No other place in the world has been hit harder
than New York City.
But thanks to people like my next guest,
there's also a whole lot of hope.
He's a landlord from Brooklyn who told his 200 tenants
not to pay rent in April.
Mario, are you there?
Hi, Mario.
How are you?
[TAPPING]
I'm fantastic.
How are you?
I'm fine.
Thank you for having me.
I'm honored.
And you really look terrific there.
Thanks.
And Andy is in the yard.
I don't let him in the house.
So he's out there socially distancing himself from me.
I hear that there's a sign that says, be kind to one another,
right behind you.
Is that there all the time, or did you do that for me today?
Yes, it's there all the time.
Be kind to one another.
And that's the only thing right now
that we're not having social distancing from right now.
That's a good thing.
You are an incredible man.
Stories like this are stories that we're going to remember,
because this will come to an end.
This will pass.
Who knows when.
But the fact that someone like you-- you have 18 buildings.
You have 200 tenants.
And you told all of them, you don't have to pay rent.
That is a lot of money out of your pocket.
Why did you--
I mean, a lot of people struggle with that decision.
Correct.
And I did that not only for humanity,
but these tenants of mine are like my family.
And they were struggling.
They were going through tough times.
And to me, it wasn't part of the money,
because that's irrelevant to a human life.
And I had tenants come to me crying, telling me
they couldn't afford not even to put a meal on their table.
So I thought it over after the first and the second tenant
came.
And I says, listen, I think to myself, it's easier for me
to tell them I'm going to waive the rent.
I want them to make sure they have food on their table.
I want to make sure they can take care of them
roommates and their neighbors.
And please, if we could just pass this
on to someone who needs a little extra help,
I would really appreciate that.
What a great--
Incredible.
What a great guy.
I mean, you must have had--
they came to you, crying, because they
couldn't pay the rent.
They must have come to you crying, thanking you for that.
Yes, they came crying to me.
I want to say those were tears of joy.
And not only they came crying to me.
They baked cupcakes for myself and some of my employees.
They asked me if they could pump gas
because I own a place of business right
across the street.
And besides that, they tried cleaning the buildings for me.
And I told them, this is not necessary.
If you could just help each other,
help the person who needs the help and the assistance,
that's what will make me very, very happy.
Literally, an angel on earth.
Yeah.
We need more Marios around.
We need more of you.
That's--
The New York spirit right now.
Yeah.
I mean, there's so many people all
over the country in this exact same position that
have buildings, and they have tenants.
And I hope that they will take you as an example
and pay it forward.
And what's great about it is it's not the first time
you've done this.
You help others all the time.
Yes.
I help.
And I love to participate.
And I love helping.
I go as far as I donate to the Ronald McDonald House.
I donate to a shelter, not only all the time.
During the holidays, I give them gifts.
It's called Battered Woman.
And one of the things I did recently--
I love animals.
And my neighborhood animal shelter--
I rented a Sprinter van.
And I went to a shelter in Texas.
And I made them pick up 63 little puppies.
And we rescued them.
We saved them.
And I'm happy, because a couple of my tenants have them dogs.
And I see them, on and off, which makes me happy,
makes me smile.
What a great guy.
All right, we have to take a break.
And we'll be back and talk to this angel a little bit longer.
We'll be right back.
And we're back with Mario, who told 200--
over 200-- of his tenants that they don't
have to pay rent this month.
So now, your wife is as a big fan,
but she can't be there right now, I understand.
Yes.
And my wife is a very big fan of yours.
And whenever I decide to call home
while your show is going on, she'll pick up the phone,
and she'll tell me, you're interrupting me.
I'm watching Ellen.
Oh, boy.
And from that point on, when I go home,
I'm in the doghouse for at least a good two, three days.
Well, you said you liked dogs.
Tell your wife that she's going to get
to come see me in person.
I'm going to fly the whole family--
you, your wife, whoever you want.
When we start taping again in the studio,
we're going to fly all of you there so you can come see
the show in person, OK?
Oh, thank you very much.
We're very -- we're honored, because she don't miss
your show.
That's one thing for sure.
All right.
One more thing-- I know that spreading kindness
in your community is really important to you.
So here's what I want to do.
You love a charity.
It's called North Brooklyn Angels.
They feed people in need in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Shutterfly loves helping New York City just as much as I do.
They're going to give $25,000 in your name to donate
to the North Brooklyn Angels.
Oh, that's wonderful.
That's really appreciated.
And I see these Brooklyn Angels every morning.
And I ask them, what's on the agenda?
And they tell me, we're going into a church.
But for the last several days, they've
been going to a neighborhood hospital, Woodhull.
And they tell me-- whenever they come fuel up,
I make sure they're safe, they're vehicle's good.
And they tell me, we're not only feeding
the homeless, the people who need help,
the doctors, the nurses.
Now, they're feeding the army who are
staying outside the hospital.
So--
Wow.
--I'm so proud of them that they do this.
Wow.
Amazing.
Well, that sounds like an amazing area,
amazing organization.
You're amazing.
Thank you so much for everything you do.
And everybody watching, thank you so much.
Stay safe, and be kind to one another.
Bye.
Thank you.
Be kind to one another.
Thank you so much.
Say, hi, to the wife.
Including Andy.
Thank you.
Yeah, be kind to Andy.
[LAUGHS]