Hunts Point wholesalers strengthen NYC communities

BRONX, N.Y. — Among the more than 30 firms at Hunts Point Produce Market, there’s always extra food for people who can’t afford it.

The food terminal is, after all, the largest wholesale produce market in the world, according to the market.

“It’s a family value. That’s why we got into this business: To feed people and make sure people have food, and that’s something that’s been instilled in every single generation down to this fourth generation now,” said Gabriela D’Arrigo, vice president of marketing and communications at D’Arrigo New York. 

“If you’ve got it, you give it.”

New Yorkers, many who made a living in the leisure and hospitality industry, have been struggling financially disproportionately more recently and more than people elsewhere in the U.S.

New York City’s unemployment rate was 14.1% in September, almost four times higher than the same time last year, according to the New York State Department of Labor.

That’s more than double the unemployment rate of everywhere else in the state, which is 6.5%, and a little less than double the rate of the rest of the U.S., at 7.9%.

In response to this ongoing increased need, donations have definitely increased, said Sasha LoPresti, chairwoman of the Hunts Point Produce Market Public Relations Committee.

City Harvest, Food Bank of New York and Feeding Westchester are three big recipients.

Each market donation event, often conducted in partnership with local elected officials, typically supports 400-500 people.

A year after the market revealed its rebranding at the 2019 New York Produce Show, it’s expanding brand awareness in new ways, such as using branded bags for donation events and the planned Week of Giving, Nov. 16-20. The plan is to serve 2,500 families: 500 in each of New York City’s five boroughs.

Coosemans New York donates food through market efforts and also to people outside the market, like local food pantries, said Alfie Badalamenti, vice president.

“We’re seeing more requests than ever,” he said.

S. Katzman Produce likes to support DREAM, a youth development organization that helps more than 2,500 young people a year through after-school and summer programs and at DREAM Charter School.

They’d do weekly produce drops at schools. 

“I’d have fun introducing a new variety or item for them,” said Stefanie Katzman. 

“When schools closed, volunteers coordinated with school families to repack it and distribute it. Between the two locations in Bronx and Harlem, up to about 500 families were served with a box of 10-12 fruits and vegetables. It helped us reach our community.”

Katzman has been helping with laptops too, since many children in low-income households had to attend school online.

“With after-school programs gone, it’s got to be tough,” said Stephen Katzman, president. 

“Parents have to be parents, not math and science and teachers.”

For two months, the Katzmans sent trucks of food to a church in Hackensack, N.J., that had 1,000 families coming every Sunday and Thursday to pick up food.

“I grew up in the next town, and it’s hard to imagine how many people need help. It hit everybody, and the domino effect was disastrous,” Stephen Katzman said.

Donations have exponentially increased, D’Arrigo said.

At first, that was because of over-ordering product during the initial panic-shopping in those early pandemic days.

And then, it’s because of all the unemployment and need.

D’Arrigo also partnered with local city officials because they know their neighborhoods, understand who needs what and how to go about it.

“To see the morale boost people get from participating in the program is just something that’s very nice to see when there’s so much sadness going on,” D’Arrigo said. 

“Our donations were and are still continuing to go like crazy, even as products get a little bit tighter and things are changing. We’re still making sure that those who have been really, really affected by COVID are still able to get access to fresh produce.”

Nathel & Nathel donates to several organizations, including Little Sisters of the Poor in the Bronx, Queens, and Totowa, N.J., locations and the New York Fire Department.

“We basically open up the warehouse and say, ‘Whatever you want, take it.’ We do that every single week and have been doing that for years and years,” said Joshua Gatcke, fruit procurement buyer, about the fire department.

The company also recently started working with the Foundation of Mariano Rivera, a Yankees baseball player, to create the Learning Center in New Rochelle, N.Y. for underprivileged kids, teaching them things like STEM classes, gymnastics and cooking. 

They will donate money and help the foundation sell T-shirts or sweaters to their retail customers to sell in their stores.

Nathel & Nathel also sends pallets of food donations on trucks to a New Rochelle church every week.

FreshDirect formed two partnerships this year to help New Yorkers in need: one called Operation Five Borough Food Drive with the City of New York and its five borough presidents and the other with New York Common Pantry.

Through these partnerships, FreshDirect has delivered more than 6 million pounds of food and raised more than $1.7 million for people in need, said Scott Crawford, chief merchandising officer.

Everyone likes to use the slogan “New York Strong,” and talk about the city’s resilience in times of crisis, said D’Arrigo.

“But it really, really is something that exists here. New York City is incredibly strong,” she said. 

“I don’t think there’s anything that can knock this city completely down. The people here are extremely resilient, and they will bring it back.”