I’ve noticed Ebdel Hebti—the pushcart vendor on 23rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues—on a handful of occasions. He’s always yapping with his patrons and tends to light up when he’s got someone around who’s just taken a bite of his eats.

Before the interview, I had no idea he was involved in real estate. I just knew that I wanted to interview a shiskabob guy. When I approached Hebti with my cameraman, he never asked me who I was or where this video would be airing. So he had no information on the fact that I report on real estate — making his connection to the industry particulary random, but a story I figured was meant to be.

Hebti told me that his father is a big developer in Morocco and that he got into building construction because of his family ties. But for personal reasons, he needed to “spread his wings” and come to New York. He’s definitely spreading some good shawarma.