Tamara Dawson

New Capabilities

Running a Brooklyn pantry that already offered pet food

New York City is giving away free dog and cat food at 22 city-funded food pantries, the first time it has done so. The $500,000 program launched Oct. 19, four days after Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the City Council, the Mayor's Office of Animal Welfare and the Department of Social Services announced it. It sits inside a wider expansion: the city tripled baseline funding for the Community Food Connection, its network of more than 700 pantries, and put $78 million toward food distribution in fiscal year 2027.

Updated Oct 27