Abundance Boutique

Summerhill in Crown Heights Attracts Tons of Black Patrons Following Controversy | Eater NY

"Located at 673 Nostrand Ave. at St. Marks Avenue, the boozy sandwich shop Summerhill was, a year ago, decried as “racist” after its white owner Becca Brennan bragged about “Instagrammable” fake bullet holes and faced calls for a boycott, but it’s now apparently a neighborhood hotspot packed every weekend primarily with Black clientele. In the newest episode of This American Life, producer Neil Drumming explains that 27-year-old Crown Heights native Wallahi Oyo — who pitched his sandwich pop-up before the protests, became the executive chef and an owner shortly after the controversy — stayed on, reached out to friends to bring in crowds, and has “become the face” of the place; the fake-bullet-hole wall has been painted over, DJ nights are common, and Summerhill’s Instagram is flush with photos of mostly Black patrons, some aware of Brennan’s history and others not. Brennan, who wouldn’t talk for the segment, remains an owner and continues to profit, and one organizer, Justine Stephens, says she won’t go because Brennan is “using [Oyo’s] blackness, in a way, to build this business and make it cool again, because of her mistake.”" - Serena Dai