations with little success before moving to downtown Brooklyn. He set up his table near the Bowling Green subway station in Manhattan and on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem. Finally, he found a new home on Court Street across from Brooklyn's Borough Hall.
"The people here are more appreciative of the art that I do," says Jawara. The money Jawara earns on Court Street is perhaps still not enough to support himself and his family, but much more than the other locations.
Jawara is a proud man; he hardly discusses finances except with his religious leader Sheikh Khan Fahwnkhan. "He is like my son," Fahwnkhan says of his six-year relationship with Jawara. "The economy is squeezing people. If you walk around it is really bad. Bread used to cost $2 now it is $3.25."
With the cost of simple items rising, Jawara's light switch plates have gone from basic commodity to luxury item. But the good news now is that "they are buying for historical reasons," Jawara says. "It is a collectors item."
