After a Two-Decade Wait, a Sweet Taste of Home

By EMILY BRADY for The New York Times, July 15, 2007

...Until recently, Mr. Alvi, an Internet entrepreneur who lives in Lynbrook on Long Island, could not go to Jackson Heights, Queens, the heart of the metropolitan area’s South Asian community, to satisfy his craving. Instead, he would go to Toronto, three times a year. For about 20 years, his favorite fruit could not be brought into the United States because it was known to harbor a beetle dangerous to crops.

But the ban was lifted last year, and since the first boxes of Indian mangoes arrived here this spring, Mr. Alvi, like many other Indian immigrants, has been making up for lost time.

“I would forgo all other fruit for Indian mangoes,” he said gleefully the other day in front of Patel Brothers market in Jackson Heights as he headed toward his car clutching a bag containing a case of the fruit. “I could write an ode to them.”...


[where: Patel Brothers, 3727 74TH St, Jackson Heights NY 11372-6337]