Izaiah ‘Zeek’ Barrow turns hometown pride into community action in Kingsbridge Heights

Izaiah “Zeek” Barrow was born in Kingsbridge Heights, and has spent the last seven years giving back to the community that raised him.

Barrow is the co-founder of Theory 9, a local nonprofit founded in 2019 that centers on community aid. Alongside childhood friend Shakir “Chip” Seagers, Barrow hosts monthly food distributions and regular block parties that provide back-to-school or wellness resources, and supports initiatives such as the renovation of Old Fort Four Park’s basketball court. But long before he was a community organizer, Barrow knew Kingsbridge Heights simply as home.

Barrow grew up in the same home he now lives in with his wife, 8-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. He has two older brothers, and both his mom and dad worked for the United States Postal Service, he shared. Barrow remembers his childhood fondly — riding bikes, playing football at Harris Field by the Jerome Park Reservoir, the smell of barbecue wafting through the air as neighbors grilled together in the parks.

Kingsbridge Heights has retained that sense of community, Barrow said. There are still barbecues and block parties, and Barrow still sees older members of the community playing dominoes or chess by the park. That the neighborhood remains tight-knit is partially due to the work of Theory 9 and other community organizations, Barrow said.

By the age of 11, he had developed a knack for the family business of hardwood floor installation and refinishing, where his uncle and granduncle had paved the way. Barrow said he was drawn to the idea of turning something old into something new. There’s beauty in sanding down and finishing a surface that was installed more than a century ago and making it look a week old, he said.

Barrow finished out high school at Marie Curie High School, but before that was at the Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars in East Harlem, and a Catholic school in the east Bronx. After graduating, Barrow left the Bronx for Voorhees College in South Carolina, where he studied early childhood education for one semester, joking it was “just to make my mother happy.”

But with a decade of flooring experience already under his belt, Barrow had his sights set on pursuing the trade. He refined his craft through additional certifications, as well as by joining international not-for-profit National Wood Flooring Association, which later included him in its 40 industry professionals under 40 years old.

Barrow founded his own flooring business, iSandNewYork, in 2015. He was in New Rochelle at the time, and moved back a few years later once his daughter was born. When Barrow returned, he said, something had shifted. He was 28 years old and a father, and the community now viewed him as more of an elder.

He connected with other longtime friends who, also now older, had the means and the influence to make a difference. They knew what the community once was, Barrow said, and knew they wanted it back. Why not implement those changes themselves?

“It was lacking representing — the proper representation,” Barrow said. “Somebody that’s physically from the neighborhood that knows what’s going on within the neighborhood.”

Kingsbridge Heights lacked resources, Barrow said, and struggled to fight food insecurity. Kids and teens didn’t have spaces to hang out after school or a proper court to play basketball on. Some people didn’t feel safe in the neighborhood. Change started with just showing face, Barrow said.

The logistics weren’t easy at first. Barrow and others were entering an unfamiliar world that relied on politicians, lingo and connections to move projects forward or obtain necessary resources. When it came to renovating Old Fort Four Park, Barrow and others painted over the benches and court lines themselves. Before city council members fought for funding for Theory 9 through the city budget, Barrow raised money asking for donations in person.

“All we knew was the community,” Barrow said. “We knew to just rely on each other.”

The organization also runs Rising Kings and Queens, a grassroots youth basketball program founded by Seagers, as well as A Floorman’s Dream, which teaches kids ages 5 to 15 hardwood flooring and life skills.

Barrow said he is especially proud of Theory 9’s food drives, with more than five years of hosting regardless of rain, sleet or snow. In June, Barrow ran for male district leader for Assembly District 81 — an elected  volunteer role that acts as a liaison between community members and Bronx County Democrats — alongside a slate backed by local political group Unity Democratic Club. Barrow lost, but he reveled in the neighborhood’s bond and support of him, adding that politics is about “getting the conscience together for your community” rather than winning.

“No matter the age, no matter the creed, where they’re from, what they believe,” Barrow said. “When it comes to this side of Kingsbridge, I’m extremely proud of how we work together as a village.”