Bo’s Bagels owner Andrew Martinez has pulled a cartoon mascot cutout from his Harlem storefront after a TikTok video labeling it a “blackface bagel” triggered threats against his staff.
Martinez, a born-and-bred New Yorker who has lived in Harlem for nearly 20 years, told The Post that the harassment escalated rapidly after the video went viral. “They’ve reached out to my black employees and said, ‘You need to leave there because your owners hate you,’ and that’s just not true,” he said. People began making phone calls threatening the business’ employees, he claimed, while other influencers came in to make harassing videos.
The life-sized cutout — which doubled as a chalkboard sign — featured a sunglasses-wearing bagel flashing golden grills that read “Harlem World” and rocking a huge golden ring emblazoned with “NYC.” The mascot was designed by Harlem-based artist Tom Sanford, whose work includes life-sized caricatures of the New York Knicks that were displayed in City Hall in June during the team’s championship-winning run.
The backlash began when Harlem-based photographer Carl Broady blasted the cartoon as a “disrespectful caricature of black people” in an Instagram post last Monday. “The sign’s exaggerated features, bulging lips and teeth, and darkened skin tone […] recall the racist caricatures historically used to degrade Black people,” said Broady, who is black.
But the controversy exploded when TikToker Anastazia X, who has 4,000 followers, visited the bagel joint and declared the sign a “blackface bagel” while decrying it as “problematic.”
“It’s not funny,” she said in a Saturday video, adding that other art in the shop “was a little askew.” Anastazia X also proclaimed the shop was “white owned” while flashing a photo of Martinez, and insisted she’d been “left on read” when she sent him a message criticizing the mascot.
“It was a kind email, it was a curious email, but it got no response,” she said — explaining she confronted the store manager during her visit instead. “I asked if anyone had complained about the bagels … and had the complaint been delivered to the owner,” she continued. “The answer to those questions were ‘Yes,’ there have been complaints. ‘Yes,’ the owners are aware of the complaints. But ‘No,’ nothing has been done. Interesting.”
Martinez offered a different account, saying he had offered to respond to Anastazia’s email but was ignored. He has been floored by the controversy, pointing to the shop’s community ties. “This is actually almost weird to us because Harlemites love us. They know what we do. We donate to schools. We give food away to the homeless shelters,” he said.
Harlem residents were divided in their opinions about the cutout. Genisha Metcalf, 39, poked a hole in critics’ claims, saying it went “too far” to call the sign “racist.” “That’s not blackface,” Metcalf firmly told The Post.
One longtime 43-year-old resident born and raised in the historical black neighborhood said he couldn’t ignore the bagel’s “stereotypical imagery.” “The gold chains, whatever else was on it, that’s just like a caricature they used to show back in the olden times…but this time it just happens to be on a bagel,” he said.
When reached for comment, artist Tom Sanford defended the artwork, saying he wanted “nothing more than to celebrate that culture.” “Personally, I do not see uptown streetwear culture in a negative light at all,” Sanford said in an emailed statement. “To me, these items represent overwhelmingly positive cultural contributions that came from the streets of my neighborhood and crossed over into the mainstream.”
Anastazia X told The Post she never intended for her video to blow up as it did. “I’m sorry that employees and the owner have been harassed as a result of the video,” she said. “That was not my intention and I don’t condone or support any behavior of that kind.”
The cutout has since been removed from the sidewalk and placed into hiding, though Martinez lamented that the rage came from “people who just wanted to call us racist.” “It got completely out of hand by a bunch of people who know nothing about us,” he said.