Hundreds line up outside NYC’s Bowery Mission for free Easter meal
Hundreds of the city’s neediest crowded the sidewalk outside the Bowery Mission on Sunday for a free Easter meal — with officials saying coronavirus-induced layoffs have sent demand soaring.
More than 400 locals — some in masks, but many without — began lining up outside the 150-year-old mission’s red doors at 227 Bowery at noon, with the queue snaking around the corner onto Rivington Street for a portable Easter feast in a box.
Officials at the mission, one of the Big Apple’s oldest charities which continues to provide breakfast and lunch daily, said Sunday’s crowd was reflective of the swelling lines outside their doors since the coronavirus slammed the city.
“Typically our clientele is a lot of homeless,” spokesman James Winans told The Post Sunday. “Now we’re seeing more and more people who were employed three or four weeks ago.”
Winans said the virus has forced the mission to make concessions since mid-March, with the bug shutting down its cafeteria while staffers dispense meals at the door.
“It’s a complete change of process for us,” he said. “We have a lot of learning to do.”
He said the lines, which he estimated at nearly 450 on Sunday, sometimes swelled to over 500 since the virus hit.
Sunday’s meals included balsamic chicken, pasta Alfredo, mixed vegetables and iced tea to wash it down — with sandwiches and cookies on the side.