NEW YORK _ Only a trickle of cars and bicycles occupy streets that normally would be teeming with traffic and pedestrians.
So, on a cool recent midday in Manhattan, FDNY Ladder 26 easily glided its fire engine to the corner of East 79th Street and Third Avenue.
A moment later, owner Luigi Militello stepped out of Luke's Bar and Grill with a few of his employees carrying to-go orders � lunch on the house � for the appreciative Harlem-based fire company.
Earlier this week, similar orders were packaged for Ladder 40 on the West Side, and Engines 22, 44 and 53 on the East Side.
The NYPD, New York Housing Authority, local hospitals and EMS have also been on Luke's list, providing a meal and a few minutes oasis for those on the front lines of New York's COVID-19 crisis.
"It's pretty much the worst it's been since 9/11," said Joe Lanzi, an FDNY EMS lieutenant at Battalion 10. "The only thing close was during Hurricane Sandy, and that's not to the level of this."
