The Black-owned business owners of Seafood Kingz, a City Island restaurant located at 634 City Island Avenue, are organizing a rally outside the restaurant on Saturday, Nov. 12, to call out racist abuse which they say was directed at their business on Nov. 3, 2022, in the form of a letter.

“On November 3rd, my father, Darryl Lelie, received some hate mail at our family restaurant, Seafood Kingz, on City Island in the Bronx,” Derell Lelie, son of Darryl Lelie, wrote in a Nov. 7th Instagram post on the Instagram page of Seafood Kingz (seafoodkingz_cityisland_). “We are the only Black-owned Seafood and soul food restaurant there.”

The post continued, “We have experienced racial slurs, comments, hate speeches directed towards us before, and during our time as a business on the island, as expected. This one, though, with all that’s going on, takes the cake.”

Some recent posts on the business’s Instagram page show a racist and derogatory cartoon-like image apparently of a Black person holding a gun and of a Jewish person holding a “rent hike, effective immediately” notice, with the words “Bad News,” underneath the images. Norwood News contacted the business owners to ask if the flier was received along with the Nov. 3 letter, and it was confirmed by Derell Lelie that it was indeed mailed to the restaurant along with the letter.

Darrel Lelie has asked the business’s community of supporters, “including family, friends, church family, pastors, politicians, teachers, news, press, bloggers, leaders of all race” to share the post about the incident and to attend the rally next Saturday, Nov. 12, at noon to address the matter, and to flood City Island with supporters from Friday Nov. 11 to Sunday Nov. 13.

“Come support our business with our money to let them know this Black-owned establishment respectfully will not be going ANYWHERE!” Darrel Lelie wrote. He also asked pastors and clergy to share the message with their congregations on Sunday, writing in part, “We love everyone. Keep us in prayer as we continue [to] strive and accomplish great things as a family and community.”

Local activist group, City Island Rising Inc., later shared the following statement with Norwood News regarding the Instagram post by Seafood Kingz, writing, “Seafood Kingz is a welcome addition to the City Island community and it is disgraceful someone sent them this threatening, racist cartoon.”

It continued, “This is unfortunately not the first establishment to receive this type of communication. We understand the NYPD are looking into the matter. We hope they find out who is sending this hate and put a stop to it.”

District 13 city council member, Marjorie Velázquez, who represents City Island, released a statement on Sunday in reference to the incident, confirming that two other businesses, Caliente’s and Archie’s Tap & Table, had also been targets of hate mail. “There is no room for antisemitism or racism in our community,” the councilwoman wrote. “This behavior is inexcusable, and seeing our local businesses, the very entities serving our community, become a target of this behavior is disheartening. I will be working with the owners of Caliente’s, Seafood Kingz, and Archie’s Tap & Table to support them during this difficult time.”

Velázquez  added, “We must stand together to end racism and hold these individuals accountable for their actions. If you have any information on these recent attacks, I encourage you to contact the 45th Precinct or the NYPD Hate Crimes Division.”

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson also issued a statement on the matter on Saturday, Nov. 12, writing, “The hateful messages we have seen targeting our business community on City Island are disgusting and egregious.”

She added, “We will never accept any form of hate, bigotry, racism, or antisemitism in our borough and stand in solidarity with Seafood Kingz, Caliente’s, and Archie’s Tap and Table in condemning these acts of hate. An investigation is underway and the NYPD is asking anyone with information to call their Crimestoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.”

City Island Rising Inc. were also recently involved in a stand-off with other local residents from the Northeast Bronx over the since disbanded asylum seeker shelter on Orchard Beach, as reported.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.