On Friday, December 04, 2020, at 05:00 p.m., Mott Haven Refrigerator organizers and volunteers will meet outside Chicky’s Mini-Market on 141st Street & St. Ann’s Avenue and move the fridge and pantry just 30 feet down the sidewalk to its new location hosted by Brito Deli Grocery.
Just two weeks ago, the newly launched Mott Haven Refrigerator received unexpected news that it was no longer welcome at its home outside Chicky’s Mini-Market.
After over a week of stalled negotiations, Mott Haven Refrigerator organizers received a phone call from a local volunteer — coincidentally the favorite niece of the manager of neighboring Brito Deli Grocery. Thanks to this special family connection, the Mott Haven Refrigerator will only need to move 30 feet from its original location and placed in front of a vacant lot owned by Brito.
Mott Haven Refrigerator co-founders — local sixth-grade teachers Charlotte Alvarez & Daniel Zauderer — expressed excitement about this turn of events. “We could not be more thrilled to stay so close to our original home, and we know that our amazing volunteer’s uncle will not regret his decision to save our treasured community resource,” they said in a statement.
Immediately after moving the refrigerator and pantry, a team of volunteers is set to perform a thorough clean-out of the area — whose crumbling sidewalk and heaps of garbage reveal years of neglect. Organizers hope to find a local Bronx artist to paint a mural on the wall behind the fridge in the near future.
“This move is a blessing in disguise. Not only do we get to stay on the same block, but we also have the opportunity to beautify a neglected sidewalk in New York’s ‘forgotten borough’,” wrote Alvarez & Zauderer.
