Ibrahim Choudry was the center of gravity for the predominantly Bengali community of Muslim ex-seamen in New York City in the 1940s-60s. During WWII, Choudry organized and ran the British Merchant Sailor’s Club for Indian Seamen in a three-story building on ^th Avenue and West 38th Street. In 1947, after the partition of India from West and East Pakistan (present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh), he co-founded and became chairman of the Pakistan League of America, the primary social organization for the South Asian ex-maritime population in New York, and in the 1950s, he built ties with other Muslim groups throughout the city, including the various African American Muslim groups in Harlem.

Ibrahim Choudry was the center of gravity for the predominantly Bengali community of Muslim ex-seamen in New York City in the 1940s-60s. During WWII, Choudry organized and ran the British Merchant Sailor’s Club for Indian Seamen in a three-story building on ^th Avenue and West 38th Street. In 1947, after the partition of India from West and East Pakistan (present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh), he co-founded and became chairman of the Pakistan League of America, the primary social organization for the South Asian ex-maritime population in New York, and in the 1950s, he built ties with other Muslim groups throughout the city, including the various African American Muslim groups in Harlem.