How to Stoop to New Heights With These Sidewalk Furniture Hunters

Logo The New York Times
The New York Times
By Ronda Kaysen

New York City curbs are awash in discarded furniture that can liven up your home or make you some money. We talked to some experts on how to find it.

A few weeks ago, Denise Gordon was walking near her Gramercy home when she spotted an antique chest of drawers on the curb. She didnt need it, but this dresser was too good to ignore solid wood, with clawed feet and dovetail joinery. It was also too heavy for Ms. Gordon, who is 68, to carry. So she did what any good sidewalk stooper would do: She offered two random men on the street $20 apiece to carry it back to her apartment. And, being New Yorkers, they did.

People dont know what theyre throwing away, said Ms. Gordon, who grew up on the Upper East Side and has been digging for discarded treasure since she paid 35 cents for a silk blouse at a thrift store when she was 13 years old. In my neighborhood, they dont know and they dont care.

New York City curbs are awash in furniture left behind by people who are moving, who died, or who are simply fickle. If you know where to look, and how to get the stuff home, its possible to furnish an entire apartment with someone elses junk. And if you dont know where to look, an entire ecosystem of expert scavengers has emerged on TikTok and Instagram, ready to help you scout out great finds.

A good sidewalk sleuth can spot a quality piece, knowing to check its heft and to look for features like tongue and groove joinery, before committing. They deftly enlist strangers and Uber drivers to help drag loot home, and often travel with screwdrivers, bungee cords and flashlights, in case they happen upon a gem.

Continue read on nytimes.com

Logo The New York Times
New York City curbs are awash in discarded furniture that can liven up your home or make you some money. We talked to some experts on how to find it. A few...

Logo The New York Times
New York City curbs are awash in discarded furniture that can liven up your home or make you some money. We talked to some experts on how to find it. A few...

Logo CNN
New York CNNBusiness — Cant stand that old bookcase and dining table with the mismatched chairs you once thought looked so cool? If you bought them at Ikea,...

Logo The New York Times
By the time the body of the stone dealer was discovered in his Upper West Side apartment, it had been decomposing for several weeks. The summer of 1969 was a...

Logo Benzinga
[TODAY ONLY] For only $7, get 2 bear market beating options trade straight to your inbox and SMS every month! Click Here Now to Get Started! Bringing both...

Logo The New York Times
If you cook a lot, you know how useful they are. And if you dont know how to cook? An impressive pot rack will make guests think you do. Whether youre short...

Logo The New York Times
When it comes to kale, the organic farmers at Adaptive Seeds have a few things to teach you and some versions of the familiar green that may not be so...

Logo Benzinga
Stampede City Joins the World's Largest Marketplace for Selling Surplus Food CALGARY, AB, March 24, 2024 /CNW/ - Too Good To Go is entering the Calgary...

Logo The New York Times
The right-wing group placed a deceptive call to the presidents daughter a month before Election Day, weeks after her stolen diary was shown around at a Trump...

Logo The New York Times
Several days a week, Jullet Achan moves around the kitchen of her apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, stirring up dishes from her Surinamese background:...

Logo The New York Times
Turning your home equity into cash can help pay bills and preserve other savings and investments. But theyre complicated, and not for everyone. After her...

Logo The New York Times
Dont laugh: These days, a laundry room isnt something to hide its a place to show off. Heres how to make yours shine. Laundry rooms were once utilitarian...

Logo The New York Times
The revenue is enticing, but the work can be daunting. We spoke with experts about the dos and donts of the short-term rental market. Q: Buy a weekend house...

Logo The New York Times
The city is thriving, but many who scored a deal now face rent-renewal sticker shock. Rents rose 33 percent between January of 2021 and January this year,...

Logo The Guardian
Ukrainian refugees in Poland are frustrated and confused by British asylum rules, which they say appear designed more to keep people out than offer shelter...

Logo Daily Mail
Anyone who starts investing quickly learns the golden rule of building a successful, resilient portfolio: don't put all your eggs in one basket. At times of...

Logo Nasdaq
During a much-needed break from work, I struck up a conversation with a colleague. It started out as your typical workplace conversation, but I could sense...

Logo The New York Times
The many, many people who have applauded, criticized and otherwise taken part in what often seems like an endless discussion around Lizzos naked form may be...

Logo EIN Presswire
Dr. Wheeler Pulliam, PhD, CFP® Dr. Wheeler Pulliam, CFP of Xponify Financial discovers the reason that most people are unprepared for retirement and the...

Logo Daily Mail
The majority of Britons are rightly worried about the cost of living crisis. Energy, fuel, food and other bills are rising with runaway inflation leaving...