City Adds Free Kosher-Meal Site To Forest Hills After Blowback

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — The city is now offering free kosher meals at Forest Hills High School as part of its grab-and-go meal program for all New Yorkers.

The Thursday launch of the meal site comes after Patch reported that the city's rollout of the kosher-meal program overlooked the swath of central Queens that has the borough's largest Jewish population.

The area that includes Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens has the largest Jewish population of any region of Queens, according to a 2011 study by the UJA-Federation of New York, which appears to be the most recent report on New York City's Jewish population.

The NYC Department of Education started offering kosher meals at select schools in Brooklyn and Queens in late April. The four Queens schools that were part of the initial rollout were in Far Rockaway and Kew Gardens Hills.

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Nathaniel Styer, a Department of Education spokesperson, told Patch last month that the neighborhoods were selected with the help of community advocates, though he didn't respond to a request for clarification on who the advocates were.

"This is the beginning of our roll out and we will continue to assess need for additional sites based on community demand for access to meals to fight food insecurity," he said in an emailed statement.

The lack of a kosher-meal site in the Forest Hills area prompted blowback from Jewish community leaders in central Queens, which is home to many Bukharian Jews.

The region that includes Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens is home to more than 60,000 Jewish residents, or just under a third of the borough's Jewish population, according to the UJA-Federation of New York study.

In comparison, the area including Kew Gardens Hills and Fresh Meadows had about 42,000 Jewish residents and the Rockaways had about 23,000. (The neighboring Five Towns region in Nassau County accounted for another 25,000.)

For weeks I’ve been demanding free Kosher meals to meet the needs of many Forest Hills, Rego Park & Kew Gardens residents. I’m happy to finally announce that Kosher grab & go meals will be available starting tomorrow at Forest Hills High School from 7:30AM to 1:30PM.
— Karen Koslowitz (@CMKoslowitz) May 6, 2020

The NYC Department of Education started providing kids with free grab-and-go meals on March 16, after Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered city schools to close amid the spread of the new coronavirus.

Meals are available at 400 locations citywide from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on weekdays. No registration or ID is required to pick up meals.

Click here to find a location near you.

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