Ron Antonelli
Asghar Choudhri (L) has a laugh with then Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz in 2002 during a ceremony at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
Asghar Choudhri, Brooklyn’s mayor of “Little Pakistan,” died Wednesday after a brief illness, his son said. He was 85.
Choudhri landed in Brooklyn in 1963 to pursue his MBA at Long Island University following a brief stay in England.
The influx of Pakistani immigrants to Kensington, Ditmas Park, Midwood and Coney Island was two decades away when Choudhri started his accounting firm on Coney Island Avenue.
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Over the years, the storefront would become a bridge between the immigrant community and established government.
He was to go-to guy for cops, elected officials and reporters looking for a liaison, weighing in on issues like the treatment of Muslims in post-9/11 New York City.
“Something pops up and you tackle it or you don’t,” said his son Nadeem Choudhri. “He tackled it.”
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The father of four was a Community Board 14 member as well as the Pakistani American Federation of New York president and Pakistani American Merchant Association chairman.
Choudhri remained a fixture on Coney Island Avenue until about six weeks before his death when he could no longer work.
“It was the American Dream, and he was able to fulfill that dream,” said Choudri, one of three sons.
dmmurphy@nydailynews.com Follow on Twitter @DoyleMurphy
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