Daily News New York City. March 29, 2020

4 Sunday,March 29, 2020 DAILY NEWSNYDailyNews.com

CORONAVIRUS

It started like the other math quiz

contests Bronx bodega clerk Ahmed

Alwan has been running for months

and has posted on Tik Tok — but

suddenly, it took a twist.

An unidentified boy solved an

impromptu math problem and had

five seconds to frantically grab

whatever food he wanted, free of

charge.

But in a striking sign of the times,

this young contestant wore surgical

gloves.

And instead of the bagged chips

and candy Alwan’s winners usually

grab, he went straight for two

bunches of bananas, three apples

and two melons.

The video posted Wednesday

quickly garnered 31,000 likes. An-

other posted Thursday featured

another boy doing the same thing,

grabbing bananas, apples and mel-

ons as his precious seconds ticked

away.

“It felt like they really need that

food right now, and I’m glad we

could help them,” Alwan, 20, told the

Daily News, speaking from his

family’s Lucky Candy Deli in the

Bronx.

“A lot of other places are closed,

and a lot of families are not going to

work. My dad bought the fruits three

days ago, and we started doing the

challenges so people could get

them,” he said.

Alwan’s videos opened a telling

window into scenes playing out at

bodegas and delis across the city

amid the surging coronavirus crisis.

New York’s corner stores, best

known for selling hot coffee, egg

sandwiches and junk food, are fast

becoming lifelines to loyal custom-

ers with empty pantries and empty

wallets, clerks and owners said.

Storeowners do what they can

without putting their struggling

businesses at risk.

“There’s been a lot of people

asking for credit. We’ve helped a

couple. They asked for credit on

things like drinks, milk and eggs. It’s

related to this crisis. We had custom-

ers like that before, but not like this,”

Alwan said.

Nearly a third of the people

walking into the 1925 Deli & Grill in

Flatbush, Brooklyn, in recent days

have asked to take something for

free or on credit, said clerk Nasser

Alawi, 31.

“They ask for credit even before

they start,” Alawi said. “They look

around. They talk to you nice, ‘How

you doing brother?’ Then, they open

abottle, and they say, ‘Oops! I don’t

have my wallet’” he said.

“And I say, ‘It’s OK, Man, take it.

Pay me next time,’ ” he said.

“It’s good to help people. You have

to help them, because you never

know, tomorrow it might be you,” he

said.

“People might be waiting for a

check. They might be waiting to get

paid,” he said. “This virus is like

everything else in life. It will pass.”

Oscar Rodriguez at the Paradise

BY MARCO POGGIO

AND NANCY DILLON

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS