August 17, 2016

By Liza Schoenfein

Courtesy of Masbia: The new Boro Park location, at New Utrecht Avenue and 54th Street, has yet to open.

Alexander Rapaport and the people who depend on him for food are living on promises. The latest, yet to be delivered, is one of the key factors holding up the opening of his new soup kitchen in Boro Park.

In the weeks leading up to the Forth of July, Rapaport, who is Masbia Soup Kitchen Network’s executive director, said the opening of the organization’s new location was imminent.

“Not months, maybe not even weeks, maybe days,” he said then. “As soon as the place is basically set up — because we’re not going to play games with people’s lives.”

Six weeks later, the site has yet to open and Rapaport finds himself in the middle of a complicated situation.

Masbia, which serves hot, kosher meals to the needy in a restaurant-like setting, has three locations, two of which are in transition: one in Rego Park, Queens, which is in the process of moving (half a mile away); one in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn and a third in heavily-Orthodox Boro Park. The original Boro Park site lost its lease and closed in the Spring of 2015. Masbia has been paying $5,000 a month in rent on a new space a block from Shomrei Shabbos, a 24-hour synagogue, since January 2016.

What’s holding up the opening?

“A major cash-flow crunch,” according to the effusive and seemingly tireless Rapaport. Aside from a regular shortage of resources and a significant increase in the number of meals being served year over year, there has been a holdup in funds Masbia relies on from City Council member items, which make up 10% of its operating budget.

“And what happens if there is a backlog?” he asked. “All our money from last year’s fiscal year is still in the pipeline. It’s not that we won’t get it, but it’s really messing with our cashflow.”

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