Food waste at NYC shelters scrutinized. “There’s no quality control,” councilmember says.

NEW YORK – A New York City Councilmember is taking the city’s Department of Homeless Services to task, saying it needs to do a better job managing food at the city’s migrant shelters. 

Councilmember Julie Won says she wants to ramp up oversight of the food services to limit taxpayer waste.   

The city is pushing back on that claim, saying food safety and quality is their top priority. 

Claims of foul-smelling, moldy food

Darlin Feliz started recording videos of the food at the Long Island City shelter because, she said, she wants what’s best for her sons, always. 

Feliz and other migrants living there said they’ve been served moldy sandwiches, meals that smell foul, and food that is still partially frozen. 

“As a mother, it hurts to see my children cry, because they don’t want to eat the food at the shelter,” Feliz said. 

That’s why the staff often tosses out large bags of uneaten food provided by Healthy Heart Food Service, a vendor with more than $22 million in active contracts with DHS, Feliz said. 

“Hope that they can help the residents in the shelter. We don’t have the means necessary to purchase additional food to have in the shelter,” Feliz said. 

“There’s no quality control”

Won said the complaints to her office about that vendor, and others, are signs that taxpayer dollars are going to waste. 

“They’re doing a disservice to our New Yorkers,” Won said. “These people are making millions of dollars to serve you garbage food that doesn’t expire, or has already expired, rotten or has mold on it. There’s no quality control. That’s a huge problem.”

Healthy Heart Food Service CEO Jon Spira declined a request for an interview. 

“Health Heart stands behind and takes great pride in the high-quality food it supplies to all of its recipients,” Spira said in a statement. “We have procedures to ensure these standards, as well as measures to receive feedback regarding the food we supply.” 

The company says it welcomes further dialogue with Won to address the challenges of feeding migrant shelters. 

“We have a bill right now to make sure we’re quantifying and keeping track of how much food waste we have in all of our shelters and all of our food services,” Won said. 

That bill has not yet passed, despite widespread complaints of food waste during the city’s $400 million contract with another vendor, DocGo. The city parted ways with DocGo in April, but Won said the complaints keep coming about other vendors. 

DHS would not agree to an interview, but sent CBS News New York a statement. 

“Since spring of 2022, more than 220,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City in need of shelter. Over 58,800 remain in the City’s care while hundreds more arrive each week. The city has opened 212 emergency sites and our incredible frontline staffers continue to work around the clock to provide essential services, including access to regular meal services that comply with NYC Food Standards,” DHS said in the statement. “Protecting the health of our clients is a top priority, and DSS-DHS complies with food regulations across sites while ensuring that all our clients are receiving the same standard of services and supports. Throughout this process we continue to maintain open lines of communication with clients and elected partners to ensure that we are addressing any concerns as they arise.”    

DHS also said they’re in contact with elected leaders, including Won, and they’ve addressed concerns of hers in the past. 

A spokesman for DocGo has said the company was proud of the work they did with the city during that $400 million contract, which also included obtaining hotel rooms and providing healthcare, security and other services for migrants.