Food insecurity is a crisis affecting thousands of New Yorkers amid the COVID-19 crisis. Accessing sufficient food has become a challenge for numerous communities, such as seniors and immunocompromised people who must stay home to stay safe, workers who suddenly lost their livelihoods, and families who had depended on school meals or other resources that are no longer available.

Henry Street began hearing of our neighbors’ food needs from the moment New York City went into lockdown. Since March, it has opened two emergency food pantries—one of them in conjunction with the organization Vision Urbana–based out of our Boys & Girls Republic community center on East Sixth Streett.  Redeployed Henry Street team members—many from our Abrons Arts Center—and volunteers are hand-delivering grocery bags filled with a variety of nutritious foods and prepared meals to more than 500 households a week. Long-time partner UPS generously transports food delivered to the Vision Urbana pantry by the Food Bank For New York City to our locations. 

To fill the gaps in food access for senior citizens, a third pantry site based at Henry Street’s Senior Center is now open, with volunteers delivering meals to some 125 people a week throughout Lower Manhattan. Under the umbrella of the Food Access Initiative, these pantries complement Henry Street’s Meals on Wheels program and citywide seniors food distribution. 

If you or someone you know is in need of assistance with getting food delivered, please call the Helpline at 347.493.2787.