oped 
 New Yorkers remain hungry during COVID-19 
 BY COREY JOHNSON VANESSA L. GIBSON  
 AND MARK TREYGER 
 Sadly, hunger in New York City is  
 not a new problem. 
 Sky high rent prices, stubbornly  
 low wages, and the high cost of living  
 in one of the richest cities in the world  
 means  that many  New  Yorkers  have  
 to sacrifi ce on food to pay for rent and  
 other basic necessities. 
 At the beginning of this Council’s  
 session in 2018, 40 percent of providers  
 said they didn’t have enough food  
 to  meet  demand.  This  was  well  before  
 COVID and at a time of economic  
 prosperity in our city. 
 The  problems  back  then  were  
 two-fold. The nonprofi ts  that  operated  
 these  programs  needed  
 money to serve those in need, but also  
 stable funding. 
 The  federal  government  
 wasn’t helping. 
 Cuts  to  the  Supplemental  Nutrition  
 Assistance  Program,  formerly  
 known  as  food  stamps, exacerbated  
 the need for food pantries and left  
 the more than 1.5 million New Yorkers  
 who relied on the program out in  
 the cold. 
 The Council stepped up. 
 We  increased  funding  for  emergency  
 food and for senior meals and  
 created  new  programs  to  address  
 food insecurity at the City University  
 of  New York  to  stop  college  students  
 from  going  hungry,  a  prevalent  but  
 little-known problem in our city. 
 Over  the  past  four  budget  cycles, 
  we’ve increased funding for food  
 programs by $55 million. Our most  
 signifi cant  achievements  was  changing  
 how we funded the Emergency  
 Food Assistance Program. 
 In  fi scal  year  2019,  we  fought  to  
 baseline  $20.2  million  for  this  program, 
  meaning the money was automatically  
 added  to  the  budget  every  
 year.  In  the  past  this  funding  was  
 never guaranteed, leaving providers  
 in limbo annually. 
 This allowed food providers to better  
 plan on how to feed vulnerable  
 New Yorkers  and  have  the  money  to  
 do so. 
 Then COVID-19 hit. 
 Virtually overnight, the number of  
 food insecure New Yorkers went from  
 1.2 million to 2 million and nearly  
 one-third of  food pantries  shut down  
 during the early days of the crisis. 
 Many  pantries  managed  to  stay  
 open because of our years of investment  
 in  food  programs,  but  we  
 knew more  was  needed  to meet  this  
 unprecedented challenge. 
 We aggressively and successfully  
 pushed both the de Blasio administration  
 and  the  state  government  
 to each designate $25 million in  
 emergency funds for food programs  
 in April. 
 These funds will help hundreds  
 of  organizations  including  food  pantries, 
  soup kitchens and charities that  
 deliver meals or groceries to those  
 in  need.  Nearly  80%  of  that  $25  million  
 will reach local food pantries,  
 as we know pantry visits continue to  
 increase each week. 
 With  the  City’s  $25  million,  the  
 Council focused on high-need, lowincome, 
   food-insecure  areas,  and  
 recommended organizations operating  
 in these communities. Additionally, 
  the Council identifi ed providers  
 which serve immigrant communities  
 across the fi ve boroughs. 
 In the meantime, the State’s $25  
 million under the Nourish New York  
 initiative, provides emergency funds  
 for  food  banks  and  providers  which  
 serve the populations that need it  
 the most. 
 Aiming to increase food access, the  
 funds not only help families in need  
 across  the  City  and  the  State,  they  
 also tackle existing disparities. 
 We are also proud that our recently  
 passed  budget  for  2021  contains  no  
 cuts to Council-funded food programs  
 despite a $9 billion budget defi cit. 
 All of this work contributes to  
 our  ultimate  goal  of  addressing  inequity  
 in all forms in New York City,  
 including  food  inequity.  Every  New  
 Yorker  deserves  access  to  healthy  
 affordable food. 
 It’s governments’ job to make sure  
 residents get the resources they need,  
 especially during a public health and  
 fi nancial crisis when so many of them  
 are sick or out of work. 
 Those  in  need  should  call  3-1-1  
 and say “Get Food” or visit the City’s  
 COVID-19  emergency  food  site  at  
 nyc.gov/getfood. 
 Corey Johnson is Speaker of the  
 City  Council;  Vanessa  Gibson  chairs  
 the Council’s Subcommittee on Capital  
 Budget; Mark Treyger chairs the Council’s  
 Education Committee. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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 BRONX TIMES REPORTER,12      SEPTEMBER 4-10, 2020 BTR 
 On Aug. 26, Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson and the Met Council held a food giveaway at 1520  
 Sedgwick Ave, Morris Heights, “The birth place of hip-hop.”   Courtesy of Offi ce of CM Gibson 
 
				
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