Who is Marco Shalma? How has he positively impacted the Bronx; a predominantly immigrant community of displaced people from all over the globe? Why is the self-identified “visionary entrepreneur and creative strategist who Champions micro-businesses and minority-owned businesses” here?
We learned from his Wiki bio that the 50-year-old Leonidas look-alike is a Pisces (February 19th, 1975) and was born in Israel. Shalma went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Film/Cinema/Video Studies from New York University in 2009. According to his LinkedIn bio, he started his first job as an accounts executive at BBDO, a global creative network/branding company based in so-called New York City, and worked there between January 2004 to October 2008. From September 2009 to January 2013 he worked at Grupo MYT, a restaurant brand operator based in Mexico, as Chief Operating Officer. Shalma is also the owner of Round Seven Media, a media advertising company that for some reason does not maintain an active website. He is currently working to complete an executive MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Pretty straightforward forward huh? Ehhhhhh…not so much. Unfortunately here in the Bronx there never seems to be a short supply of Bad actors pretending to be someone they aren’t. (see our post on Tomas Ramos) As we dug deeper into his background, we found some inconsistencies with how the “visionary” was portraying himself to the public. For instance, we detailed the personal information found on Shalma’s wiki bio above; however according to an article published by the Mott Haven Herald on March 29, 2019 , Shalma was born in South Africa and had at that point lived in the Bronx for 10 years.
In a conversation with Columbia Neighbors on July 14, 2023; Marco shared “ My cultural background is Middle Eastern. My mom is Moroccan and my dad is Egyptian. There’s a strong sense of hospitality that is embedded within Middle Eastern culture. However exactly one year later, on July 18, 2024; in Season 5, episode 11 of a “Podcast Against Antisemitism”, Marco Shalma opens with “I’m Israeli you know originally and I have family in Israel…”. At roughly 14:36 into the 34-minute long interview, the host asks about living in America to which Shalma responds “Listen you know if you’ve been to New York look at me I pretty much look like a Spanish guy, you know like a Caribbean Spanish guy; Puerto Rican, Dominican you know which kind of is helpful in a way you know…”
Since 2016 Marco Shalma has been morphing himself into whatever benefits his personal needs while also creating various companies with every transformation. Born in South Africa AND born in so-called Israel? A seemingly “Caribbean Spanish Guy” who owns and operates the New York Latin Food Festival along with Bronx Night Market and Brooklyn Night Market. A Middle Eastern guy who runs the Uptown Night Market. “A Bronx Native” who owns Round Seven, and Blox.TV, Edible Bronx, MHG Events, MASC Hospitality Group. An Israeli who owns JCMS Properties? How can the IRS even keep up?
So who is Marco Shalma? To quote the collective HydroPunk, Marco Shalma is an “Enemy of the Bronx”. He has been pretending and profiting off the diversity New York City offers by appropriating the cultures of marginalized people and selling it back to tourists and gentrifiers. His infiltration of the Bronx is even more insidious considering the historical neglect the borough has faced which we all know created unnecessary pressure on our communities. His arrival fractured a renaissance of creativity and reset the efforts of so many activists and artists. But we are still here…
Stay tuned for more.
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