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Comments

• [1] j from nyc May 14, 2008 - 04:07AM

  i find stuff ALL the time. seriously, and good stuff too [yeah, i found a FLOS lamp, worked, globe a little cracked, so what? my mom loves it] i've also found marble/tiles/glass, great chairs, plant pots, chrome wire kitchen shelving, nice lamps, and so on. I recover, paint and remake pieces into great furniture. Even a plain piece of wood can be made into a nice painted tabletop [love the blackboard paint].

  i find great stuff consistently, offer it to my friends, and if they cannot use it>>

  MAJOR-TIP-ALERT

  >>i take my good find to a thrift shop, e.g. Housing Works, donate it, and get a donation receipt for which i CAN use for a deduction on my taxes towards the mortgage. [any non-profit shop will do; computers can goto Persholas.org or housing works which also takes televisions, working printers,etc.]

  just make sure it's not crap, i.e., something you would use if you wanted to keep it for yourself. good for kharma.

  
  
• [2] Daniel Freedman from UWS May 14, 2008 - 10:00AM

  What about bed bugs? Isn't that real concern...one that should make people thInk twice twice about helping themselves to curbside furniture? Maybe the furniture is being thrown out for a good reason -- it's infested! Why take the chance?

  
  
• [3] Profiterole from NYC May 14, 2008 - 10:39AM

  I agree with Daniel #2. My former roommate picked up a nice looking couch a couple of years ago that was infested with bedbugs. It was a nightmare. It took us a few weeks to be able to sleep peacefully. Never again!

  
  
• [4] dyan from dwntn May 14, 2008 - 11:32AM

  When I lived in Germany in the 80s, this was a common practice. Once a quarter each "garbage district" would put out their "junk." We would monitor when the "wealthy" neighborhoods had their "junking day" and furnished our apartments. It was great since I arrived with a backpack and when I left I had many things to sell and give away -- most of which were picked-up during a "junking day" adventure.

  Dining Room tables, chairs, sofa, sofa table, chairs, patio furniture, etc.

  
  
• [5] andy from manhattan May 14, 2008 - 11:33AM

  i recently found an aged but beautiful yamaha xylophone in a pile of refuse in front of a church. finding it was music to my soul! soon to the world's!

  :D

  
  
• [6] John Frey from New York May 14, 2008 - 11:34AM

  I once picked up an bird leg antique table that later I found out was from 1934. I still have it, although I do not know if its valuable of not.

  
  
• [7] Mike from Brooklyn May 14, 2008 - 11:34AM

  Isn't it there a kind of obvious contradiction in the fact that this sort of thing can only happen in an affluent, consumer society? If people weren't frequently buying new things and throwing out less-new things, they're be no free quality goods on the curb, right?

  
  
• [8] dara b. from Brooklyn May 14, 2008 - 11:35AM

  I found a beautiful "Hollywood regency" grand piano inspired cabinet. On Mercer and Bleecker. It was painted white, but inside it was a beautiful, rich polished wood.

  Under all of that white paint was a beautiful, unique piece! I cannot believe someone threw it out!

  
  
• [9] Seth from Astoria May 14, 2008 - 11:35AM

  I moved to NYC in October 2002 with 4 friends, making 5 of us in a 3 bedroom. We all pooled our stuff, so I had a twin box/mattress from my roommate, but no frame. On the Night we moved in, we were walking back from dropping off the U Haul, 6 houses down from mine, I find the simple little metal rails, with wheels, for a twin bed. I cleaned it up and used it for years. 2 different appartments, until I gave it to a friend who still has it.

  
  
• [10] Gaines Hubbell from Knoxville, TN May 14, 2008 - 11:35AM

  I've got a great dumpster dive sofa right now, but as a kid in Evanston, IL, I was raised in a dumpster-dive stroller with dumpster-dive toys.

  
  
• [11] Ashley from NYC May 14, 2008 - 11:36AM

  This Thomas guy has a very annoying voice--kind of whiney and condescending.

  
  
• [12] Ruth K from Rego Park Queens May 14, 2008 - 11:38AM

  I've long been a recycler/thriftstore patron.

  Of late, I've been concerned about bedbugs,

  hiding in furniture, clothes, etc. Any reactions, comments, suggestions? Thanks

  
  
• [13] RX from Staten Island May 14, 2008 - 11:39AM

  Brian -

  Please ask Thomas to address the BUG question. What can be done to be sure there are no bugs of any kind? I once got a table that I'm sure caused a roach problem.

  
  
• [14] Justin from Brooklyn May 14, 2008 - 11:39AM

  My parents in New Rochelle and my relatives in the suburbs in Philly have been taking everything from furniture, tools, clothes, books, music and more from garbage and thrift shop.

  
  
• [15] Mim from Park Slope May 14, 2008 - 11:40AM

  Besides using Craigs List to sell or buy stuff cheaply, there are two ways to use it to exchange free stuff. First, there is a Craigs List category called 'Free Stuff.' The instant you hit submit to post your item, the phone will start ringing. Also, there is a convention to head your item with the words 'Curb alert.' Then you put your stuff out, and someone will come by and take it. People use this to pass on moving boxes all the time. I've seen 'curb alert' entries for items someone has just seen on the street.

  
  
• [16] Mike from Brooklyn May 14, 2008 - 11:40AM

  hey Ruth K,

  I think you are very right to be concerned with bed bugs, I used to get all my furniture off craigslist and out of the trash. Recently my friend got bed bugs from a craigslist find! almost everyone I know in brooklyn has bed bugs except my house, I read that if bedbugs were disease carrying we would have an epidemic in NYC. Luckily my house doesn't have bed bugs, but I think it is a very real fear.

  
  
• [17] Bo from Brooklyn - Prospect Heights May 14, 2008 - 11:42AM

  My entire apartment, two bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, living room, one bath and an office is furnished with found furnishings or discards. Occasionally we've picked up a piece or two from flea markets or stoop sales, but there is nothing in our apartment that was purchased new...other than art, and even some of the art has been found. I only wish I could post a photo. Most people are slack-jaw when they find out.

  
  
• [18] chestinee from Midtown May 14, 2008 - 11:43AM

  Gleaning is a tradition in France - a harvest tradition - people clearing leftover grapes, etc.

  
  
• [19] graham from brooklyn May 14, 2008 - 11:43AM

  My friends and I actually found a purple baby grand piano on the street that now resides in my home... no bed bugs in that.

  
  
• [20] Joan from Manhattan May 14, 2008 - 11:44AM

  I'm not opposed to buying something retail if I absolutely fall in love with it, but I am also hopelessly addicted to the Craigslist furniture ads and actually prefer to find pieces there. In addition to the feeling of well-being that comes with not contributing to waste, the process of having to sift through ads, make appointments, and pick up furniture ensures that I really love the things that I'm getting and that I'm not just making an impulse buy based on convenience.

  
  
• [21] James from New York May 14, 2008 - 11:44AM

  EVERY product sold should include in it's price a refundable amount to cover the cost of returning it to a bio-degradable state, i.e. an environmentally 'neutral' state. This is the ONLY way that we can get everyone to recycle & reduce their environmental impact.

  
  
• [22] debra from staten island May 14, 2008 - 11:56AM

  I didnt have time to comment during the show, but please remeber the BEDBUG epidemic in NY and that this found furniture can harbor these bugs that are SO HARD to get rid of.. I have furnished entire apartments by pulling stuff off the street, but now that Im a visiting nurse and realize the scope of the bedbug problem, I wouldnt dare..

  
  
• [23] Paula Beckenstein from Chappaqua NY May 14, 2008 - 11:58AM

  Here in Chappaqua and neighboring villages we have "tag sales" all Spring, Summer, and Fall in which people basically give away their unwanted goods for token amounts of money. You can get quality household items, furniture, toys, flat ware, clothing of all types, vintage jewelry, accesories,CD's, videos, etc. Many families regularly attend and find wonderful things. We meet neighbors there all the time.

  Our Temple also has a shop in town (The Oportunity Shop) where we can buy goods that we all donate, whether out grown baby equipment, clothing or toys, for a nominal fee.

  
  
• [24] Ellen Page from Lynbrook, NY May 14, 2008 - 12:00PM

  My husband found an old ice cream barrel,

  which now houses fallen privet hedges from our garden. Love it. My daughter and her

  husband have a piano a neighbor was trashing. The neighbor also moved it

  into their apartment. My daughter has

  a chaise lounge, which she found at a curb

  in Lower Manhattan, which a samaritan

  cab driver moved into her Manhattan apartment.Scavaging is part of our DNA.

  
  
• [25] Steven Zelin from NYC May 14, 2008 - 12:28PM

  Hi there,

  I am a native New Yorker and I have a song "Free Furniture Day," which is about finding furniture on the street on garbage day in New York City. You can listen to it at www.cdbaby.com/zelin click on "free furniture day"

  
  
• [26] thomas wold from berkeley, ca May 14, 2008 - 02:39PM

  Thanks for having me on your show Brian!

  My goal with the Ready Made column is to express an inspirational approach to DIY and to consider found items as a way to think up new and personal designs. Check out the column though all.... .....Sorry about my voice Ashley, I'm so untrained for radio!

  Best,

  Thomas

  
  
• [27] Curby from New York June 19, 2008 - 02:13PM

  CurbsideBooty.com gives you the heads up on where free, usable stuff is being dumped on the streets, sidewalks and curbs of New York City so that you can get lucky, recycle and help keep our city clean! Email us info on where you've seen stuff being chucked out or if you have the inside scoop on when its going to happen and we will post the address here on the Curbside Booty blog! Use our classified section for listing your own curb alerts or announcements about stuff you want to get rid off in the New York area.