Food delivery man William Gupple-MIntz in his mom's car. Photo by Fuad Musayev
“I keep hand sanitizer at all times and I go with my N95 mask everywhere.” William Gupple-Mintz has a lot to worry about. He works for UberEats and DoorDash and delivers food all over New York City to people quarantined at home because of coronavirus.
Food delivery companies have filled a vital role in a city where restaurants and bars were shut down in March by an executive order from Governor Cuomo. Delivery men like Gupple-Mintz are considered essential workers. Doing their jobs, they put themselves at great risk of contracting Covid-19.
Some restaurants take extra precautions and others are more casual, Gupple-Mintz explained: “Different restaurants do it differently. For example, at Chipotle we all wait outside in a line and there is a person inside with all the orders that are ready on the table. We come to the window with our phone and show the name and number of our order. The worker inside checks if it’s ready and brings it out to us. Many places like McDonalds still allow customers to walk in and order just like before. They just can’t stay and eat.”
Before the outbreak, Gupple-Mintz used a bike to make deliveries. He loves biking and exploring the city and doing deliveries helped him make money. But this past month he locked up his bike in his building’s garage in Riverdale in the Bronx. Instead he uses his mom’s car during the nights to deliver food. Using a car is much safer because taking the bike on the train is not the kind of risk he wants to take.
Even with people staying and working at home, delivery services Grubhub and Seamless have reported a decline in food orders. Grubhub points to restaurant closings and a drop in corporate orders as major contributing factors.
Gupple-Mintz found that many restaurants he used to deliver from aren’t open. “A lot of popular Chinese, Japanese, and Korean restaurants that I got orders from are closed or don’t get as many orders as they used to,” he said. “Bubble tea was a very popular thing I always delivered but there’s none of that anymore.”
Sometimes he’s surprised by the people who order food. “I deliver to all kinds of people,” he said, “even recently to the military at the piers along the West Side Highway. I arrived and a marine wearing a uniform approached me from a crowd of cops and soldiers and I handed him the order straight from the car window. He took everything fast and thanked me.”
The handoff is also different from before the virus. He has a lot less customer interaction and says that makes him feel much safer. “When I deliver to people’s homes I either leave the food in the lobby or place it outside their door. If it’s at their door I just knock and leave,” he explained.
But scary situations still creep up on William, even with fewer people on the streets.
He described an incident in a McDonalds on Delancey Street: “I was on the line waiting for my order when a very nicely dressed white guy began coming up to everybody and touching them and asking how they were doing. You could tell that he was very drunk. He did it to one guy who was okay with it and he even ended up giving the drunk some cigarettes. Then the drunk approached a different stranger and started touching him on the shoulder and asking how he was doing. This guy didn’t like it as much and started yelling ‘Why are you touching me! Don’t touch me or I will break your f***ing head’!” William said the drunk continued to hassle people on the line and even yelled at the workers and belittled them.
Gupple-Mintz said that he couldn’t remain silent. “I told him to relax and not violate all of these people, that we are all just grinding hard and trying our best to work right now.” But the drunk wouldn’t stop. He looked up and down Gupple-Mintz and yelled, “I’m a corporate lawyer, get the f out of here!”
But most nights William likes the work. He enjoys driving around the city listening to music and making money. He can deliver at any time and go anywhere and feels like his own boss. Working nights doesn’t often go without perks, he explained. “People sometimes cancel their order, so I get a good free meal while I work. I’ve noticed a slight raise in tips as well.”
If you are delivering food like William, please make sure to read the guidelines and suggestions that are posted on the CDC website.
