The ‘Pizza Champ’ Delivering Pizzas to those in Need on the Bowery
When Chinatown was down, he was there; when COVID-19 hurt the destitute, he was also there.
Hakki Akdeniz, the so-called pizza champion, was on the Bowery this weekend distributing pizzas and other snacks to those in need. Specifically, the queue of folks outside the Bowery Mission on Saturday. The pizza-maker had cameras rolling…
Delivering pizzas to those in need is par for the course for Akdeniz, the 39-year-old Kurdish immigrant who was once homeless himself. (You’ll recall that he also fed the Bowery homeless in the wake of the deadly beatings in Chinatown last fall.) He stayed 96 nights at the Bowery Mission back in 2001, according to the New York Times.
You don’t need to be smart, you don’t need to be rich to help others with what you can do.
Posted by Hakki Akdeniz on Saturday, May 2, 2020
Recent Stories
Next Phase of Market Line at Essex Crossing Now Visible
With scaffolding and other construction elements removed from The Artisan building at Essex Crossing, another part of the Market Line is coming into focus. Unlike the westernmost third of the Market Line, this section beneath 180 Broome Street feels less like a dungeon. Design elements, including massive grand staircase and full facade glass open the […]
14-Story Eldridge Street Hotel Hit with Stop Work Order
The hotel newcomer underway on lower Eldridge Street – recently topped out at fourteen stories – met the might of the city. Inspectors from Department of Buildings issued a stop-work order on 79 Eldridge about a week ago. It’s a full order which only allows work “to provide shoring for all staircases and provide design […]
Eighteen Groups Sign Open Letter Demanding Transparency over CB3 Removal of Committee Chairs
Eighteen community groups within Community Board 3 on the Lower East Side this week co-signed an open letter to city and state officials urging inquiry into the removal of Alexandra Militano and Carolyn Ratcliffe as chairs of the SLA and Arts & Culture subcommittees, respectively. The shakeup, apparently inspired by a stated “new direction” for […]
East Broadway Subway Tiles Free of Disgusting Deposits
Down in the bowels of the East Broadway subway station, those hideous wall monsters are now a thing of the past. For years, the tunnel tiling devolved into a complete mess. Conditions were ripe for the formation of brown, slug-like deposits that grew ever larger by the week. Until this month, coincidentally the 85th anniversary […]
Chinatown Welcomes New Easy Access COVID-19 Testing Sites
Finally a step in the right direction. Pop-up COVID-19 test sites opened in Chinatown yesterday, providing much-needed alternatives to locals seeking a swab. The sites – one at 62 Mott Street, and the other at Confucius Plaza – offer walk-in swab tests and antibodies tests. Center Laboratories is handling testing and results, which are emailed or texted […]
