James Koster Architect, PLLC

03/01/2022

More recognition for the little fridge that could...
The Brooklyn Eagle celebrated several founders and volunteers with this front-page photo while describing a "meaty" Brooklyn Heights Association annual meeting. Amidst the infrastructure anguish, there's a nice salute to the , recognized for this year's BHA Community Service Award.

01/06/2022

Just before new Year's, the Brooklyn Eagle again drew attention to our community refrigerator with this headline:
HEIGHTS COMMUNITY FRIDGE WINS ACCOLADE
It's a happy irony that my smallest and cheapest project (literally 9 square feet and built by volunteers) may have the broadest impact!
Half-way down the page a nice mention of my contribution to this worthy cause…

LIRR UPDATES HOLIDAY SCHEDULE: Following the cancellation of a New Year’s Eve concert at Barclays Center adjacent to the Atlantic Center Brooklyn transit hub, the Long Island Rail Road has updated its service change information for the holiday weekend, as lower ridership is expected. Today and tom...

01/05/2022

Happy New Year! The Brooklyn Heights Blog honored our Community Fridge team as one of 10 most impactful people of the year:

We're bringing back a BHB tradition of an annual list, described by our founder John Loscalzo aka Homer Fink as "10 people who live or work in Brooklyn Heights who ...

10/14/2021

Our community fridge continues to attract support while drawing attention to food insecurity. Today, the Desus & Mero show teamed up with City Harvest to deliver food to Community Refrigerators all over town, and Pix 11 news stopped by to capture the event: https://pix11.com/news/local-news/city-harvest-fills-community-fridges-in-nyc/

Community fridges have been popping up all across the city to combat food insecurity. Now, over 80 of them are getting filled up. Anyone can access the fridges 24 hours a day. Dozens of these comm…

09/02/2021

Brooklyn Heights Community Fridge.
A summer of effort by many good souls brought this to our neighborhood to address growing food insecurity.
I was tapped to lead an army of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds to build my design for this mini brownstone. The project was completed last week with a refrigerator door mural painted by .
Here’s a local news story celebrating the Community Fridge: http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/92865?fbclid=IwAR0cfN-XHJGB3pAWewLNEhK1vP9PlXED9_KExhpO1DobtEovEfuUHqotRzI

07/26/2021

Many good souls wanted to set up a community refrigerator to address food insecurity in our neighborhood. I was asked to design an enclosure for the refrigerator and lead a team of fellow volunteers to build it. Brooklyn’s First Presbyterian Church was generously providing a site for this project in front of that church’s manse, a grand and venerable brownstone.

I conceived a design that takes on the character of a gate house by emulating the brownstone’s entrance. I crafted a faux brownstone finish to further strengthen this visual connection.

One long day and many volunteers brought this project to satisfying conclusion. Now, the refrigerator gets filled and emptied daily. It’s sad to think that the demand was far greater than I anticipated, but satisfying to know that I did something to help.

http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/92865?fbclid=IwAR0cfN-XHJGB3pAWewLNEhK1vP9PlXED9_KExhpO1DobtEovEfuUHqotRzI

03/15/2021

elegant and back-lit provide the drama in this luminous @ Brooklyn Heights

03/15/2021

details and finishes foreground the remarkable views from this Luminous

03/15/2021

The at this required careful coordination between the finishes and structure. @ Brooklyn Heights

03/15/2021

We composed a design in and for this Brooklyn

03/15/2021

Elegant disappears behind carefully detailed panels.

03/15/2021

This apartment re-inhabits a grand, Deco-era commercial building with warm mahogany finishes that contrast with the raw steel ceiling and riveted columns. @ Brooklyn Heights