Gotta have cart!
Patrons rally for stabbed UWS vendor
Who says no one in New York knows their neighbors?
Upper West Siders were thrilled last week by the return of Sameh Boules, a popular food-cart vendor, to his spot at the southeast corner of 86th Street and Central Park West.
After Boules was stabbed in a confrontation with an alleged shoplifter on Jan. 3, his loyal customers banded together to repay his kindness — raising $16,000 to help with medical expenses.
“I’m happy. I cry,” said Boules, 50, who moved to New York from Cairo, Egypt, in 2012. “They’re good people.”
Neighborhood residents, as well as doormen, supers and nurses who work in the area, contributed to a GoFundMe page for the Staten Island father of two who has no health insurance and hadn’t been able to work since the attack. His wife, Rania, is a stay-at-home mom.
John Gately, the resident manager of a nearby building, gave $500 and said his doormen also chipped in.
“I’d do anything for [Boules]. He’s been there for me,” Gately said. “I’ve had some personal issues, with my wife being sick with depression. He’s a shoulder to lean on. It’s more than him just being the coffee-cart guy.”
Stacy Arce, a licensed practical nurse at nearby West Care Pediatrics, also attested to his kindness.
“If I’m short, he’ll say, ‘Don’t worry, pay whenever you can,’ ” she explained. “He knows my kids. He gives my kids free chips and doughnuts. That’s Sameh.”
She was happy to see Boules, who suffers from diabetes and undergoes regular dialysis, but she continues to worry about him.
“He’s pale and lost a lot of weight. He was grimacing. It was heartbreaking,” Arce said.
The nurse and her co-workers, also Boules fans, ran to his aid the day he was stabbed in the kidney.
Police have charged Angel Santos, 17, with assault and weapon possession in the attack.
Priscilla Eshelman, a businessdevelopment exec and neighbor who lives on 86th Street, started the GoFundMe page.
“The real story is how the community has rallied around one of their own,” she said.