Staten Island Trink Trade Box: I brought you my trinkets, you brought me your love

I frequently take walks throughout West Brighton, and I usually take the same route eastward down Forest Avenue when I go for a walk. About two weeks ago I noticed a change on the corner of Forest and Pelton.

A shiny, new plastic white box was fixed to the street sign, hanging underneath a small red octagonal sign that read "kindness starts here". As a believer in boots on the ground journalism, no strange happening goes untouched. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to investigate. The box has two silver clamps on the side to keep it locked and some stickers on the front reading "SI Trink Trade Box". On the inside there are two mini baskets, three

shelves, three hooks, a pouch, and a plethora of items up for trade.

The "Trink Trade" box on the cross section of Forest Ave and Pelton Ave

Personally, the first thing that I thought of when I saw this box was how that's going to get absolutely destroyed come summertime. People can be monsters, pillaging and stealing from something completely un-monitored and left to the will of the public. On the more optimistic side of things, it's the cutest community project that I've seen in years. It's a great opportunity to clear your trinket collection and share the joy with other hoarders, or to even expand your own inventory.

When I first noticed the trinket box I was on my way to the gym, so I barely had anything to trade. I left behind a bright red keychain (that I loved) and took a pair of handmade beaded hoop earrings. I missed having the keychain immediately. But I wanted to participate in the trade and I am a slight believer in karma. There went my keychain. As I was finishing up my transaction, two girls had crossed the street and were waiting behind me for their turn at a trade. It was uplifting to see other randoms also interested in this box.

The popularity of trinkets these days reminds me of a phenomenon called the "lipstick index". This is an economic theory popularized by Estée Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder in 2001 that suggests that the sales of more "affordable" luxury items rise in times of economic strife. Lipsticks and lip balms tend to fly off of the shelves when you can't afford gasoline to drive away from the pharmacies. People are more inclined to indulge in smaller purchases that spark joy in times of financial insecurity rather than splurge on a larger luxury experience that feels like it'll break the bank. Trinkets like Sonny Angels, Smiskis, and Labubus went through an extreme boom in sales throughout the past two years. I've seen variants of all three of those items in the box. This trinket trade may just be what the people need right now.

After rummaging through the trinket box for the very first time, I started seeing content about it all over my social media pages. I wasn't the first to discover these boxes. I saw one of my mutuals post about how the box was completely filled with things-- Pokemon stickers, rubber ducks, fidget spinners--- and 20 minutes later another post about how the box had been completely ransacked. It seems not everybody shares my ideology of respecting the trinkets. I went the next day to help replenish and restock, leaving miniature beer bottle figurines and two magnets behind. I took a sticker of Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice from the pouch on the door to maintain the balance.

The interior of the trinket box on the cross section of Forest Ave and Pelton Ave.

Just yesterday I drove by Pelton and saw that the box was left hanging wide open on the pole. There was a fuzzy blue scrunchie on the ground, but otherwise the box was full of miscellaneous items, all new since the last time that I checked the box. I considered pulling over to go close it but the light turned green and I took it as a sign. That's the circle of life.

It's important to me as a Staten Islander to have something small and uplifting like this Trinket Trade Box right in my neighborhood given all of the strife that Staten Island endures. I was lucky enough to discover it independently, but hopefully the project catches some more traction so that it can inspire happiness and kindness in others as it did for me. According to the official Instagram page (Staten Island Trink Trade Box @si.trinktrade, according to the QR code sticker on the box's interior) there are three boxes located around the island. One in West Brighton, one on Bay Street, and a new one coming to Amboy Rd (I guess we can let the south shore have a little fun, as a treat). Hopefully all three continue to flourish and we see more joy out on these streets.