NEW YORK- A New York City Councilmember takes a closer look at the city’s Homeless Services Department and says it needs to do a better job food in the city’s migrant shelters.
Councilwoman Julie Won says she wants to strengthen oversight of food services to reduce taxpayer waste.
The city is backtracking on that claim, saying food safety and quality are their top priorities.
Claims of smelly, moldy food
Darlin Feliz started recording videos of the food at the Long Island City shelter because, she said, she always wants the best for her sons.
Feliz and other migrants living there said they were given moldy sandwiches, meals that smelled and food that was still partially frozen.
“As a mother, it hurts to see my children crying because they don’t want to eat the food at the shelter,” Feliz said.
That is why the staff often throws away large bags of uneaten food provided by Healthy Heart Food Service, a supplier with more than $20 million in active contracts with DHS, Feliz said.
“I hope they can help the residents in the shelter. We do not have the resources necessary to purchase additional food for the shelter,” Feliz said.
“There is no quality control”
Won said the complaints to her office about that vendor and others are signs that taxpayer money is being wasted.
“They’re doing a disservice to our New Yorkers,” Won said. “These people make millions of dollars to serve you garbage food that doesn’t expire, is already expired, rotten, or has mold in it. There’s no quality control. That’s a huge problem.”
Jon Spira, CEO of Healthy Heart Food Service, declined an interview request.
“Health Heart stands behind and takes great pride in the high-quality food it provides to all of its recipients,” Spira said in a statement. “We have procedures in place to ensure these standards, as well as measures to receive feedback on the food we supply.”
The company said it welcomes further dialogue with Won to address the challenges of feeding migrant shelters.
“We now have a bill to make sure that we quantify and track how much food waste we have in all of our shelters and all of our food services,” Won said.
That bill has not yet passed, despite widespread complaints about food waste during the city’s contract with another supplier, DocGo. The city parted ways with DocGo in April, but Won said the complaints about other suppliers continued to come.
DHS declined to agree to an interview, but sent CBS News New York a statement.
“Since spring 2022, more than 220,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City in need of shelter. More than 58,800 remain in the city’s care, with hundreds more arriving every week. The city has opened 212 emergency locations and our incredible frontline staffers continue to work around the clock to provide essential services, including access to regular meal services that meet NYC Food Standards,” DHS said in the statement. “Protecting the health of our customers is the highest priority, and DSS-DHS complies with food regulations at all locations while ensuring that all our customers receive the same standard of services and support. We will continue to maintain open lines of communication throughout this process with customers and chosen partners to ensure we address any concerns as they arise.”
DHS also said they are in contact with elected leaders, including Won, and have addressed her concerns in the past.
A spokesperson for DocGo has said the company was proud of the work it did with the city on that $400 million contract, which also included securing hotel rooms and providing healthcare, security and other services for migrants.
Tim McNicholas
