Marc Anthony, José Andrés Bring 1,000s Of Meals To Inwood

INWOOD, NY — Three nonprofits have teamed up to bring thousands of meals to Inwood each day during the coronavirus pandemic, starting with huge giveaways for the Easter holidays.

SOMOS, José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen and Maestro Cares Foundation, founded by Marc Anthony and Henry Cardenas, plan to hand out 2,000 meals six days a week at La Nueva España restaurant on West 207th Street until the coronavirus pandemic has ended, the organizations announced. The meals are distributed from 12 to 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The efforts to help out Uptown residents who may be struggling during the pandemic started with a 5,000-meal giveaway on Good Friday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is making life more difficult for all New Yorkers – but the Latino community has been particularly hard hit,” SOMOS founder Ramon Tallaj said. “SOMOS is teaming up with World Central Kitchen and Maestro Cares Foundation to make sure that families who have lost their jobs, or who are caring for loved ones who have contracted the virus, have one less thing to worry about in this crisis."

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The meal distribution is among several initiatives SOMOS, a network of more than 2,500 health care providers, have led to help the hardest-hit demographics during the pandemic. The organization has also made multi-lingual fact sheets, telemedicine services and has been conducting COVID-19 testing in Queens and the Bronx with the state.

World Central Kitchen has also been distributing meals in Harlem in partnership with a restaurant in that neighborhood.

“As a team of first food responders, World Central Kitchen is proud to be a part of this important work to provide meals to these communities in need during these trying times,” shared Nate Mook, World Central Kitchen CEO.

Data broken down by zip code released by the city reveals that the lower-income parts of New York City seemed to be the hardest hit by the virus. 19 of the 20 lowest concentrations of coronavirus cases hail from affluent zip codes, the New York Times reported.

Elected officials have particularly pointed to "underserved and immigrant communities" in Northern Manhattan, the South Bronx and neighborhoods in Western Queens, which have become hotspots for the coronavirus.

Data also shows that Hispanic residents are also more likely to die from the coronavirus than other New Yorkers.

Hispanic New Yorkers make up 34 percent of the people to lose their lives to COVID-19, despite representing 29 percent of the population, and Black New Yorkers make up 28 percent of the fatalities despite representing 22 percent of the population, data show.

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