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Fridge On The Rocks

Ramifications for Hungry Neighbors

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This fridge was found on a jetty near Beach 149th Street – photo via Facebook

The visual juxtaposition of a refrigerator placed atop of a rock jetty might lend one to ask “Why would someone put that much energy into doing something like that?”

Some might even dismiss this stunt as an environmental gag in poor taste, with a local resident calling it “impressive and hilarious,” yet others thought it was bad photoshop but the depth of this stunt had deeper ramifications. 

The purpose of this refrigerator was a tool to help feed hungry people.  Donors would insert basic food essentials into the refrigerator as an anonymous food share for neighbors struggling with food insecurity.

The refrigerator was reportedly part of a city-wide hunger abatement effort, an effort previously covered by The Wave, known as a friendly community refrigerator program created by the group In Our Hearts NYC and later implemented locally by the Rockaway Mutual Aid & Support Network. 

Based on their own research, RMA felt it a good idea to place the refrigerator on Beach 91 Street after the success of Rockaway’s first community refrigerator, which is located at Beach 72 Street and Alameda Ave. in Arverne.

To facilitate a new placement, RMA organizers connected with the owners of Station RBNY – known supporters* of local hunger relief programs. The newly placed refrigerator was then 

connected to Station’s power source with costs intending to be paid by RMA via donations.

The Community Fridge was previously installed at Beach 91 Street and powered by Station RBNY

Wave asked Nigel Louis, partner of Station why he felt it was important to participate in this program, Louis responded, “This [refrigerator project] is for the mom who may have lost her job …and the dad who might be on furlough, I wanted to save them a little bit of dignity”. 

However, neighboring residents did not share the enthusiasm for the way the project was deployed and objected to the placement of the refrigerator. 

With the existence of Wednesday morning food pantry distribution at nearby St. Camillus Church, also located on Rockaway Beach Boulevard, several residents say they are doing their fair share in feeding the hungry; claiming the presence of an unmonitored giveaway program made them feel less safe in the neighborhood.  

Louis added, “I saw the post of Friends of Rockaway [Facebook page], and actually I didn’t know this was causing such an issue, I was just trying to do the right thing”. 

Louis referred to a series of posts published in additional pages on Facebook that voiced a less-than-positive perspective on the program.  One post was captioned “You guys saving the world yet”.  All posts to these groups have been since deleted. 

As Louis woke the morning of Aug  28, he received a phone call from an RMA organizer who suspected the fridge was not only stolen but was the heart of rumor of a fridge installed upon the jetty on Beach 149 Street. 

Louis reflects, realizing the fridge was unplugged from his store, saying, “The energy it took, shows the level of ignorance and childishness that I didn’t know adults were capable of, it’s so tedious.” 

Community Board 14 chairperson Dolores Orr later confirmed, in a post to the Friends of Rockaway Beach’s Facebook page, that the NYC Parks Department had removed the refrigerator, seemingly bringing this drama to closure.

While the situation fostered a barrage of commenting and posting on social media and has even become fodder for social media memes, the incident ultimately yielded a number of donations of upwards toward $1,000 and dozens of volunteer pledges to support RMA.

The Wave reached to Rockaway Mutual Aid Society, who is working on an official comment on this removed refrigerator, and instead referred Wave to their Instagram account, with among other components to the post, stated they “thank everyone for the overwhelming outpouring of support over the last few days and welcome anyone who is new to this page”; to read the full post on visit https://www.instagram.com/p/CEhsxIuntfL/.

Station RBNY is both an advertiser and a fundraising partner of The Wave’s “Feed the Food Insecure” program, donating food to neighboring St. Camillus Church located at 99-05 Rockaway Beach Boulevard.

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