NYC Desi Roundup: Bhagwat Protests, an Indian Chophouse & the West Indian Parade
New York City's South Asian communities are at the centre of civic debate and culinary celebration this week. Protests have erupted over a scheduled New York City speech by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, with activists calling for sanctions; James Beard-nominated chef Sujan Sarkar is expanding his Indian restaurant empire to Hudson Yards with a bold new British Indian chophouse; and Brooklyn's iconic West Indian Day Parade—a cultural celebration that includes the large Indo-Caribbean communities of Trinidad and Guyana—makes its annual return on September 7.
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's NYC Speech Draws Protests and Sanctions Calls
Hindu nationalist leader Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is scheduled to speak in New York City, and his visit has sparked a significant protest response from Indian-American civil society groups, progressive Hindu organisations, and South Asian activists. According to AP News, demonstrators are gathering to oppose what they describe as the political export of Hindu nationalist ideology to diaspora communities in the United States, with some groups formally calling on lawmakers to impose sanctions. The RSS has tens of thousands of members globally and maintains affiliated organisations in the United States. Supporters of Bhagwat's visit argue he is a respected religious and cultural leader whose views are mischaracterised by critics. The controversy reflects deep fault lines within the South Asian diaspora in New York, where communities from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka hold widely divergent views on Hindutva politics and its compatibility with the pluralism that defines diaspora life. The event comes amid heightened global scrutiny of Hindu nationalist movements following elections and policy shifts in India, making this NYC appearance particularly charged. [1]
🍛 Chef Sujan Sarkar Opens Elder, a British Indian Chophouse, in Hudson Yards
James Beard Award finalist and Michelin-recognised chef Sujan Sarkar is continuing his remarkable New York expansion with Elder, a new British Indian chophouse opening in Hudson Yards. Sarkar, best known for his tasting-menu-driven Indienne—which launched in Chicago before expanding to Hudson Yards in May—is now bringing a more casual but equally inventive concept to the neighbourhood. Elder draws on the tradition of the British Indian restaurant, reinterpreted through Sarkar's fine-dining lens: expect dishes like bone-in rib chops with subcontinental spice rubs alongside elevated versions of British-Indian classics. The Hudson Yards location follows Sarkar's June opening of a butter chicken food stand at Shaver Hall in Midtown, demonstrating his intent to capture multiple market tiers simultaneously. For New York's South Asian food community, Sarkar's rise represents a significant moment—an Indian chef commanding premium Manhattan real estate and critical acclaim usually reserved for French or Japanese concepts. Elder's arrival signals that British Indian cuisine, long considered comfort food, is ready for a serious fine-dining reinvention, and that NYC diners are hungry for it. [3]
🎉 NYC's West Indian Day Parade Returns to Brooklyn on September 7
The annual West Indian American Day Parade returns to Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway on September 7, bringing with it one of the largest street celebrations in the United States. While the parade is primarily known for its Afro-Caribbean cultural expressions—steel bands, mas costumes, and Caribbean food—it also holds deep significance for Indo-Caribbean communities, particularly IndoTrinidadians and IndoGuyanese, who represent a substantial and often overlooked strand of the South Asian diaspora in New York. Communities with roots in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana trace their ancestry to indentured labourers brought from India in the 19th century, and their cultural traditions—from chutney music and roti to Phagwah and Divali observances—form a distinct but genuine branch of South Asian heritage. The parade's return is anticipated by hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators across Brooklyn's Caribbean neighbourhoods. For Desi New Yorkers with Caribbean roots, the event is both a celebration of the journey from the subcontinent to the Caribbean and then to America, and a reminder that the South Asian story in New York is far more diverse and creolised than mainstream narratives often acknowledge. [2]
Sources: [1] AP News · [3] Eater New York · [2] FOX 5 New York