After a workout in Nomad, my friend Sidonya and I were walking back to Baruch when we noticed a large pile of trash with an abandoned mirror left on top. Although the temperature was barely 50 degrees, we could already smell the waste from the beginning of the block. The mounds came up to my waist, and the bags took up most of the sidewalk. Although the aesthetic appeal is a minimal issue, an area like Nomad should have an visual appeal that reflects its gouging rent prices. Among all the waste, however, the mirror struck me as a beacon of light within the detrimental waste. A Nomad resident placed a mirror in great condition on the sidewalk in the hopes that someone else who needed it could take it off his hands. Even if another resident chose not to reuse it, at least I had the comfort knowing that the mirror could be recycled in the worst case scenario. In the midst of a sustainability crisis, I found relief knowing that at least one article would not go to waste.
I think this is a comforting aspect of NYC – a lot of people throw out furniture intact and sometimes even stick a “FREE” sign on it so other people can just haul it home. It’s a good alternative to just dismantling and tossing out perfectly good decor/furniture when some other people can find some other way to upcycle these pieces.