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Taxis, Bikes, Sushi Robots Keep New Yorkers Fed, Protected

Associated Press

   NEW YORK - Yellow cabs are lining up before sunrise at food
   distribution sites across the city.

   Motorcyclists are buzzing over bridges, bags packed with masks and
   gowns.

   Even sushi-making robots are pitching in, freeing up acclaimed chefs to
   deliver meals to hospitals.

   With their fellow New Yorkers in need, an army of unlikely couriers is
   distributing food and supplies in the coronavirus hotspot. They're
   keeping families fed amid a surge in unemployment that has nearly
   doubled the city's food-insecure population to about 2 million. They're
   ensuring doctors have face shields and N95 masks after hospital
   stockpiles ran out. They're lifting spirits for those affected most by
   the pandemic that has killed at least 13,000 New Yorkers.

   "At this time, we need to help each other," taxi driver
   AdelJelassisaid. "There's a crisis, and I want New York to come back."

   Jelassiand thousands of other New York cabbies have helped provide more
   than 6.5 million meals since the state instituted stay-at-home measures
   in March.

   The city-funded food delivery program, coordinated through New York's
   Taxi & Limousine Commission, is paying drivers $53 for each six-stop
   route they take on. Most are getting three routes per day, which is
   helping keep TLC drivers financially afloat with potential riders stuck
   at home.

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