Man Who Served BBQ From His NYC Balcony During COVID Lockdown Shares His Story

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States back in 2020, lockdowns happened across the country. Office buildings closed. Stores closed. People lost their jobs. Other people had to quickly pull together home office setups so they could work remotely.

It wasn’t easy, and for many, it was really hard suddenly being so isolated and not knowing what the future held. New Yorker Eli Goldman could relate. He had been sent home from his job to work remotely. He was now stuck in his apartment.

Instead of feeling depressed or frustrated about his new situation, Goldman decided to make a positive change. His “lightbulb moment,” as he describes it on his company website, was when he was listening to NPR. He heard a story about how people in Italy were lowering food in baskets down from their apartments so they could share it with their hungry neighbors. He decided to do something similar.

Goldman started by lowering bread down to the street from his apartment, but it quickly progressed from there. Watch the video below to learn more about Goldman’s story and how he is still helping his community today.

Goldman explained that when he first got the idea to share food with his neighbors, “I started decorating my balcony with funny cardboard signs, and began lowering bread, then BBQ, to anyone who wanted. I eventually went from my balcony to the middle of 31st Ave Open Street and then to some of the biggest and most well-known venues in and around Astoria using BBQ to enrich and support my neighborhood during the pandemic.”

While Goldman is no longer lowering BBQ from his balcony, he is still very passionate about Tikkun BBQ. He wrote that Tikkun BBQ is “a community and mission driven pop-up and has accomplished some amazing things.” These “amazing things” include “paying for cab rides of the sick or elderly so they could vote, generating thousands in donations for food pantries, mutual aid groups, and nonprofits, supporting local businesses and their essential workers, and bringing together the community during a dark time.”

Would you buy BBQ from someone who was selling it from their balcony? Did you make any positive changes during Covid-19 lockdowns that are still part of your life today?