{"id":144184,"date":"2026-02-24T21:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144184\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T21:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:28:13","slug":"with-free-food-and-shoveling-community-support-fills-the-gaps-during-brooklyns-blizzard-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144184\/","title":{"rendered":"With free food and shoveling, community support fills the gaps during Brooklyn\u2019s blizzard \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Snow blankets a Brooklyn street as New Yorkers navigate blizzard conditions\u00a0during the city\u2019s largest storm in a decade.<\/p>\n

Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

As New York City\u2019s largest blizzard in a decade<\/a> moved toward the coast on Feb. 22, Brooklynites flocked to grocery stores to stock up on food and ice melt before dangerous cold and wind swept into the borough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Monday, with snow blowing and a travel ban in effect, Bed-Stuy resident Thadeus Umpster headed out to restock the community fridge at 133 Van Buren St. with fresh food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Community fridges fill food pantry gaps\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Sunday and Monday] we had kind of a run where there were people coming constantly throughout the day,\u201d Umpster said. \u201cThere was lots of restocking, filling up the fridge, and then people would come and it would be empty five minutes later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Volunteers dipped into a stockpile of extra food they have stashed nearby in case of emergency to keep the fridge full through the storm.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Umpster is a volunteer organizer with mutual aid group In Our Hearts<\/a>, which helped introduce community fridges to New York City in 2020. The fridges offer free food 24\/7 to anyone in need, with no questions asked, and help fill gaps left by traditional food pantries and assistance programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"communityThe Van Buren Street fridge buried in snow on Sunday night.Photo courtesy of Thadeus Umpster<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally went shopping [on Sunday] and was in a grocery store and saw a lot of people grabbing stuff,\u201d Umpster said. \u201cBut for people who are living on stricter budgets, that\u2019s harder. They\u2019re doing the same thing at the community fridge and taking what they can get there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Food insecurity in New York City has been on the rise since 2020<\/a>. Food prices in the city have risen by 33%<\/a> in the last ten years, leaving millions of people unable to afford enough food for their households. According to the NY Health Foundation, food insufficiency<\/a> \u2014 where households didn\u2019t have enough food to eat over a shorter period of time \u2013 was higher<\/a> in 2024 than it was at the start of the COVID pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As food prices have risen, so have visits to food pantries<\/a> and soup kitchens, which provide a lifeline for Brooklynites in need. But they have limitations.<\/p>\n

Most food pantries in Brooklyn offer distributions a few times a week, and weren\u2019t open on the weekend before the storm hit. The severe storm forced soup kitchens like St. John\u2019s Bread and Life<\/a> in Bed-Stuy and CHiPS<\/a> in Park Slope to close Monday, taking away another source of free food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Clients stand in line at a CHiPS distribution in fall 2025. The number of New Yorkers making regular visits to food pantries and soup kitchens has skyrocketed in recent years. File photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

The Van Buren Street fridge \u2014 set on a quiet side street about 15 minutes from the subway \u2014 is usually more sedate. But on Sunday, before the storm, people were lined up on the sidewalk waiting for their turn to get some food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see it here, it\u2019s like, people are freaking out, understandably, stressing because the storm\u2019s coming and they might be in their house for a few days,\u201d he said. \u201cIt felt good that we were prepared. We were handing out bacon to everyone, and bread, big jugs of coffee concentrate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Volunteers, meanwhile, were spread across the borough, braving the snow to pick up donations from bakeries, restaurants and produce distributors who donate their wares to In Our Hearts and its fridges. Keegan Stephan, who runs a nearby fridge<\/a> at 1 Pulaski St., posted a video<\/a> to Instagram on Monday afternoon after he shoveled the fridge out and refilled it with staples.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is cleared out and safe for you to grab some food, come by, take what you need, give what you can, and get involved to support your community,\u201d Stephan said in the video.<\/p>\n

\u2018Snow Patrol\u2019 helps seniors clear snowy sidewalks\u00a0<\/p>\n

As In Our Hearts volunteers worked to feed their neighbors, mutual aid organizer-turned-City Council member Crystal Hudson was rallying volunteers for an oft-overlooked responsibility: shoveling.<\/p>\n

In New York City, property owners are responsible<\/a> for clearing the snow from the sidewalk and fire hydrants in front of their buildings so pedestrians can get through safely. Violating the rule carries fines of up to $350.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"shovelingShoveling sidewalks can be difficult or impossible for older property owners. Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n

During the city\u2019s last big snowstorm in January, constituents called Hudson\u2019s office looking for help clearing their sidewalks. She and her staff quickly assembled the District 35 Snow Patrol, matching residents in need with volunteers willing to shovel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They reactivated the program on Monday, and to date, have had around 100 people sign up, with roughly equal numbers of shovelees and shovelers.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard so many really heartwarming, positive stories about folks who, after shoveling, were invited inside for coffee or soup or tea or lunch, and really had an opportunity to meet their neighbor,\u201d she said. \u201cThose people have still been in touch.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most people in need of help are older homeowners who can\u2019t clear the snow on their own, Hudson said, and might need help shoveling their front steps as well as the sidewalk so they can get in and out freely and safely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"crystalHudson launched a mutual aid group in 2020, before she was in office, and said she was not surprised by the positive response to the shoveling initiative. Photo courtesy of John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

Many of the younger people who have offered to help live in apartment buildings and don\u2019t own shovels or salt, Hudson said, but are willing to help however they can.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had to coordinate providing shovels and salt \u2026 and that\u2019s been sort of an eye-opening dynamic, because it\u2019s not like people are just walking around with their own shovels offering assistance,\u201d she said. \u201cBut they are offering their time and help.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hudson wasn\u2019t surprised by people\u2019s willingness to help, even in less-than-ideal weather. In 2020, before she was elected, she founded Greater Prospect Heights Mutual Aid to help deliver groceries, prescriptions and other necessities to neighbors who couldn\u2019t leave their homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people are inherently good, and New Yorkers get a bad rap for not being friendly and being stoic,\u201d she said. \u201cBut underneath the hustle and the bravado and all of that, we\u2019re good people. And I think folks want to help out however they can.\u201d <\/p>\n

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