A duo of southern Brooklyn lawmakers criss-crossed Kings County on March 27 to help deliver 200 hot meals to healthcare workers as they tirelessly battle the devastating coronavirus.
“Being the daughter of a healthcare worker, I see my mom go to work and spend days there and not being able to come back home,” said Councilwoman Farah Louis, who represents Flatbush and the surrounding neighborhoods. “It is just important that we take care of our folks on the frontlines.”
Louis paired up with the freshly inaugurated boss of the Kings County Democratic Party, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, to serve up the lunches, which were donated to the cause by Marine Park’s Nick’s Lobster House.
“We are thankful to have a small business who is struggling like every other small business who took the time to work with us to help the frontliners,” Bichotte said.
Chefs at the Flatbush Road waterside eatery prepared two hundred meals consisting of lobster rolls, chicken, and other specialties in an effort to fuel the healthcare workers through their long shifts.
“They were protein-based meals to give healthcare workers enough energy to make it through their 12-hour days,” Louis said.
Bichotte and Louis delivered the meals to Kings County Hospital in East Flatbush, Brookdale Hospital in Brownsville, and Interfaith Medical Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant — all while ensuring proper precautionary measures to prevent spreading the infection.
“We followed the rules, we kept the social distancing rules in place,” said Bichotte. “We took separate cars to deliver the meals.”
And in addition to delivering the much-needed carbs and protein, the legislators also met with representatives from each of the hospitals who provided briefings on their current operations, which Louis reported were running smoothly — although slightly overworked.
“Brookdale was really organized in ensuring they helped each person that came through the door,” she said. “[The Kings County Hospital] director told us everything was going fine and the emergency room wasn’t overloaded.”
The party boss also noted that the initiative allowed the restaurant to keep their employees on the payroll — which is increasingly rare after eateries were forced to close dining-in options, and switch to take out and delivery only.
“This is also a way for people who depend on small paychecks to continue getting small paychecks,” Bichotte said. “There is a small business sustainability aspect that we really, really appreciated.
Both lawmakers commended a local attorney, Benjamin Pinczewski, who they credited with first having the idea and who played a major part in organizing the effort, which Bichotte said has led to food donations supporting others on the frontlines including police officers and paramedics.
“It was his idea, got some of the elected officials together and we helped execute,” Bichotte said.
