'Hero Grants' Eyed For Restaurants Serving Up Coronavirus Meals

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A buffet of New York City-awarded grants could be a tasty solution to the strain charitable restaurants face under the coronavirus pandemic.

So-called "hero grants" should go toward restaurants that donate meals to first responders and essential workers, proposed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on Tuesday.

Restaurants like Greedi Vegan and Nick's Lobster House in Brooklyn have made these donations at a great cost while their profits have never been lower, Adams wrote in a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

This corporate social responsible is admirable but unsustainable, he wrote.

New York City needs to step in and support restaurants such as these to continue this good work," he wrote. "For this reason, I would like to propose a City-funded “Hero Grant” for every small business currently engaged in this vital effort, and others willing to become involved in this initiative. This fund would not only support the provision of meals for those that need them — first responders and citizens financially impacted by this crisis — but it would also ensure that restaurants, which currently employ 167,000 people in our city, can weather this economic crisis."

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Greedi Kitchen with Adams last week donated 200 meals to frontline hospital workers at Woodhull Medical Center in Bed-Stuy. The vegan kitchen's Latisha Daring said in a statement at the time that health care workers "put themselves second to the care of their patients."

"It is time for us to step up now and help take care of them by providing healthy, plant-based, nourishing foods to support their efforts,” she said.

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce found the borough's hospitality industry has been the hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis, according to a release. About 84 percent of Brooklyn small business owners have not received federal assistance.

The letter and more information can be found here.

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