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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MAY 17, 2020
BY BEN VERDE
They need a jump start!
Services that deliver
meals to homebound seniors
have seen a spike in
demand under the state’s
stay-at-home order, as elderly
New Yorkers seek
safe ways to stay fed without
venturing outside. But,
with limited resources and
no increase in funding on
the horizon, it is getting
increasingly diffi cult for
many to meet demand.
“We’ve seen close to a 20
percent increase in the past
seven weeks,” Todd Fliedner,
deputy executive director
of the Bay Ridge Center,
told Brooklyn Paper. “This
is a trend we just see as continuing.”
Programs like Fliender’s
often held congregate meals
in senior centers prior to
the coronavirus pandemic,
but have shifted to delivery
only as those they serve
hunker down inside —
many of whom were offered
a citywide meal service run
by the Department of Aging.
But, program directors say,
many of the city’s seniors
prefer the local, non-profi t
run meal services, because
they fi nd their specifi c dietary
needs are met and deliveries
are more reliable.
“If they have one client
who is say, a vegetarian,
and also has trouble chewing
their food, a local organization
is able to respond
to that and make sure they
receive their food,” said
Tara Klein, a policy analyst
at United Neighborhood
Houses, who said that the
larger-scale meal programs
tend to be more of a “onesize
fi ts-all” operation.
To boot, seniors who
switched over to the citywide
service in the early
days of the stay-at-home order
reported poor communication,
a lack of coordination,
and low-quality meals.
Some seniors who signed up
for the program never received
meals at all, according
to Scott Short, CEO of
RiseBoro Community Partnerships,
a home-delivered
meal provider that operates
out of Bushwick.
“The quality of the meals
that they were getting was
really below the standards
of what we fi nd acceptable,”
said Short.
The shortcomings of the
citywide program have exacerbated
demand among
the smaller community
programs, according to the
head of RiseBoro, who has
seen a nearly 30 percent increase
in deliveries since
the pandemic began. The
program currently services
about 1,800 people, Short
said — a combination of
both new clients, and those
who are not receiving their
deliveries from the city.
Despite the increased
demand, programs like
RiseBoro and the Bay Ridge
Center are operating with
the same fl at level of funding
Workers package food at a RiseBoro facility. RiseBoro Community Partnerships
from the city as in prepandemic
times, and are
pushing for emergency
funding from the Department
of Aging.
The Bay Ridge Center
has had to hire more staff,
add an additional delivery
route, and purchase more
food than usual, according
to Fliedner. Scott says Rise-
Boro, which is also increasing
its food production and
providing its workers with
time-and-a-half hazard pay,
will only be able to operate
at its current rate without
emergency funding until
the end of its fi scal year on
June 30.
“We’re basically fronting
it and hoping that the
city does the right thing
and reimburses us,” Scott
said. “We’re putting our
own fi nances on the line
to do what we think is the
right thing for these essential
workers.”
In a letter to Department
of Aging Commissioner
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez,
Manhattan Councilwoman
Margaret Chin, chair of the
Council’s Committee on Aging,
laid out a demand of
$26.2 million in funding for
home-delivered meal programs,
which Chin says is
necessary to keep the programs
from failing.
“The city must invest in
the HDM program to ensure
that the Covid-19 pandemic
does not do further harm to
our city’s older adults than
it already has,” Chin wrote
in the letter dated May 1.
“This funding need is urgent.”
The Department of Aging
has not indicated yet
whether it will be able to provide
the emergency funds.
“We are in receipt of
Councilmember Chin’s letter
and are reviewing,”
said department spokesperson
Suzanne Myklebust.
“Providing food assistance
to New Yorkers during
Covid-19 is a high priority
for the city.”
Famished
Meal delivery programs see spike
in demand, fl at rate of funding
Multi-colored mural aims to inspire ‘hope’
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
Talk about a pop of
color!
The artist behind a new,
multi-colored mural in
Downtown Brooklyn is hoping
his work brings hope to
those who pass by it.
The piece, aptly titled
“HOPE,” was commissioned
by owners of the Atlantic
Terminal Mall and
painted by Brooklyn artist
Jason Naylor on Atlantic
Avenue near the corner of
Fort Green Place.
Naylor, known for his
eclectic and colorful murals,
hopes the 20-by-24-foot
piece — tucked between Old
Navy and Marshalls — will
bring joy to Brooklynites
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This mural is a tribute
to the essential workers and
true heroes who are on the
frontlines of the pandemic,
who are giving us hope,”
the artist told Brooklyn Paper.
“By injecting color, inspired
by the current rainbow
drawings, the goal
is to stimulate the senses
in a positive way and to
spread hope, love and positivity.”
Evan Walke, portfolio
manager at Madison International
Realty, the group
that commissioned the mural,
said he hopes the artwork
will help New Yorkers
through some of the city’s
darkest days.
“We believe this mural
conveys the message of
hope and that brighter days
are to come,” he said. “The
mural is dedicated to the
essential workforce, the
true heroes of this world.
These heroes are the ones
that give us hope that hold
our community together.
Through these trying
times, it is important for
our community to celebrate
this sentiment of resilience
and courage.”
“HOPE” is the third
artwork commissioned by
Madison International Reality.
The group previously
tapped local artist Patrick
Dougher to create a mural
inspired by rapper Notorious
B.I.G., titled “Spread
Love.”
Soon after, the group
partnered with a collective
of emerging artists from the
Museum of Contemporary
African Diasporan Arts to
create a calming mural titled
“Take It Easy.”
“We have always
shared an interest in public
art and the presence it
can have in the community,”
Walke said, adding
that the Atlantic Terminal
Mall is an “integral part”
of the Downtown Brooklyn.
“We have welcomed art
at our properties as way to
help bring enjoyment to the
neighborhood, while also
contributing to the arts and
urban landscape.”
And, “HOPE” isn’t Naylor’s
only tribute to essential
workers since the outbreak
of novel coronavirus. On
May 7, the artist unveiled
a painted banner outside
Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center in Manhattan
that reads, “You have
always been essential.”
Artist Jason Naylor shows off the new mural outside Atlantic Mall.
Madison International Realty