East Village gets community
fridge to feed the hungry
BY DEAN MOSES
The East Village Neighbors
Facebook group and
Sarita’s Mac and Cheese
restaurant have united to create
a community fridge where anyone
can help themselves to free food
and drink.
A notice attached to the side
of the fridge reads: “This fridge
belongs to you and so does the
food inside.”
The general consensus of the
outreach project located on East
12th Street and FirstAvenue is responsibility
and trust. Responsibility
to aid a Lower East Side ravaged
by the COVID-19 pandemic, and
trust in residents to help keep the
pantry restocked for those in need.
Food insecurity has become a
massive issue for countless New
York neighborhoods over the past
several months, as lines for free
food distributions extend block
after block and wait times last
several hours.
Food insecurity has run rampant throughout New York City,
and members of the East Village Neighbors are attempting to
alleviate the struggle by frequently refilling the refrigerator.
In an effort to alleviate the
hardship individuals are facing
— especially during the winter
months — both a community
fridge and a storage cabinet have
been erected directly outside Sarita’s
Mac and Cheese restaurant.
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
Here, people can both take
what they need and leave what
they don’t. But the burden of
fi lling the fridge does not fall on
residents alone – Sarita’s Mac and
Cheese, SNAP, and volunteers
from East Village Neighbors also
regularly restock the shelves and
drawers.
“We put in eight plates of mac
and cheese everyday in the morning
and evening. A lot people
come here and give us donations,
too… that’s’ awesome. Everybody
is helping each other. A lot of people
come and buy something and
then put it there,” Andy Perelta,
a cashier for Sarita’s Mac and
Cheese told amNewYork Metro.
In addition to resupplying,
members of East Village
Neighbors have scheduled shifts
through which they clean and
disinfect the area, helping to reduce
the risk of transmitting the
coronavirus.
On Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1,
it was Dana Seag’s turn to both
sanitize and replenish the bare
fridge with sealed meals and fruit
and vegetables, including apples,
oranges, and even red peppers,
during which time a local athlete
also arrived to drop off some
donations.
“I am a runner, and they give
out free Gatorade at the races, so
I had this stockpile of Gatorade
and I saw this was here. I thought
why not donate, it is nice to see
the community come together,”
said Angela Daniele.
No good deed goes by without
some controversy, however.
Some locals have expressed
concerns through the East Village
Neighbors Facebook page that
homeless individuals have been
stocking up on bags of food only
for them to then head to a local
weekend fl ea market on East 14th
street along First Avenue, where
they attempt to sell the goods.
This is distressing for residents
since the market outside
Immaculate Conception Church
has been reported as a hotbed of
crime and drug use where sellers
peddle junk in order to feed their
addiction.
Diane Hatz, the founder of the
East Village Neighbors group and
the community refrigerator, responded
to these claims by stating
in a Facebook post, “Even if it is
happening, I don’t see that there’s
anything we can do – except wish
the person well and hope they fi nd
the peace and security they’re
looking for.”
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
There was no way a pandemic
was going to stop
Le Souk restaurant owner
Marcus Andrews from continuing
a tradition of giving back
on Thanksgiving in Greenwich
Village.
“I would be very upset if we
couldn’t do this,” said Andrews,
who every Thanksgiving provides
two sit-down dinner seatings gratis
for mostly seniors in his LaGuardia
Place restaurant.
Le Souk began this tradition
as a way for those without family
nearby to enjoy a good holiday meal
in the company of others.
Marcus persuaded his collaborating
partner, the Bleecker Area
Merchants’ and Residents’ Association
(BAMRA), which initially cancelled
this year’s festivity because of
COVID-19, to plan for the dinner.
This year it would be different.
“I’ll take care of the details,” he
told them, knowing how to adapt
to the times.
And so, on their 10th year, challenged
by the pandemic, Le Souk
Greenwich Village Thanksgiving tradition
continues with take-out dinners
carried on with this Greenwich
Village Thanksgiving tradition,
serving home-cooked, take-out
dinners with all the trimmings at
no charge to the community.
Volunteers working with Visiting
Neighbors, another partner
in this annual dinner, arrived
mid-afternoon Thursday to pick
up 75 meals to home deliver.
Neighborhood seniors, informed
by word-of-mouth and Greenwich
House communications, arrived in
the late afternoon.
The freshly prepared take-away
dinners including turkey, sweet
potatoes, stuffi ng, cranberry sauce,
an orange, and of course pumpkin
pie, and one protective mask, were
ready to go.
A handful of volunteers worked
the morning shift, helping with
food preparation and plating. Another
shift arrived later for more
assembly and distribution.
Out front, upper Manhattan
City Councilman Mark Levine and District Leader Chris Marte
assisted.
City Councilman Mark Levine
joined his friend State Committeeman
of the 65th Assembly District
Chris Marte to distribute the food.
Both are candidates in next year’s
city election—Levine’s running
for borough president, and Marte
is seeking the 1st City Council
District seat.
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Decades of experience cooking
for large numbers including
these annual meals prepares Ray
Cline of BAMRA, the chief chef.
He happily joined the effort when
restaurant general manager Sam
Jacob approached him, “We don’t
want this holiday to go by without
our traditional dinner.”
Cline underscores how Le Souk
is proud to be able to give back to
the community in this way.
Le Souk picked up the bill for the
food, which included 26 turkeys,
roasted in their oven; BAMRA paid
for the trimmings and last minute
run-outs, such as 120 more pounds
of sweet potatoes. Marte bought
25 pumpkin pies and 15 boxes of
cookies at Trader Joe’s.
“I started cooking days before,”
Cline says, explaining that the 20-
22 pound turkeys take 3 1/2 hours
to roast. “Sliced after they cool,
the meat is kept in the restaurant’s
walk in fridge.”
The day before Thanksgiving,
local police distributed 50 assembled
meals to homeless New
Yorkers. On Thanksgiving, Marte
took 50 meals to seniors living in
housing on the Lower East Side
while owner Marcus dropped off
whole turkeys with trimmings to
the 6th and 9th Precincts.
Schneps Media December 3, 2020 3