Bike Angels: Couriers Deliver Food, Supplies To New Yorkers Stuck At Home

Now these are what you call Bike Angels!

At Streetsblog, we’ve always put cyclists on a pedestal — but now more than ever, they’re emerging as heroes working on the front lines during the worsening coronavirus crisis.

On Friday, Gov. Cuomo ordered nearly all non-essential businesses to close, exempting pharmacies, grocery stores, and restaurants for take-out and delivery only — and professional working cyclists and do-gooders are stepping up and offering to make grocery trips for older folks and those who homebound due to health issues.

Among the them is a new group called Corona Couriers, which formed a few days ago in direct response to the crisis — emulating a similar service that started in Wuhan, China, the original epicenter of the outbreak.

Carlin Brito, a Corona Couriers volunteer, said the group has picked up groceries for people in all the boroughs, except Staten Island. The delivery is free, but people are expected to pay for what they buy (preferably using Venmo).

At times like these, privileged and healthy New Yorkers should step up for those in need, Brito says.

"It's really important because there are so many members of the broader New York City community who need care and protection right now, and that is is really coming in the form of others making sure those people stay safely in their homes," said Brito, who is manning dispatch. "The fact that people who are healthy and young and willing to go out into the world to safely do deliveries for people who really need to stay in more than we do is a really great thing."

Those interested should call or text (929) 320-0660, or email coronacourier@protonmail.com. 

New York City-based writer Morgan Sykes is also personally offering to pick up at most 40-pounds of supplies and shlep them on her bike to those that can't leave their homes in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

And last, but not least, inimitable transit scribe Vin Barone, now of the New York Post, is also offering such a service free of charge. Those interested can call Barone at (917) 324-8199 for bike deliveries on weekends and Mondays.