DOE increases vegetarian, Halal meals at grab-and-go sites across NYC for Ramadan

It's the time of year where so many gather across New York City to celebrate Ramadan, however this year is much different.

News 12 Staff

Apr 28, 2020, 3:22 PM

Updated 1,550 days ago

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It's the time of year where so many gather across New York City to celebrate Ramadan, however this year is much different.
The Department of Education says it is making adjustments to free meal accessibility due to the city-wide closures due to coronavirus.
With social distancing rules in place and the mosques being closed, the DOE expects this to be a busy couple of weeks for grab-and-go food locations.
The DOE tells News 12 vegetarian and Halal meals are already available at all meal sites, but because of Ramadan they've expanded capacity at 32 hubs in high need areas for the month.
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At P.S. 170 in Bay Ridge, they say it's been pretty busy, but lately they're seeing more and more people.
"It's busier. We used to feed about 1,700, now we went up 2,100 steady every day even more. 2,139 yesterday. So yes, we been going up about 150 people and now they maybe come more,” says Giuseppe D’Onoffio, assistant cook.
D’Onoffio says the majority of the people they're seeing are seniors, but she says they're ready to serve to whoever needs weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.


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