Harlem Salvation Army Reeling After Truck Is Torched Overnight

HARLEM, NY — A Salvation Army temple in Harlem has been left reeling after three of its vehicles, including an essential disaster-relief truck, were torched overnight by an unknown vandal.

A worker made the grim discovery around 7:30 a.m. Monday in a parking lot near the Salvation Army Harlem Temple Corps Community Center on Lenox Avenue and 137th Street, according to Captain Chaka Watch, who leads the temple along with his wife, Emeline.

The fire devastated the temple's Mobile Canteen: a van equipped with a full kitchen, bathroom, plumbing system and more, which the Salvation Army had been using to feed up to 300 people each day, Watch said. The canteen will cost about $250,000 to replace.

"The things that they broke are things that you can’t just make," Watch told Patch. "They've disabled us."

Fire crews responded just before 2 a.m. Monday to extinguish the fire, located in a parking lot a few doors down from the temple on 138th Street, an FDNY spokesperson said. Two other vehicles were also damaged.

The main target appears to have been a Cadillac Escalade that does not belong to the Salvation Army, Watch said. The vandal may have smashed the canteen's window and used the truck's stovetop burner to set the fire, burning the Escalade to ashes and damaging the four other vehicles.

The canteen had served as a critical lifeline during the pandemic, Watch said, adding that it was also used for senior citizens' and children's programs. The temple's main kitchen has been disabled since November due to a gas leak, meaning the Salvation Army will be forced to prepare cold meals now that the Canteen has been lost.

"You can imagine trying to eat a sandwich when it’s very cold," Watch said. "That's what we've been reduced to."

Watch said that authorities were working to gather surveillance footage from nearby buildings. An NYPD spokesperson said the fire was under investigation by FDNY fire marshalls, while the fire department could not confirm whether arson was suspected.

The temple is seeking donations on its website to cover the cost of replacing the canteen. People can also text "canteen" to 91999 to donate.

Before coming to Harlem from Long Island in November, the canteen had a long history of service around the New York City area. In past years, it served 9/11 first responders at Ground Zero, commuters during the 2005 MTA strike, and victims of the 2006 blackout in Astoria, the organization said.

Besides hoping for donations, Watch said he plans to pray for the arsonist, so that "God’s love can convince them to see the light and be better.

"If they wanted to be cruel to this person’s car, now they’ve deprived the whole community [of] food," he said. "There’s no reason for it."