Taxis, bikes & sushi robots keeping New Yorkers fed, protected during pandemic
NEW YORK » Yellow cabs are lining up before sunrise at food distribution sites across the city.
Motorcyclists are buzzing over bridges, bags packed with masks and gowns.
Even sushi-making robots are pitching in, freeing up acclaimed chefs to deliver meals to hospitals.
With their fellow New Yorkers in need, an army of unlikely couriers is distributing food and supplies in the coronavirus hotspot. They’re keeping families fed amid a surge in unemployment that has nearly doubled the city’s food-insecure population to about 2 million. They’re ensuring doctors have face shields and N95 masks after hospital stockpiles ran out. They’re lifting spirits for those affected most by the pandemic that has killed at least 13,000 New Yorkers.
“At this time, we need to help each other,” taxi driver Adel Jelassi said. “There’s a crisis, and I want New York to come back.”
Jelassi and thousands of other New York cabbies have helped provide more than 6.5 million meals since the state instituted stay-at-home measures in March.
The city-funded food delivery program, coordinated through New York’s Taxi & Limousine Commission, is paying drivers $53 for each six-stop route they take on. Most are getting three routes per day, which is helping keep TLC drivers financially afloat with potential riders stuck at home.
Taxis are arriving as early as 4:30 a.m. at food distribution sites, hours before they open, to ensure they get a full day’s worth of routes. Drivers take boxes packed with meals from the facilities to the front doors of families. All New Yorkers are eligible for the program and can sign up by calling 311.