“Island Ock, I got my report card, man. It’s better than ever.”
The words bounce through Zack’s Finest Deli & Grocery like a jolt of joy. They come from Madison, a 17-year-old high school junior with hoop dreams and honor roll hustle. She hands her paper to Wail Alselwi, aka “Island Ock” or simply “Wally” to the regulars, the heart and humor behind one of Staten Island’s most beloved bodegas.
“Last time it was 98, then it was 99. What is it this time?” Wally asks, eyes twinkling with anticipation.
“Now it’s 100,” Madison says, beaming.
With the flair of a game show host and the warmth of a favorite uncle, Wally hands her a $100 bill and tells her to grab some snacks. Madison picks Smarties, M&Ms, and a few other goodies, but what she really leaves with is a moment of magic, the kind Wally serves up daily.
Wail Alselwi didn’t start this to go viral. In 2023, he just wanted to help a neighborhood kid, Zamier Davies, who couldn’t quite crack the honor roll despite all his effort.
“I just wanted to help him make the honor roll, and he couldn’t make it even though he worked so hard for it,” Alselwi says.
So he made a deal: good grades = free snacks.
It worked. Zamier hit an 88% average and walked away with an Oreo milkshake. Then came 89% and an egg and cheese with chips. Finally, Zamier made the honor roll. Wally’s TikTok celebrating the moment blew up. Suddenly, students from all over, even as far as Pennsylvania, were stopping by to show off their report cards.
“A lot of kids started coming to show me their report card,” Wally recalls.
He built a system:
- 80–90% average? Pick your favorite snacks.
- 70–80%? $10 worth of goodies.
- Perfect attendance or student of the month? You’re in.
- 90% or higher? A $100 bill, a free T-shirt, and bragging rights.
Even kids who just show improvement get love.
“I like seeing the smile on their faces,” Wally says. “Man, it makes me happy.”
Behind the counter, between slicing deli meats and cracking jokes (“Don’t be short, bro, be tall today,” he tells a customer with a $67 tab), Wally celebrates kids not just for winning, but for trying. And it’s personal.
“I got my own kids back home, and I miss them, so it makes me happy to see other kids happy,” he says of his three children still living in Yemen. “I see my own kids in front of me.”
For Zamier, now an eighth grader thinking about a career in tech, the rewards were sweet, but the real prize was his own progress.
“It was mostly a bet that he made with himself, and Wally,” says his uncle, Jerome Ivory.
With TikTok love pouring in and nearly $50,000 raised through a GoFundMe launched by his brother, Wally is quick to share the credit.
“I cannot do it by myself,” he says. “My fans comment and they celebrate these kids with me and they acknowledge them with me. Let’s say I’m giving them $100 or snacks for free or a T-shirt, to me, that does not matter. The most important thing is you celebrate them and you show them that you really care about their hard work.”
It’s not just about Smarties or milkshakes. It’s about kindness, community, and a deli where your GPA is worth a gold star and a gummy worm.
So if you’re ever in Staten Island and your report card is glowing, don’t forget to swing by Zack’s. Island Ock is waiting, with a smile, a snack, and a reminder that hard work deserves to be seen.
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