New York City Food Trucks Feed Sandy Victims With Mayor Bloomberg's Blessing

On Monday, Nov. 5, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a partnership between the Mayor's Office, the New York City Food Truck Association, and the NYC Food Film Festival to coordinate free hot food distribution at the city's food, water, and blanket distribution centers and disaster assistance service centers, as well as locations in some of the hardest-hit areas. Since then, over 1.4 million ready-made meals have been distributed, but as temperatures drop and conditions worsen, the need for hot meals has become an even starker reality.

The fleet of trucks sponsored by the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City (funded by private donations) includes mobile veterans like Schnitzel & Things, Taim Mobile, Souvlaki GR, and Eddie's Pizza. Bloomberg spoke on the importance of feeding those in need, saying, "Working together with food trucks who can provide residents in devastated areas can be a lifeline for many and we are grateful for this partnership that can help with much-needed relief for the most affected New Yorkers."

In addition to the ready-made meals, 900,000 bottles of water, and 55,000 blankets distributed, community residents, nonprofits, and local businesses like Rockaway Taco and chefs such as Johnny Iuzzini and Amanda Freitag have provided support to their displaced and distraught neighbors.