The exterior of Cyclone Bagels in Coney Island, Brooklyn. (Credit: Jarrod Barry)
As New York City struggles with a homelessness crisis, one bagel shop in Coney Island is offering a tasty lifeline to those who need it most.
Cyclone Bagels is a non-profit bagel shop with a mission to employ veterans and low-income individuals. The shop, which opened Oct. 3, is located on the ground floor of Surf Vets Place, a nine-story residential building that provides affordable housing for low-income families and veterans. Both the shop and the residence are operated and funded by Concern Housing, an organization that provides housing for homeless people across the city.
Emilio Rodriguez, the store manager at Cyclone Bagels, sees this as a way to help veterans reintegrate into the community.
“I think a lot of programs and different things that are offered to veterans tend to try to usher them into a next phase of life,” said Rodriguez. But at Cyclone Bagels, he said, their aim is to empower vets by giving them practical, real-life job skills, such as teamwork, they can take with them in the future.
Joaselyn Cruz, director of food operations at Concern Housing, has found that veterans face a unique set of challenges. Although all of the six veterans who work there are long-retired, many of them saw combat. Besides substance abuse and mental health struggles, she said that half of vets they employ are not from New York, and the lack of familial support can leave them feeling lost. For her, the bigger goal is to give Surf Vets Place residents a sense of purpose, as well as a paycheck.
“They are provided with a routine, they are provided with a task, they are provided with a purpose. And they also get to earn money,” said Cruz. She’s seen how this opens up opportunities for residents to take up hobbies they couldn’t afford before, like guitar or biking, making their lives more meaningful.
She also described how many of the veterans also benefit from the day-to-day routine that comes from working at a regular job, as well as a chance to build social skills that come from working with a community.
“We have tenants of the building who don’t work for Cyclone who will still come down and converse with us, find something to bring to us, share their stories,” said Rodriguez. “A lot of people we come across on a daily basis haven’t had that kind of daily interaction, and this gives them that, but in a safer environment.”
Mike Genova (pictured) weighs out portions of dough to make bagels. (Credit: Jarrod Barry)
Mike Genova is a former Marine who lives at Surf Vets Place and works as a baker at Cyclone Bagels. To him, places like Cyclone Bagels are important because they keep veterans engaged with work and a sense of mission.
“It gives them a chance to do something with themselves and get out of their own heads,” he said. “If veterans just stay in a situation where they’re not doing anything and merely existing, hopelessness starts to set in, and then depression.”
For Rodriguez, the benefits extend beyond just the building’s residents. He sees Cyclone Bagels as part of a broader rejuvenation of the whole western side of Coney Island.
“The thought of Coney Island is always the four-block radius of the Cyclone, and people forget that it’s a 25-block radius,” he said. “This side tends to get neglected in that there isn’t a lot of money being poured back into this community.”
With new developments sprouting up across the peninsula, Rodriguez is hopeful about the neighborhood’s future, and he wants Cyclone Bagels to play a role.
“The community can thrive if people trust in the workforce of the community. And that’s where we come in, where we provide this kind of training,” he said. “We understand that Coney Island can feel neglected, Coney Island has had a past reputation. But this can be one of the greatest communities in Brooklyn if people just believe in it.”
