Brooklyn Heights Community Fridge gets a new home — right across the street

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — “Take what you need, leave what you don’t. That’s the motto,” said neighborhood resident Caroline Koster, at a party on Sunday celebrating a new Brooklyn Heights Community Fridge. 

Officials, volunteers and neighborhood kids cut the red ribbon, a snip at a time, and the next phase of a neighborhood tradition was launched.

The new Community Fridge can be found in front of 125 Henry St., home to both Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and Christ the King congregation. It replaces an original fridge, which had been housed across the street in front of the First Presbyterian Church.

At Sunday’s event, volunteers made and wrapped sandwiches to load the fridge, while neighbors added fruit and vegetables, canned goods, packages of meat and boxes of oatmeal. 

Caroline Koster and her husband James Koster are two of the founders of the Community Fridge, established in 2021 to help local Brooklynites struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The fridge was built by neighbors, for neighbors,” she said. During the pandemic, service-minded locals realized that “behind these beautiful brownstone facades, there’s food insecurity, there’s hunger, there’s tremendous need in this neighborhood.”

The Community Fridge soon became a focal point for volunteering, and brought together neighbors of all stripes, including youth volunteers from The Service Collective, members of Friends of the Fridge, and the Brooklyn Heights Association. 

The refrigerator had to move from its first location because it was blocking a newly-active driveway, Caroline Koster said. Volunteers helped scout out a new site. 

“The neighborhood held a town hall, and [Community Service Coordinator] Meghan Mease from Christ the King and our neighbors from Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church came together. And guess what? Our neighborhood — and particularly these two churches — found us a home,” she said.

“While the location has changed, the mission has not changed one bit,” she added. The fridge “is still filled with food and love.”

‘It looks like it’s always been there’

Architect James Koster, who designed the shed which protected the original refrigerator from the weather, also designed the new refrigerator’s housing. It blends in with the historic neighborhood, and matches Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church’s sign, which hangs directly above. Bronze and green patinas “make it look like it’s always been there,” he said. Volunteers 3D-printed and painted the lettering, which he designed to match the sign’s 16th century German font.

James Koster gave credit to numerous individuals, artists and professionals who helped make the new refrigerator and its housing happen. “The community groups, the electricians, the carpenters, the contractors, the kids who help to build this,” he said.

Remarkably, he carried out the construction of the new shed while on crutches, having broken his heel several months ago.

The old shed from the first Community Fridge is being used by a community garden in Red Hook as a tool shed, he said.

‘We are all haves and have nots’

The Community Fridge fits in with the religious mission of both churches, the pastors said.

“God calls us to love him and to love our neighbor. And having this here, and working with the community organizations and with Christ the King, enables Zion to grow in our love for God and our neighbor,” said Rev. Jonathan B. Sachs, pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

“We are really privileged to be a part of this,” said Rev. Pastor Matt Brown of Christ the King. “People think about fridges like this as charity — the haves giving to the have nots. But in the Christian faith, we believe that we are all haves and have nots. We all have limitations, and we all have needs.”

He told the crowd, “I hope that all of you are able to come by as often as possible, and make some contributions or some withdrawals.”

The design of the housing conveys a positive message to those who use the fridge, local officials said.

“This is about sharing, and this is about helping others,” Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said. “And about being open to everybody in our community.”

“Too many people across our community and across our city are struggling with food insecurity,” Councilmember Lincoln Restler said. “We have food pantries across the street, around the corner, everywhere you look, and still people are struggling.

“This is, without a doubt, the most beautiful fridge, not in Brooklyn, but that I’ve ever seen.”