Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. This time we're living in, it's causing us to experience so many challenges, so many painful realities, things we never could have imagined. There is such uncertainty. There's such confusion. There’s such a sense of insecurity. I want all New Yorkers to understand what all of us here in the City government are devoted to doing in this crisis for you and it's really basic. Our mission is to make sure we protect your health. Our mission is to keep you safe. Our mission is to make sure you have a roof over your head, and that your home is safe and secure. Our mission is to make sure you have enough food to eat, and that's what I want to focus on today. That last point, because what is more fundamental than being able to put food on the table for your family. And for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, that is now a question. That is not a certainty, and that's because somewhere in the neighborhood of a half-million New Yorkers have lost their livelihood in just the last few weeks, and money's running out. Whatever savings people have is running low. A lot of people already have run out of money. And yes, there's some help that's coming in. We all appreciate that for sure, but we all know it's not enough to sustain people. So, for more and more New Yorkers, we're hearing this all the time, people are literally asking, where's my next meal coming from? That's something painful to consider in the greatest city in the world, but it's what's happening. More and more people are experiencing that kind of insecurity. That's one of the most basic, and particularly for families, parents worrying about how they're going to feed their children. That's a reality that's now gotten sharper and sharper.
So, I want to affirm to everyone out there who is feeling that fear, everyone who's dealing with this problem, even if they couldn't have imagined just weeks ago, they'd be dealing with it. Here is the simple mission of your city government, and I pledge to you, I'm very confident in making this pledge, we will not allow any New Yorker to go hungry. This is not only a mission we are devoted to because it is the right thing to do, it is the moral thing to do, we must do it. And we must do it as your City government. We must do it working with all those at the community level who for years and years have helped to make sure that people are fed. The food banks, the soup kitchens, houses of worship, the nonprofit organizations. So many people have been devoted to making sure that New Yorkers had enough to eat. We're going to need them more than ever. We're going to help them more than ever. But the city government is going to take the lead, because we will not allow anyone to go hungry.
Now, yesterday I was out in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and I saw something moving and remarkable, but also it was a warning sign. I was with the wonderful people who are part of the campaign against hunger. It's an organization that's been around for decades. Started at the grassroots to feed people, help people. I want to thank Dr. Melanie Samuels and her whole team. Devoted people from the community who keep coming out, and they know that they're taking a risk doing it, but they keep coming out with the proper protection on, to feed the residents of their community who need help. Melanie told me that even just a few weeks ago, typically 250 families per day would come to their food pantry to get help. She said now it's more like 500 families a day. Doubled in just a few weeks. And this is just the beginning, because when we look at this coronavirus crisis, we understand we're trying to make sense of something brand new, a disease that didn't even exist for human being six months ago. But we're also trying to understand the huge negative impact it’s had on the rest of our lives. And we know when it comes to something like unemployment, the effects get felt more deeply week after week. It doesn't all happen at once. It actually gets tougher as we go along. So, I think what's coming up is going to be even more of a challenge. And that's why we're preparing right now to feed everyone. And as you hear this presentation from me today and from our new Food Czar, Kathryn Garcia, I hope everyone listening will understand, literally, we will not let anyone go hungry. And if anybody in your life needs food, we will get it to them. We have to make sure that word is spread. We have to make sure that no one thinks they're alone. We will not let anyone go without food. We need to make sure everyone gets that message.
Now, I was in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, but this challenge is literally in every neighborhood, because if you have no money, how do you get food? And we know that the massive unemployment that we're experiencing is literally every zip code, every part of the city. So, whoever you are, wherever you are, if you need food, we're here for you, and there should be no shame. I want to emphasize this. There's no one's fault that we're dealing with this horrible crisis. Anyone needs food? We're here for you. You don't have to think twice. Of course, it's for free. Just pick up the phone or go online. And if you need information, you can go to nyc.gov/getfood. You can call 311. You can find all the places, all the ways we'll get you food. Please do not hesitate and spread the word to everyone you know.
Now, this is an unprecedented moment. This is something beyond even our imagination in some ways, but we have to fight back. That's what New Yorkers do. We're going to find a way. Yesterday I talked about the amazing work that's being done right here in our own city, to do what our nation's not been able to do, to create our own test kits, to create our own PPE’s, that’s the New York City way. If no one else is finding a way, we'll find a way ourselves. We'll take care of ourselves. We'll support each other. Well, this is the same idea. We are dealing with an unprecedented challenge, in terms of people needing food. So, we're going to create an unprecedented response. Today I'm announcing $170 million initiative to make sure every New Yorker gets what they need, and no New Yorker goes hungry. Now, thank God we have a strong foundation to build on. All those food pantries, and soup kitchens, all the amazing organizations out there that have been doing work all over the city for years and years. Meals on wheels, all the things that we know that are part of the compassionate approach that we take as New Yorkers to those in need. We'll be building on all of that, and we will be adding many new components, because the situation we're in now calls for a whole different strategy and approach, and one that will grow with every passing week.
So, let's talk about the sheer scale. Before this crisis, before we ever heard of coronavirus, there are about 1.2 million New Yorkers who were food insecure, who didn't regularly have the ability to get all the food they needed. And that very, very painfully included about one in every five children in this city. This crisis is now adding to that number of people who are food insecure every day, because literally people are running out of money every single day. So, we expect it to grow. And yet there is some relief coming and we're happy for sure to see the relief that's coming from the stimulus, from the unemployment benefits, this is all very, very important. But we know not everyone's going to get that money right away. We know there's a lot of red tape that some people have to navigate. We know there'll be time lags. We know some people don't qualify, and whether that's fair or not, we know there are lots of people in this city who will never get that kind of support. And I would say it's not fair, but it's the reality. So, we know that the food crisis will grow, and that's why we had to do something different.
So, I'm going talk to you about four things that will be the essence of how we go about this new strategy. And then you'll hear from our food czar who will go over more of the details. So, first, this has to be done on a grand scale, a really massive scale to reach everyone who needs it, and even more people up ahead. Since March 16th, when we really got in the thick of this crisis, there have been 4.5 million meals served to New Yorkers through all of these approaches we're now taking, and that's just the beginning. We're scaling this up very fast. You know, we've talked about the operation through our school sites. We've talked about what our senior centers are doing. So, the Department of Education, Department for the Aging. We’ve talked about the operation that's been set up through Emergency Management, led by our food czar. All of these efforts together during the month of April, will account for 10 million meals being provided to New Yorkers who need them. All for free. Now, I don't like having to tell you that number, because it says how big the problem is, but it also says how big our response is. That's April, we're ready to do even more in May.
So, the second piece of the equation is making sure that as we're providing food, we're also putting people to work, because so many people need a paycheck. So many people want to help. So, three weeks ago we launched emergency deliveries, and this means getting food to people who can't get out. Who literally can't get out physically, maybe they're disabled or seniors who can't get out and get food, and don't have anyone to get it for them. Folks who are scared to go out, because they have one of those preexisting conditions or they're immunocompromised. A lot of our residents in public housing, lot of people who if they don't get a delivery, it's not clear if they're going to get food. What we've done is we've reached out to drivers in the for-hire vehicle industry, so many of whom have seen their livelihoods upended by this crisis. We've now registered 11,000 drivers who are TLC, licensed taxi and limousine commission licensed, and they are all taking on shifts to deliver food directly to people in the greatest need who can't get out of their house, who need that delivery right to their door. These drivers are doing that, helping us feed people, they're being paid by the shift, show the game money back in their pockets to feed their families in turn. This is something that's going to have a huge positive effect on the people doing the work, but even more they're doing something absolutely crucial to help the vulnerable, most vulnerable amongst us.
Third point, we have to make sure knowing that, as I said in April, we think we will have served 10 million meals by the end of April, that's going to go up in May and it's easily going to be somewhere between 10 million and 15 million meals in May at the rate we're going, we have to make sure there's enough food to ensure we can make those deliveries, keep our food supply strong and stable. Even a small disruption in the food supply would have a huge negative effect on New Yorkers we won't let that happen. So, in our $170 million plan is a $50 million investment in an emergency food reserve for New York City this will allow us to purchase and store 18 million shelf stable meals. This means we'll have a failsafe, we'll have a reserve that's just for New York City to protect us no matter what else happens 18 million meals ready at all times. Keeping that in reserve while continuing all our regular programs to feed New Yorkers it's important to have that backstop so we can keep everyone safe.
And then fourth, protecting the people who we depend on for so many other millions of New Yorkers to get their food that's our grocery store workers, our supermarket workers. I want to just say thank you to them first, you know, they are among the groups of unsung heroes in this fight. We talk and we rightfully talk about the heroism of our health care workers, our first responders they've been absolutely amazing battling through this crisis, keeping the health system going, keeping us safe. But let's give a lot of appreciation, a lot of respect to the people who make sure we get fed those grocery store workers, those supermarket workers, they get up every day, they go to work it's a tough job we need them and they keep coming through for us. So, first of all, anytime you go to the supermarket, you go to the grocery please say thank you to them because it's not easy for them or their families, we appreciate them. But also remember this is not what they expected, these are folks just trying to make a living for their families they did not expect to be on the front lines of an international crisis, but they're acting with the same resolve and the same spirit as all our other heroes. Now we have to protect them, so we've been working with the different companies, supermarket companies and the grocery stores to make sure that their workers get the PPEs they need of one kind or another, there's all different kinds of PPEs, different kinds are needed for different situations. We're working to make sure those supplies continue to get to those supermarket workers and grocery workers so they can be safe and confident. And finally want to mention in this category we're giving some new guidance today and it— about when you go to the store, when you go shopping for food what makes sense to do. So, I'm giving the guidance to all supermarkets and groceries require customers, require customers to wear face coverings when they come in. Put up a sign at the entrance around the store making clear that that's the right way to do things and that's a requirement of your particular store that is legal and appropriate, the City will back you up. This will help everyone to remember when they're in that kind of space, it's so important to protect each other, to protect the whole community that face covering is a smart thing to do. Every store has the right to put up that guidance and make it a requirement in terms of entry into the store and anybody who will not, any customer who says, no, I refuse, I should not be allowed in. And again, we will back up those stores; we will help you to enforce the rules. You have a right to have those rules in place, it's the smart thing to do for the health of all New Yorkers, and the City of New York will back you up. We need to keep each other safe, we need to keep these groceries and supermarket workers safe so they can keep serving us, this is the smart thing to do. So, that's the big picture and I think you hear throughout that big picture, our resolute commitment to feed all New Yorkers and to make sure it happens.
Now, this brings us to the bigger picture again, which is if we're going to make sure that we work our way back to something normal, it's going to take a lot of work, but we can do it. New Yorkers have proven what an impact you can make and if we want to get people back to work, if we want to restart people's livelihoods, if we want people to have more and more money so they can afford food again, we have to get this part right, we have to get the social distancing right, we have to get the shelter in place right, we have to keep doing what we're doing. In fact, double down on it, tighten it up every way we can to keep ensuring that we get out of this current phase. Right now, again, we're in this widespread transmission of the coronavirus. None of us wants to stay in this reality; we got to work our way to the next reality – low-level transmission. And what we've said is back to these three key indicators, when we can get the three indicators I'll talk about now to all go down in unison, all in the right direction together for 10 days to 14 days – that’s when we'll be able to talk about some other changes we can make, hopefully a little bit of loosening the restrictions. But, if we can't get them to go down together, it will tell us a lot. It’ll tell us that we have to stay tough and also make sure in some cases that are things we do even better. So, let's keep talking every day about these numbers and what they mean and we'll again always post them publicly so all New Yorkers can follow along together.
So, today, we have a mixed bag. The first day things were moving in the right direction; the second day, not so much. Today, we have a mixed bag and again don't get discouraged because it's going to not be a perfect, clean line the way forward. There'll be good days and bad days, but we got get to the point where we string together a bunch of good days so we can get to the next phase. Here's what we have today; first indicator daily number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19 cases – and again, this is a two-day lag in the data – so on April 12th that number was 326 on April 13th, it went to 370. Unfortunately, that number went up. On the second indicator, daily number of people in ICUs across our public hospitals for suspected COVID-19 cases – again, unfortunately this number has gone up from 850 to 868. On the third category, the numbers have gone in the good direction. When it comes to testing positive for COVID-19 – the percentage of people that tested positive – this went down – April 12th, 60 percent; April 13th, 53 percent. So, that's a good sign. The public health lab, the specific tests they do on some of the folks with the toughest conditions, April 12th, 84 percent; went down April 13th to 76 percent. That's going in the right direction. So, mixed bag today, this'll be a day-by-day fight. But the fact that we can show you every day that there continue to be signs of progress - these indicators and others - is a testament to what all of you have done and it's just a reminder; keep doing it. Don't let up on the gas. Hang tough with these standards, with these restrictions, with these approaches, because they're working.
Now, I talked about how New Yorkers, we're all helping ourselves and New Yorkers doing amazing things to create what we need to protect ourselves and I thank everyone who's a part of those efforts. But I also want to always note when we get help from outside and a lot of people care deeply about New York City and are stepping up. I mentioned Apple, I talked to the CEO, Tim Cook again and they've been amazing getting us the iPads we needed for distance learning for our kids, but Tim said they wanted to go farther and they wanted to help New York City directly with PPEs. And so, not only did he say he'd get us what we needed, but he got it to us in 24 hours, which is deeply appreciated; 100,000 N95 masks, 127,000 face shields, that's one of the items we needed the most this week - those face shields. So great effort by everyone at Apple, thank you, Tim Cook, we really, really appreciate this donation to New York City. And I want to thank my predecessor, Michael Bloomberg. We're really appreciative that Bloomberg Philanthropies made a $6 million donation to World Central Kitchen, specifically to provide meals for our extraordinary healthcare workers in our public hospitals who have gone through so much who have borne the brunt; great donation to help make sure that our heroes have the food they need and it also shows, you know, real appreciation and support for them at the same time. So thanks Mike, that that really helps a lot.
I'll wrap up and then of course a few words in Spanish before we take questions from the media. But, when you look at this plan, here's the bottom line – you look at this plan - one, I want all New Yorkers to recognize that Kathryn and her team and all the folks who are doing this work at all the agencies, they are resolute. They are not giving up and they've created a plan to feed people on a huge scale that few cities have ever attempted in history. This is something really powerful and I commend them all, but it comes down to that basic promise; we are going to feed every New Yorker. We're not going to let anyone fall through the cracks. We have to do it; it's the right thing to do and we will do it.
