Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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New York City Free Stores is a collective
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organization with five stores located in Hell's Kitchen,
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North Brooklyn, Astoria, Clinton Hill and Harlem.
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One of the project's primary principles is based
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on giving something and taking something in return.
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There's an instagram paid for each of the five locations,
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which serves to network with social media posts.
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Anything from books, clothes,
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small household goods
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and school and art supplies can be brought into trade.
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Most stores are open 24/7,
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so there is guaranteed access to essentials that someone might need at any time.
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Emptying the shelves is seen as a successful donation to the community.
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Each store is located to center those most impacted by oppressive structures.
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In fact, the North Brooklyn pop up, which is one of the more popular stores,
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is located right outside of public school 18 in East Williamsburg,
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giving kids the opportunity to take home books and food, among other useful things.
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So I actually took it upon myself to go to every
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location and donate something I no longer needed to each free store
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I found and took some pretty useful things as well.
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I tried to interact with other
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shoppers and gather information about the neighborhood
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and their opinion on the free store project.
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As you guys can see, these stores are usually pop ups on the sidewalk.
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There's bright words and artwork painted on every store is walls,
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and overall their atmosphere is very welcoming.
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Okay,
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Some items that I have taken from these
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stores include this overcoat and gold green sweater
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and even a 50 piece box of single use masks.
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In turn,
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I have given away my extra Cutler, a stern water bottle,
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unused notebooks and an old poster.
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Uh huh.
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One thing that could use some improvement is free store in New York City's website.
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The front page displays an error message,
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and there's also a missing description section for the North Brooklyn Store
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I email channel Godowsky,
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a co founder of the Free Stores Organization
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who I also interviewed for my midterm
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and suggested these improvements for the site.
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I also drew to potential logos that could replace
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the error message on the front page of the site
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pictured here.
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In conclusion, the future of free store seems to be headed in the right direction.
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To ensure the furtherance of this project,
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I have taken action by giving back to a group
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of communities and offered possible improvements to the website.
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Oh
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yeah,
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I have also reached out about potential volunteering opportunities.
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Free store volunteers are taught to respect the space and are encouraged
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to leave the store more organized than it was when they arrived.
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If any of you guys are interested in volunteering, email.
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Channa dot Lewandowski at gmail dot com.
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All right, thank you guys. So much for watching.
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And I hope you'll learn something and were inspired to give back to your community
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Mhm.