NYC Includes Kosher Meals in Free Food Program After Calls From Jewish Caucus

New York City will begin providing free kosher meals as an expansion of its Grab & Go food program after city council members demanded the mayor on Monday.

Starting Tuesday, April 21, kosher-observant New Yorkers can get three meals a day at 10 sites in Brooklyn and Queens out of the 400 sites across the five boroughs, the Department of Education said.

"To date, we’ve served 4.5 million meals and are now proud to offer kosher, halal, and vegetarian meals to meet the needs of our diverse City for the duration of this crisis," Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza said in a statement.

The change comes on the same day as the Jewish Caucus of New York City Council's letter to Mayor de Blasio, which said that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were being left behind, but Councilman Chaim Deutsch says he has been calling for the city to provide kosher meals for weeks.

The city started providing free meals to school kids on March 16 and the program expanded to offer food security to all New Yorkers on April 3.

"Food accessibility is one of our most basic rights, and kosher-observant New Yorkers shouldn’t have been weeks behind the rest of the city," Deutsch said. He also said the next step is to provide kosher meals at more locations in other boroughs.

Here are the 10 locations where kosher meals will be distributed:

Williamsburg (Opening April 21)

PS 132 The Conselyea School – 320 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn 11211
PS 257 John F Hylan – 60 Cook Street, Brooklyn 11206
Far Rockaway (Opening April 23)

P.S. 197 The Ocean School - 825 Hicksville Road, Queens 11691
P.S. 253 - 1307 Central Avenue, Queens 11691
Flushing/Kew Gardens (Opening April 23)

P.S. 154 Queens - 75-02 162 Street, Queens 11366
P.S. 215 - 535 Briar Place, Queens 11691
Crown Heights (Opening April 23)

P.S. 289 George V. Brower - 900 St Marks Avenue, Brooklyn 11213
I.S. 2 - 655 Parkside Avenue, Brooklyn 11226
Boro Park (Opening April 23)  

P.S. 192 - The Magnet School For Math And Science - 4715 18 Avenue, Brooklyn 11204
Midwood (Opening April 23)

P.S. 197 - The Kings Highway Academy - 1599 East 22 Street, Brooklyn 11210

Source: NBC New York