Chelsea restaurant teams up with local chamber
of commerce to provide meals to NYPD officers
BY GRANT LANCASTER
The Greenwich Village
Chelsea Chamber of Commerce
is raising money to
feed fi rst responders in Manhattan
during the COVID-19 pandemic,
including delivering 200
lunches from a local restaurant to
police precincts.
Volunteers delivered boxed
lunches from aRoqa, an Indian
restaurant in Chelsea, to offi cers
from NYPD’s 10th, 13th, 9th and
Midtown South Precincts, said
Matthew Olden, vice president
of the Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber has organized
events with local police in the
past, with sponsors providing
meals for the offi cers, Olden said.
The chamber members wanted
to continue that tradition while
also supporting local businesses
by starting a GoFundMe to buy
food from local restaurants to
feed offi cers in six precincts.
The chamber plans to buy food
from restaurants that are members
of the chamber, such as aRoqa,
said Andres Pazmino, president
of the Chamber of Commerce.
aRoqa’s owner, Monica Saxena,
said that she reached out
to Pazmino looking for a way to
help her community after seeing
stories of New Yorkers giving selflessly
to fi rst responders and others
in need during the pandemic.
“As a business owner, you want
to think of something to help,”
Saxena said.
Saxena wants to continue providing
meals for New Yorkers in
need however she can, she said. In
addition to donating to the Chamber’s
GoFundMe, ordering to-go
meals from aRoqa helps Saxena
and her staff provide meals for
others.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AROQA
Howard Hughes Corporation supports
New York nonprofits, first responders
BY GRANT LANCASTER
The Howard Hughes Corporation
has worked to provide
emergency support in
the form of food and donations
to community members and fi rst
responders amidst the COVID-19
pandemic.
This aid has included donating
N95 masks to fi refi ghters,
providing pizza and bagels for
NYPD offi cers, supplying food
for nonprofi ts serving seniors and
helping small businesses serving
the community stay open.
The company provided food
for Grand Street Settlement’s
program to provide groceries
to about 500 New York City
seniors so they can avoid going
out, said Clovis Thorn, managing
director of development and
communications for Grand Street
Settlement.
Grand Street Settlement had offered
a meal delivery service, but
it was not always enough to keep
seniors from needing to go out for
other groceries, Thorn said. The
bags of groceries Howard Hughes
Corporation provided have helped
meet that goal.
Reacting to the pandemic has
been different than other natural
disasters because the consequences
have been more longterm,
requiring greater sustained
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOWARD HUGHES CORPORATION
support for New Yorkers in need,
Thorn said.
“It’s a different type of disaster,
but I don’t think the response has
been any less robust,” Thorn said.
In addition to supporting
community aid organizations,
the corporation has contributed
to small businesses like the nonprofi
t Fulton Stall Market, which
sells goods from local producers
and offers community classes on
cooking, farming and other agricultural
and sustainability skills.
Howard Hughes Corporation
contributes to the market
normally, but has increased their
contribution during the crisis so
that the owner, Bob Lewis, who
is in his 70s, can stay home where
his risk of infection is lessened,
Lewis said.
In addition to supporting the
market’s staff, the corporation
provided sanitation equipment
that has been crucial to keeping
the market open, Lewis said.
Although many of the inperson
and outdoor programs at
the market have been postponed,
the market is open for shoppers
and their Community Supported
Agriculture food share program is
more active than ever, Lewis said.
“From heroic fi rst responders
to some of our community’s
most vulnerable residents, HHC
is proud to play a role in making
life a little easier right now during
this unprecedented crisis — and
to support local businesses in the
process,” said Saul Scherl, president
of the New York Tri-State
Region at the Howard Hughes
Corporation.
Schneps Media April 30, 2020 3