Snow covers a Brooklyn street as New Yorkers navigate blizzards during the city’s biggest storm in a decade. Photo by Erica Price
Like New York’s biggest snowstorm in ten years Heading toward the coast on Feb. 22, Brooklynites flocked to grocery stores to stock up on food and melt the ice before dangerous cold and wind swept into the neighborhood.
On Monday, with snow falling and a travel ban in effect, Bed Stuy resident Thadeus Umpster set out to restock the community refrigerator at 133 Van Buren Street with fresh food.
Communal refrigerators fill the gaps in the food supply
“[Sunday and Monday] we had this kind of run where people would come all day long,” Umpster said. “There was a lot of refilling, the refrigerator would be filled, and then people would come and five minutes later it would be empty.”
Volunteers dipped into a stash of extra food they have stored nearby in case of emergency to keep the refrigerator stocked during the storm.
Umpster is a volunteer organizer with a mutual aid group In our heartswhich helped launch community refrigerators in New York City in 2020. The refrigerators provide free food to anyone in need 24/7, no questions asked, helping fill the gaps left by traditional food banks and assistance programs.
“I went shopping in person [on Sunday] and I was in a grocery store and saw a lot of people grabbing stuff,” Umpster said. ‘But for people who have to live with stricter budgets, that is more difficult. They do the same at the communal refrigerator and grab what they can.”
Food insecurity in New York City is on the rise since 2020. Food prices in the city are increased by 33 percent over the past decade, leaving millions of people unable to afford enough food for their households. According to the NY Health Foundation food shortage – where households did not have enough to eat in a shorter period of time – yes higher in 2024 than at the start of the Covid pandemic.
As food prices have risen, so have visits food banks and soup kitchens, which provide a lifeline for Brooklynites in need. But they have limitations.
Most food banks in Brooklyn offer distributions a few times a week and were not open the weekend before the storm hit. The heavy storm forced soup kitchens to gladly Locust bread and life in Bed Stuy and CHIPS in Park Slope to close Monday, taking away another source of free food.
Van Buren Street Fridge – located on a quiet side street about 15 minutes from the subway – tends to be quieter. But on Sunday, before the storm, people were lining up on the sidewalk waiting for their turn to get something to eat.
“When you see it here, it seems like people are panicking, understandably, and worried because the storm is coming and they might be stuck in their homes for a few days,” he said. “It felt good that we were prepared. We handed out bacon, bread and large jugs of coffee concentrate to everyone.”
Volunteers, meanwhile, were spread across the community, braving the snow to collect donations from bakeries, restaurants and product distributors who donated their wares to In Our Hearts and its refrigerators. Keegan Stephan, who is a nearby refrigerator at 1 Pulaski Street, posted a video on Instagram after emptying the refrigerator and restocking it with staples on Monday afternoon.
“It’s clean and safe for you to grab something to eat, stop by, take what you need, give what you can, and join in to support your community,” Stephan said in the video.
‘Snow Patrol’ helps seniors clear snow-covered sidewalks
While In Our Hearts volunteers worked to feed their neighbors, Crystal Hudson, a mutual aid organizer and City Council member, rallied volunteers for an often overlooked responsibility: creating.
In New York City, property owners are responsible for clearing snow from sidewalks and installing fire hydrants in front of their buildings so pedestrians can pass safely. Violation of the rule carries fines of up to $350.
During the city’s last major snowstorm in January, voters called Hudson’s office asking for help clearing their sidewalks. She and her staff quickly assembled the District 35 Snow Patrol, pairing residents in need with volunteers willing to shovel.
They reactivated the program on Monday and so far about 100 people have signed up, with about as many shovelees as shovelers.
“We heard so many heartwarming, positive stories about people being invited in for coffee, soup, tea or lunch after shoveling, and really getting the chance to meet their neighbor,” she said. “Those people are still in touch.”
Most of the people needing help are older homeowners who can’t clear the snow themselves, Hudson said, and who may need help shoveling their sidewalks and sidewalks so they can get in and out freely and safely.
Many of the younger people who have offered to help live in apartment buildings and don’t own shovels or salt, Hudson said, but are willing to help where they can.
“We had to coordinate the delivery of shovels and salt… and that was kind of an eye-opening dynamic because it’s not like people are just walking around with their own shovels offering help,” she said. “But they offer their time and help.”
Hudson wasn’t surprised by people’s willingness to help, even in less than ideal weather. In 2020, before she was elected, she founded Greater Prospect Heights Mutual Aid to deliver groceries, prescriptions and other necessities to neighbors who couldn’t leave their homes.
“I think people are inherently good, and New Yorkers get a bad rap for not being kind and stoic,” she said. “But underneath the fuss and the bravado and all that, we’re good people. And I think people want to help anyway they can.”
Editor’s note: A version of this story originally appeared in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.
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