In the hustle and bustle of the ever-evolving borough of Manhattan, the constants in life are few and far between. For the past eight years, one such constant in Morningside Heights has been Gamal Gaballah's breakfast cart, where one can always find a cup of joe and a friendly smile.
From the corner of 114th Street and Broadway, Gaballah greets each customer with a "good morning" and a nod of the head. He seems too tall for the cart, although everything inside is perfectly arranged, down to the milk carton to the right and his newspaper neatly tucked under the shelf on the left. When it comes to his regular customers, Gamal knows what they want before they even open their mouths, and he has their breakfast ready for them in an instant.
Gaballah has become a part of the daily routine of many Morningside Heights residents; his tasty coffee and kind demeanor take away some of the pain of 9 a.m. classes.
"He is one of the most pleasant people I have ever met," David Currie, CC '03, said of Gaballah.
Watching the traffic around Gaballah's cart is heartening, mostly because of the small-town atmosphere created by Gaballah's interaction with his regulars.
In the midst of the daily grind, Gaballah's customers appreciate having someone care enough to remember how they drink their coffee and what kind of donut they like to go with it. They may also have other reasons for patronizing Gamal's cart.
"It is just nice to support a non-corporate coffee establishment," said Sooying Kim, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Chicago who is currently employed by Columbia.
Gaballah is a soft-spoken man, but his whole disposition changes when he begins to discuss the family that he left behind in Egypt. At the mention of his five-year-old twin boys, Muhammad and Yhia, Gaballah stands two inches taller and becomes the picture of a proud father with a smile from cheek to cheek, a loud voice, and a sparkle in his eye.
For financial reasons, Gaballah moved to America from Egypt, where he worked in agriculture. His wife and sons remain in Egypt, but he takes pains to maintain a bond with his children.
"Every Friday after I finish work I talk to my whole family over the phone," he said. "My boys always ask when I am coming home. Sometimes I call my boys on Wednesday, too. I miss my kids and my wife so much."
From the pictures Gaballah displays of his boys, they are almost exact replicas of him. In one photo, both are wearing the same blue trousers and grinning, showing off the dimples they inherited from their father. Gaballah visits his family every six months during University vacations. When he goes home and takes a well-earned vacation, he relaxes by taking his family to the beach and to museums.
Gaballah's schedule is daunting. He arrives at his corner by 3:30 a.m., where he spends the next hour and a half preparing the cart so that everything is ready to go by 5:00. He works until about 12:30 p.m., at which time he packs up and heads home.
By the time he makes it back to the garage where he stores his cart overnight, and then reaches his home in Queens, he has just enough time to eat, shower, and watch the news on television. He calls it a night at about 5:30 so he can wake up and start his day all over again at 12:30 in the morning.
Gaballah is a treasure of the Morningside Heights community. In a moment that seemed to epitomize everything good about the cart owner, Mike Koeckert, SEAS '05, purchased his usual cup of coffee, thanked Gaballah, and left. Five minutes later he returned to the breakfast cart and handed Gaballah 50 cents, saying, "I am pretty sure I forgot to pay you." Gaballah looked at him with a smile, said, "I don't remember, keep it," and adamantly refused to take the money. Now that's something you would never see at Starbucks.