Pet Emporium’s Sahmi Immortalized in Song

By on October 21, 2010 10:27 pm in Arts and Entertainment, Celebrity Residents

Sahmi with Montague BID board member Estela Johannesen last year

Last month at the Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO a presentation of “Brooklyn’s Got Characters” a concert of new songs presented by NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program grads (Go Violets!) featured a song called “The Mayor of Montague Street”.

Who is the mayor? According to songwriters Brett Macias and Caroline Murphy it’s Sahmi from Pet Emporium. Video after the jump.

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  • Publius

    Sahmi’s theme song should be titled “When’s your husband not at home so I can deliver the dog food.”

    Love Sahmi, but sometimes he says wildly inappropriate things to his female customers.

  • bklyn20

    Aww, Publius, are you jealous?

    Really, I think everyone knows, and can tell, that he’s kidding. It’s all said with a smile rather than with a leer.

    P.S.: Homer — the audio is pretty bad and makes it impossible to understand the words.

  • suzette

    I find this man truly offensive and refuse to shop in his store because of his inappropriate comments and gestures.

  • petsemporium4life

    Wah. He’s a great guy, and can hit on my wife anytime. Much more fun than hitting on that old tart, Suzette. Blech.

  • suzette

    your wife may have a better time w/him that you from what he speaks of!!!

  • suzette

    From the way Sammy speaks to all customers, we are all missing out on something BIG!

  • Jorale-man

    Sahmi’s a good guy. People are being way too sensitive and politically correct if they think anything otherwise.

  • cheers

    Many years ago the owner of the pet store made a sexist lewd remark as I walked by and I told him to zip it. From that day forward whenever he sees me he puts his nose in the air and walks into his store as if I am the one with the filthy mouth. What an ego! I believe what people are saying here on this blog.

  • jim

    Seriously, people…

    Sam is a great guy, considering he has been there for 15+ years most people in the neighborhood must like his style, less he would be out of business….

    Don’t let a few uptight people ruin one of the great local stores we have left

  • suzette

    Seriously Jim, he’s an old goat. I spend lots of money on my two pets so who’s loss is it? Trust me, I’m not uptight. The guy is a pig.

  • north heights res

    Sammi is often friendlier with me than I am totally comfortable with, but he’s also incredibly generous: works with local vets and rescues, donates a ton of food, has helped me out when I’ve had rescue cats. So do I wish that he were a little less flirtatious? Yeah. But for me, the good he does is worth it.

  • cat

    Is it all men here who are defending Sammi? I’m guessing he’s not making passes at you all so you can’t really relate to what the women say they have experienced?

    FWIW, I’ve never had a problem with him. He has been appropriately friendly toward me.

  • bornhere

    I think this is all a little silly. I have never found Sahmi to be extreme in his banter, and I don’t understand the complaints. It’s not like going into his store is the equivalent of walking a (stereotypical) construction-worker gauntlet. If anyone is put off by him, shop elsewhere. What is the big deal? To me, his conversation is harmless and pretty routine flirtation — he’s not serious, and he is not taken seriously. If one were to avoid all merchants with “enthusiastic” owners/sales people, a lot of Montague Street would be “off limits.”

  • zburch

    I am a woman, and I have always liked Sahmi. He cracks me up. Its all in good fun, some people just are too uptight. His wife is kind of saucy too, and I like that about them. He helped us immensely when we were dealing with an elderly pet.

  • ABC

    bornhere is a woman? I hadn’t guessed that.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    With internet anonymity, it’s like the New York Lottery: “Hey, you never know.”

    (If anyone’s wondering, I am a guy, although Claude can be a woman’s name in French.)

  • bornhere

    Absolutely, ABC (just ask Sahmi :), and mom and sister of two other fairly prolific posters.

    And a little more OT: Your comment is interesting — unless a user name or comment is clearly gender-specific, I tend to assume that posters are male. And to further reveal my old-school preconceptions, I was really surprised when we learned that willowtowncop is a woman.

  • nabeguy

    I had willowtown tagged pretty quick. As for you bornhere. I knew that up front. On the subject of Samhi, I always liked him when I shopped there, but he always creeped out my wife…which meant that I had to carry the 20 pound boxes of cat litter up to our 5 floor walk-up.

  • north heights res

    Female here, though I’ve been referred to as a “he” more than once here.

  • http://kitchensbarnstaple.info/ Hiedi Badura

    Thanks for the post. I will forward it on to a few friends.