Assemblyman George Alvarez (A.D. 78) and City Councilman Oswald Feliz (C.D. 15) joined ICNA Relief and other sponsors and volunteers in the Belmont section of The Bronx on Tuesday, Nov. 25, to distribute turkeys and food produce to a very long line of constituents ahead of Thanksgiving.

 

The long lines stretched all the way down East Fordham Road from Hoffman Street past a local gas station to Hughes Avenue, and included young parents, one 82-year-old woman, and a middle-aged man who said he had just been discharged from hospital. Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) Chair Karla Cabrera Carrera and CB7 board member, Monjur Chowdhury, were also seen on the day helping out, as were student volunteers from Fordham University, who had also set up their own hot beverage stand and were enthusiastically smiling and milling around offering drinks to attendees.

 

Other sponsors of the event included Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Assembly Member Yudelka Tapia (A.D. 86), Fordham Road NYC Business Improvement District (BID), Maddd Equities, Union Community Health Center (UCHC), NY Common Pantry, United Bodegas of America, Hispanic Federation, City Meals of Wheels, Good Neighbor, Catholic Charities, ICNA Relief, VIP Community Services, Fordham, I’m Community, Spreading Love, the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center, Belmont Business Improvement District, and Liberty Coca Cola Beverages. Cabrera thanked the organizers and said the event was necessary to support local residents.

Norwood News spoke to some of those waiting in line about their experiences of food insecurity during the recent government shutdown, and asked them how important events like the turkey giveaway were in terms of meeting the basic needs of Bronx residents. “It was important,” one 82-year-old woman told us. “Times are hard – only get your pension once a month. Once it’s gone, I have to make it until the next month so if there’s something that I can get that will help me, that’s great.”

 

Asked if her pension had been delayed due to the shutdown, the woman said it wasn’t. We asked if she was finding it difficult to stand in line, given her age. She replied, “It is hard to stand but, you know, God is good. He’ll let me stand and let me get this turkey and feed my family and everyone can get together again because lately, it’s been one is here, and one is there, so at Thanksgiving, we all get together and thank God for being alive and everything.”

 

Asked if she felt government officials reacted adequately in terms of meeting the needs of residents amid the recent impact to SNAP benefits and so on, she said, “In my neighborhood, they have.” Asked who her elected representatives are, the elderly woman said, “I couldn’t tell you but I know I’m in the 87th District.” Assembly District 87 is represented by Assemblywoman Karines Reyes.

The senior continued, “And I know Vanessa (Gibson). I know her name but so far, everything is good.” Laughing, she added, “I’m not an IT person but I can see something on the Facebook to come and get a turkey today, so that’s how I got that information, online.” She said with all the people waiting, she hoped there would be a turkey left for her by the time she got to the top of the line.

 

Another younger woman standing in line said she had been personally impacted by the shutdown. “I was getting food stamps at first,” she said. “It took me a while to get accepted again. So now, me and my mom are trying to go to pantries and to all the giveaways. We’re trying to take advantage.”

 

Asked if it had been easy to obtain information about where to obtain food in recent weeks, the woman said, “Luckily yes, because the schools were providing information as well.” Referring to her daughter, who was with her in the line, the young mom said, “This is her first year attending school. She’s in Pre-K.” Asked if she was looking forward to Thanksgiving, she said she was.

 

A 66-year-old man, Brian Williams, who was also in line told us he had just had open-heart surgery. [Norwood News tried to see if we could find a box or something for him to sit on, similar to the 82-year-old woman, but nothing was really available.] When we told him he looked great, the man said, “That’s what people say! They say, ‘There’s nothing wrong with him!’ I had to rush over here. They should have a spot for the elderly and the disabled.”

He lamented the long lines, saying he had already talked to the organizers to see if he could skip ahead. “It doesn’t matter,” the man said. “It’s ok. I know how it is.” Norwood News also spoke to one of the people managing the line who said they couldn’t make exceptions as everyone would come with different reasons for skipping ahead and it would be impossible to manage the situation.

 

The man in line continued, “I’m going home back to my moldy apartment. That’s why I was in the hospital – black mold everywhere. I’m on Housing Connect [NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD)’s online housing lottery platform]. Brand new building they’re building up but sadly, I didn’t qualify for it. Once they saw my ID card, it’s a wrap. There’s no affordable housing. It’s all a scam, Miss, I’m sorry.”

 

Norwood News acknowledged and agreed that indeed, some of the recent “affordable” housing lotteries advertised by HPD were very far from affordable. We mentioned a newly passed law sponsored by Councilman Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11) which aims to assist applicants with the housing lottery process by aiding with paperwork through intermediaries like West Bronx Housing.

 

“Each apartment I’ve had….I’ve had three apartments….mold, ceiling collapsing and all that,” the man continued, seemingly unimpressed with the news. “I can’t get no help and I know why,” he said. We asked why, and he laughed and replied wryly, “I spend too much time in the tanning booth,” [the implication being, we understood, that it was because of the color of his skin.] He added, “Anybody that’s on that phone, they’re like, ‘Look at this guy.'” We asked if he wanted to share his phone number with us to follow up and he said he had already been on the news.

“I have roaches in my freezer,” the man said. He then added, “They’re so beautiful” in reference to Feliz and his female colleague who he said had helped him find a new apartment through Housing Connect, but that it was that same apartment that had the black mold that sent him into hospital.

 

“I was in the hospital for six days,” he said. “I have a heart condition. I got a defribillator, all that.” Seemingly in reference to city officials/city government, the man then added, “All they concentrate on is Manhattan. I spent my first 30 years in Queens, born and raised and 36 years here.” In reference to the Mets attire he was wearing, we mentioned that there were quite a few Mets fans in The Bronx, despite the omnipresence of The Yankees.

 

“Oh Yankee fans don’t like Mets fans; they don’t like me,” he said laughing and implying he did not receive the help he needed when he was ill. “They found me dead on the D train and I had my Mets uniform on,” he said.

 

Later, we spoke to Amanda Caputo, assistant director for community affairs at Fordham University. “So, we are here today… giving out some apple cider to the community,” she said. “We also donated 100 pork [inaudible]. We really believe, as an office, that resource sharing is so important and being able to provide and support the community when they need it most.”

She added, “Of course as a result of the cuts to SNAP, we’ve seen really the need both among our student body and faculty, and among our community, so in that way, we really believe our greatest asset is our student body and the resources that we have internally at Fordham. That being said, we have a responsibility to mobilize those resources that we have in order to support our local community. We’re all neighbors at the end of the day and we all want to support each other. We’re so happy to be here to support our community in any way that we can.”

 

Asked about the student volunteers, Caputo said, “We have a couple of student volunteers. Some are handing out produce and some are giving out apple cider, and some are at the other tables helping with line management and stuff like that. They’re passionate and dedicated. They always come out when they see their fellow neighbors in need so they’re a wonderful set of students. They’re great.”

 

Speaking in Spanish, two elderly female attendees, Marta Rodriguez and Sonia LeBron, said of the event, “This Thanksgiving event is very appreciated by the community and is all that was needed.” They referenced both Feliz and Alvarez saying they received help when they needed it.

 

“They gave us all for the meal; it’s very important because things are very expensive and now, there’s less with the people who.. (with the impact of the government shutdown),” one of the women added. “Well, I don’t receive food stamps because I’ve worked in this country, but now that they are arranging this (giveaway), it helps a lot with my meal and with that of my family who cannot come and collect the items.”

One of the women then thanked “God, the senator, the assemblyman, the councilman.” She added, “Very good, this young man, who is working hard for the people, and the assemblyman also. Thank you to everyone.”

 

Later, Feliz said the organizers of the giveaway provided around 800 turkeys on the day, and added that overall in recent weeks, his office, in conjunction with other partners and elected officials, distributed over 2,000 turkeys to around 2,000 families. “Every part of the district, Fordham Road, East Tremont, West Farms,” he said. “It’s been fun.”

 

Asked if more food was being distributed this year, compared to previous years because of the impact of the recent shutdown, he said, “Yes, absolutely! This year, I would say, the lines are much longer. We’re always privileged to be doing this every single year. This Bronx community is vibrant but it’s also a very needy community so we make sure to meet people where they’re at, and during Thanksgiving season, we make sure we provide turkeys, food produce, fresh fruits and vegetables, making sure our constituents have everything they need for a happy Thanksgiving.”

 

Asked if he got a lot of calls to his office amid the shutdown, Feliz said he had, particularly about how it would affect residents’ food stamps. “It was a big concern for tenants in The Bronx,” he said.

 

We also asked the councilman, who represents the Bronx neighborhoods of Fordham Heights, West Farms, Tremont, Mt. Hope, Belmont, University Heights (North)-Fordham, Bedford Park, Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River, Pelham Parkway-Van Nest, Allerton, Bronx Park, Morrisania, Claremont Village-Claremont (East), Crotona Park East, Crotona Park, Mount Eden-Claremont (West), and Claremont Park, for his thoughts on his recent reelection and the election generally.

As reported, Feliz had lent his support, along with the majority of the Bronx Democratic Party, to Mayor-elected Zohran Mamdani before the general election.

 

“First and foremost, we won our reelection with over 85% of the vote,” the councilman said. “We had a record turnout here in The Bronx and we’re so privileged to have earned the trust and support of voters. It’s been four good years, bringing results, bringing funding for our parks, for our schools and also meeting people where they’re at, and resolving their issues, so it’s a privilege to earn their support. We’re very excited to work with our mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on the issues that Bronxites care about, housing, public safety, education, and economic opportunity for the people of The Bronx.”

 

The councilman, who recently became a new dad, also recently attended the Annual Fordham Road Fair, hosted by the Fordham Road NYC Business Improvement District (BID) which, this year, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

 

Later, Norwood News also spoke to Alvarez, who broadly represents some or all of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge Heights, Fordham Manor, Fordham Heights, Belmont, Allerton, Bronx Park East. “You see the long lines here,” the assemblyman said. “People are still coming and we’ve been doing this for like an hour now.” We mentioned the elderly lady who had been standing and asked if she could be given preference. The assemblyman said, “Absolutely. We always give preference. It’s priority for the seniors. This is great. We’re doing this every year. We’re just giving back to the community what they’re giving to us and that’s pretty much what we’re doing every year.”

 

On his thoughts on the recent mayoral election, Alvarez added, “I support Zohran since day one, and even in the primary. He’s been my colleague for four years. I know what he’s capable of. I think New York is going to see better days coming up. Zohran is a great guy. He has great ideas and we just need to continue to support him.”

 

Norwood News asked Alvarez if he was happy with the mayoral transition team announced so far and the appointments Mamdani had made to date. The assemblyman replied, “Because I’m so close to him, I can tell you something that he said to us when he was trying to build the transition team. He was very clear – transition team is about capacity. It’s about knowledge, about performance, so whoever you can see on the transition team, it’s because those people are able to deliver for the people of New York.”