HARLEM (WABC) — Six miles from the parade, the line stretched for half a block along 145th Street, where volunteers and staff at the National Action Network served Thanksgiving dinner for their neighbors in Harlem and beyond.
Among them was their host, the Reverend Al Sharpton, state Attorney General Letitia James, filmmaker Spike Lee and mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
“There’s so many homeless people that have nowhere to go. So, when we come together like this, it’s a beautiful sight to see,” Harlem resident Zaquon Jones said.
Many guests, like Jones, come here every year.
“And every year I come, I meet so many different people. I hear so many stories. And that warms my heart. So, you know, I’m just, you know, overwhelmed. I mean, because when you think we got it bad, we hear stories that there’s somebody who maybe is going through something that’s, you know, even worse than you,” Jones said.
Ernest Waters came here from the Bronx.
“This is for a lot of senior citizens and a lot of people that don’t have nowhere to go, because sometimes the families don’t take care of the elderly when they get elderly. A lot of times when you get up in age, you are forgotten. And when you get disabled, you are forgotten,” Waters said.
The volunteers gave out turkeys on Wednesday night and served hundreds of meals on Thanksgiving Day.
It’s a Harlem tradition that’s rewarding for the guests and the people who give of themselves to be here.
“Mentally and physically, this is what they need. We have to offer this to people now,” volunteer Hugh Harris said.
Struggling New Yorkers may find it hard to feel grateful. Mamdani told the gathering that he’s determined to change that
“So when we celebrate Thanksgiving next year, my sincere hope is that gratitude comes a little bit easier because together we would have already spent much of that year building a city that New Yorkers can truly afford,” Mamdani said.
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