New York City commits $170 million to feed hungry residents

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that the city will spend $170 million on initiatives to feed New Yorkers throughout the COVID-19 crisis, with plans to provide 10 million free meals this month. 

Through meal pickup sites at public school buildings, home deliveries to seniors and other methods, the city has given out 4.5 million meals since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Most of the meals have been provided to residents of the Bronx and Brooklyn, according to the city’s data.  

The city will continue to invest in existing efforts and new initiatives, and will expand its home-delivered meal network to encompass buildings housing older adults operated by the city or nonprofits. Caseworkers, community-based organizations and city agencies will also be able to directly enroll people in free meal deliveries in the coming weeks. In addition, the city has announced a $25 million investment into food pantries, soup kitchens and other organizations offering emergency food relief. 

Kathryn Garcia, who is leading New York City’s emergency food efforts during the pandemic, said that additional federal support through expansions to the food stamp program will be critical to tackling the city’s growing hunger crisis. 

New York City’s hunger initiatives haven’t been implemented without challenges. Garcia is taking over oversight of the Department for the Aging’s meal delivery program for senior center clients after several of them reported that they were missing meals.