LOS ANGELES: As a tribute to his grandmother who died from the coronavirus, "Saturday Night Live" actor Michael Che is paying one month rent for 160 apartments in the building she lived.
Martha, the comic's grandmother, passed away due the COVID-19 infection on April 6. Che shared the announcement on Instagram on Wednesday.
"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.
"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 building she lived in. I know that's just a drop in the bucket," the actor wrote.
He also slammed the authorities for making public housing residents pay rent during the pandemic, which has brought countries across the globe to a standstill.
"I really hope the city has a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, AT THE VERY LEAST," he said.
Towards the end of his post, he called on New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to page him.
Che also reached out to rapper Diddy, whose charity dance-a-thon recently raised over USD 3.7 million for COVID-19 relief efforts, to join in.
"Lets fix this!" the actor wrote.
Last Monday, Che shared the news of his grandmother's death on social media. "I'm obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone. But I'm also happy that she's not in pain anymore," he said.
The actor-comic also paid homage to his late grandmother during a remote episode of "SNL" on April 11.