Saturday Night Live (SNL) star Michael Che has offered to pay a month of rent for tenants of the same New York City public housing building that his late grandmother, who died of the new coronavirus disease, lived in.
The SNL Weekend Update co-host posted an open letter on Instagram on Wednesday to share that he is “paying one month’s rent for all 160 apartments in the New York Housing Dept. building she lived in.”
“It’s crazy to me that residents of public housing are still expected to pay their rent when so many New Yorkers can’t even work,” Che wrote.
“Obviously I can’t offer much help by myself. But in the spirit and memory of my late grandmother, I’m paying one month’s rent for all 160 apartments in the New York Housing Dept. building she lived in,” he continued.
“I know that’s just a drop in the bucket, so I really hope the city has a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, at the very least,” he wrote, before adding: “P.S. de Blasio! Cuomo! Diddy! Let’s fix this! Page me!”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Che “another extraordinary New Yorker” in a tweet about the SNL actor’s action.
“Michael Che is another extraordinary New Yorker who grew up in @NYCHA, and never forgot where he came from. Beyond the money raised, tonight shows how deeply people in this city care about our neighbours in public housing.”
During last weekend’s episode of SNL, Che revealed that his grandmother had passed away from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
He told his co-host Colin Jost about the loss of his grandmother.
“As you know, Colin, I lost my grandmother this week,” Che said. “And coming back to work really made me feel better, especially with you.
“For Weekend Update, I’m Martha’s grandbaby,” Che said instead of his usual signoff.
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