Michael Che: SNL star to pay rent for all 160 apartments in his late grandmother’s building
Comedian finds it ‘crazy’ that New Yorkers in public housing must still pay rent despite coronavirus pandemic
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael Che has offered to cover rent for all 160 apartments in his late grandmother’s New York City building.
The Saturday Night Live cast member made the announcement on social media on Wednesday.
He expressed his dismayed at the fact that New Yorkers in public housing are still expected to cover their rent payments, despite the fact that the coronavirus pandemic has kept many from earning income.
“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,” he wrote on Instagram.
“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 NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority] building she lived in.
“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 signed off with: “De Blasio! Cuomo! Diddy! Let’s fix this! Page me!” calling out to the mayor of New York City, the state’s governor, and the artist (and native New Yorker) to intervene.
Che announced earlier this month that his grandmother had died of complications from the coronavirus.
“I’m obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone,” he wrote at the time.
This past Saturday, he paid tribute to his grandmother during a remote SNL episode.
At the end of his Weekend Update segment with Colin Jost, instead of signing off by saying his full name, as he usually would, Che ended with: “For Weekend Update, I’m Martha’s grandbaby.”
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