New York Baye Falls
Have you ever wondered if asylum seekers from Senegal share deep community ties through an Islamic brotherhood?
Baye Falls, a subgroup of the Mouride Islamic Sufi Brotherhood known for its ethic of mutual support, guided by the principle of jappalante—sharing with those in need.
Ousmane, 28; Souleye, 32 and other Baye Falls gather nightly at a street corner on 116th Street in Harlem, October 2024. After a day of informal vending, these Senegalese asylum seekers—living in Brooklyn shelters—meet to share food and conversation.
Souleye, also a Baye fall, inside a Senegalese restaurant on 116th Street in Harlem, October 2024, video chatting with his girlfriend in Dakar.
Souleye talks with Ousmane while providing an informal dreadlock service in Harlem, October 27, 2024. Asylum seekers cannot legally work in the U.S. unless 180 days pass without a decision on their case. While awaiting work authorization, Souleye supported himself by offering informal hair services to members of his community.
Souleye after providing informal dreadlock services on Canal Street. February 2025.
Bamba selling counterfeit Apple AirPods on 116th Street in Harlem, November 2024. Bamba and his twin, Ousmane, previously sold on 42nd Street but relocated due to increased police crackdowns. November 15, 2024
Ousmane, 28; Souleye, 32 and other Baye Falls attend a weekly dahira (religious gathering) led by Jawriñ Baye Bass, a religious leader. The dahira serves as an informal support network—offering emotional and material help such as clothing, food, and immigration updates.
Mouhamed on his way back from the weekly dahira, November 2024. As a recent arrival, he often seeks advice from fellow Baye Falls who came to New York earlier.
Mame Cheikh and Baye Falls gather in the hallway leading to a restaurant on 116th Street in Harlem, operated by Jawriñ Baye Bass. March 1, 2025. The restaurant serves as a regular meeting place for the BayeFalls, in addition to the weekly dahira gatherings.
Inside the restaurant on 116th Street in Harlem, operated by Jawriñ Baye Bass. Photographs of Ahmadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride Brotherhood, and Cheikh Ibra Fall, his devoted disciple, hang on the wall. Jawriñ Baye Bass frequently provides coffee or food for free to Baye Falls who cannot afford to eat.
Inside the restaurant on 116th Street in Harlem, January 16, 2025. A baye fall from the street corner on 116th Street , who works as a security guard in Harlem, visited the restaurant on his day off.
Inside an apartment on 180th Street in Bronx, January 2025. The Baye Falls who had been gathering on the street corner eventually moved out of the shelter. Fallou found a roommate through the dahira network.
Inside Fallou’s apartment, March 2025. His roommates, Lamine and Balla, also belong to the same dahira. Fallou got his work at a fast-food franchise, while Balla provides dreadlock services in Harlem.
Fallou speaks with Ousmane over the phone in January 2025. Ousmane moved to Detroit the previous month. During the call, Fallou exclaims, “You look good!”
Ousmane sits in the bedroom he shares with 7 others in Detroit, December 2024. “I didn’t realize it while I was in the shelter,” he says, “but once I had my own space, I understood how hard it really was.”
Ousman in front of his new home in Detroit in December 2024. He says he misses his Baye Fall community and the weekly dahira gatherings in New York. After receiving his work permit, he relocated from a shelter in Brooklyn to Detroit, where his brother had already secured a job at a franchise restaurant.
The bag Ousman brought from Senegal. Like many other Baye Falls, he entered the United States in Dec 2023 via a migration route that passed through Mauritania, Morocco, Spain, Nicaragua, and Mexico.
Souleye, sits in his shared apartment on 180th Street in Bronx, February 2025. He moved in after leaving a shelter in December and now shares the space with seven other Baye Falls, including Mouhamed, whom he first met on the corner.
Souleye prepared a meal for fellow Baye Falls, honoring the Senegalese tradition of teranga (hospitality). While in a shelter, he promised to cook once he had his own kitchen. Now, settled in Bronx, he fulfills that promise. February 2025
Mourtada, 23, one of Souleye’s roommates and asylum seeker, works as a food delivery driver.
