Harlem Lawmaker Hands Out Sanitizer, Masks At NYCHA Complexes

HARLEM, NY — A Harlem state legislator distributed hand sanitizer and masks at dozens of New York City Housing Authority complexes in the neighborhood and other Northern Manhattan locations this week in an effort to fight racial disparities emphasized by the new coronavirus outbreak in New York.

State Senator Brian Benjamin's office organized the distribution of 500 gallons of hand sanitizer and 45,000 masks at 47 public housing locations in Northern Manhattan, a spokesperson for the lawmaker said in a statement. Supplies were provided by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to the senator's office.

"NYCHA is ground zero for the conversation we are having about racial and economic disparities in COVID-19. I represent the largest number of NYCHA developments in the Senate, so I know first hand that our neighbors in public housing need help to keep their families healthy," Benjamin said in a statement.

East Harlem's Bethel Gospel Assembly and Morningside Heights' Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine — which at one point was set to become a temporary hospital for coronavirus patients — aided Benjamin's staff in handing out the supplies.

New York City data shows that Hispanic and black New Yorkers are more likely to die and be admitted to the hospital from coronavirus than white and Asian New Yorkers. The death rate per 100,000 cases is 127 among Black New Yorkers, 114 among Hispanic New Yorkers, 63 among White New Yorkers and 51 among Asian New Yorkers, according to data as of April 22.

"We are told that the best way to fight this virus is to wash our hands and to cover our faces, but the supplies to make that possible aren’t making it to our community" Wayne Breamfield, Tenant Association President of Harlem's Drew Hamilton Houses said in a statement. "These supplies are going to make a world of difference to countless families that I know. It might seem like a little thing, but a mask could be the difference between sickness and health."