Coronavirus: in New York, "the poor are now even poorer"

Sachets filled with oranges, sweet potatoes and onions, sterilized milk, tuna, salmon cans ... Hundreds of people came to refuel on March 28 and 29 at one of the food banks run by a large New York charity, City Harvest, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of north Manhattan.

Here, no long queues: people arrive as they go, often wearing a protective mask, and are kept at a distance from each other by volunteers. "This is the first time I have come," said Lina Alba, 40, who, like thousands of New Yorkers, is now without income due to the coronavirus epidemic that led to the cessation of almost all of the activities of the American economic capital.

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Alone with five children between the ages of 11 and 23, she worked as a housekeeper in a Manhattan hotel until it closed two weeks ago. His two elders also lost their jobs. "We need help now," she said. "It's crazy, we don't know what's going to happen in the coming weeks." However, she strives to keep smiling. "At least I spend time with my children. I am the teacher, the mom, everything. We are alive, healthy, we just have to pray."

"It will not be enough"

This single mother took a week to register unemployed. The computer servers are saturated. But since Friday, "it's done," she says, relieved. Payments are expected to start arriving in three weeks. She also hopes to soon receive at least $ 1,200 from the federal government, thanks to the historic aid plan approved last week by Congress. "It will not be enough", but "we will already be grateful for what they can give us," she said.

José Neri, 51, one of the many Hispanic employees who run New York restaurants, is also using the services of a food bank for the first time. There are five of him. "We use our savings to survive," he said in Spanish, wearing a mask and protective gloves for fear of catching the disease. "We have what it takes to hold on for now," he adds. He too counts, in order to be able to "get by", on the aid promised by the federal government for small incomes.

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Jhordana Ramirez, 39, is forced to continue working, despite the risk of contagion in a metropolis with several tens of thousands of confirmed cases. She is home help for the elderly, who "depend 100%" on her. The effect of the crisis on her home is "huge," she says. Her husband and older daughter lost their jobs. Her 8 year old daughter is "anxious" and does not hold up. "I'm trying to save as much as possible, especially on rent, bills like electricity, cable, food and all that," she said, also looking forward to the federal check.

"Nothing comparable"

Testimonies to which Geraldine Fermin, an employee of City Harvest, has grown accustomed, for almost two weeks since New York has lived confined. "It breaks your heart that it is like that for so many people," she said. "The people who were poor are poorer, and those who had decent jobs, who could get by, are now poor too." "There were before 1.2 million people in New York who needed help with food. Right now it's three times more, it's more than 3 million New Yorkers," explains Eric Ripert , vice-chairman of the board of City Harvest.

The charity, which in addition to its markets provides food for some 400 centers for the homeless, has for the moment no problem of supplies, he assures. But she is looking for funds to buy more food and is joining forces with other associations to stand together in the face of "a situation that will get worse". "We have known September 11, the great recession of 2008-2009, we have known a lot, but it is not at all comparable to this catastrophe that we are experiencing", worries Eric Ripert.

With AFP

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