[music]

Brian Lehrer: Yes. The best things of life at least sometimes are free. This stretch between Memorial Day and Labor Day, marks peak moving season in New York city and lots of places, but certainly around here with New Yorkers scrambling to sign new leases, load up their belongings, sound like you, and move out of and into apartments all over town. That, among many other things, usually means people are giving up a lot of household stuff that they've outgrown or are looking for something fresh for their new spaces.

Now we're going to open up the phones for the last 15 minutes of the show today on this topic. What's the best or most unique way to get rid of unwanted household items, and where have you picked up the best or most unique freebies? What was the most surprising thing you found in the city for free? Tweet up Brian Lehrer or give us a call right now at 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

I'll tell you a story. I was walking in The Bronx this weekend and came upon, I'm going to tweet this picture out in a few minutes, a large pile of garbage bags put out for collection, and sitting on top of the pile of garbage bags, was this framed Picasso print, not an original, obviously, just a print of work of Picasso art with Art Institute of Chicago on it as well. It was pretty cool and it was just sitting there out with the garbage. I thought briefly about taking it, decided not to, but I did take a picture of it because, oh, this is the kind of thing people put out with the trash sometimes in New York City. I walked by that same spot a little later in the day and somebody else was taking a picture of it. I said, "Oh, we just took a picture of that too."

What have you seen and actually took your best story of that? 212-433-WNYC. Where's the absolute best place or maybe best place and time to snag freebies? Is it the end of a semester near NYU or Columbia dorms? Maybe you've scored big on free furniture in fancy neighborhoods on the night before trash pickup. Where have you found your most favorite household item that you got for free? What's the coolest thing you've ever found, or what's the thing that was a little hard for you to put out with the trash, but you did it anyway? Edward in Brooklyn has a really old story about this. Edward, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Edward: Hello. I founded a Jimi Hendrix poster from Los Angeles where he performed in the Albert King Hall Theater in 1968 on February, the 1st and 4th and the 2nd and 3rd in the garbage here in Brooklyn.

Brian Lehrer: Wow. How long ago? I thought from what I saw on my boy, it looked like you found it in 1968, but no, this is a 1968 Hendrix poster that you found when?

Edward: I found it about a week ago in Brooklyn in the garbage. Someone had moved out. It's as exactly as old as I am.

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] Did you take it?

Edward: I took it home. It's beautiful. It has a flying eyeball on it. Bright red and another guy's name I can't read on it. John Mayall? [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Oh, John Mayall. Yes. He was a band leader at that time too. Edward, thank you very much. Henry in Denver, you're on WNYC. Hi, Henry.

Henry: Brian, how are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. You have a little darker side story about this, I think, huh?

Henry: Oh, stop it. Well, yes. [laughs] I appreciate you, Brian. Yes, I was digging through the trash outside of a certain famous hockey player's house. I was building decks and doing what I did. I got fired from my job that day because they had all these beautiful sheep skin rugs and all this stuff just laying off in the street and I was like, "Well, let me get that," and they didn't too much like that. I hope New York City does different than Denver.

Brian Lehrer: It was whoever this hockey player was. By the way, since you're in Denver and I guess you're a hockey fan, congratulations on the Avalanche being [crosstalk]

Henry: No, I'm not a hockey fan. Oh, no, not at all, but yes, Colorado all day, but yes, no, not at all. It was Patrick Roy, he was the goalie. [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: You're saying he had put this stuff, whatever this got you in trouble. He put it out with the trash?

Henry: It was his neighbor.

Brian Lehrer: Oh.

Henry: Yes. It was his neighbor and I pulled up at like 6:30 in the morning, doing the work, whatever. I saw all this cool stuff on the curb and figured put it in the back of my trunk and go, go, go. It didn't really work like that. Hopefully, it doesn't work like that in New York City and I appreciate you, Brian. I love you, Brian. You have a wonderful day.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Call me again. Shane in The Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Shane.

Shane: Hi. I'm calling in because about four years ago, I found this amazing impressionist painting of JonBenét Ramsey literally sitting flat on a heaping pile of trash outside of Myrtle Broadway. After some investigation, I actually find out that the frame is from MoMA and it is a frame from a mid-century frame designer, Robert Kulicke who went on to make the single piece welded aluminum frame that became known as the Warhol Frame.

Brian Lehrer: Wow. You just found it sitting out in the trash?

Shane: Yes. At the time I had just moved into my apartment. It was without really any furniture, and getting off the train, I saw this probably like two, three-foot pile of trash with this big piece of glass on the top and this guy standing over there precariously. I walked over and he goes, "You know what? I don't really get it," and walked away. I looked down and I saw this amazing painting. I said, "I'm taking it."

I went home and I've been trying to post about it online to find the artist because whoever got this originally, which was a a photograph on lens from the MoMA, took it home from them and put this amazing impressionist painting of almost like a paint by numbers really of the famous picture of JonBenét Ramsey with the teal background. It's kind of a Who done it? New York mystery, I guess.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. There's a story. Shane, thank you very much. Oh, Margo in Manhattan has one that I don't even know if we're going to believe. Margo, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Margo: Good morning. How are you?

Brian Lehrer: Tell us your story.

Margo: Hello?

Brian Lehrer: Hi there.

Margo: I am a dog walker, so I am constantly traveling the upper west side. I found over $15,000 worth of art that I've had verified. Given most of it away. The best thing I found I would say is, it was a seven-foot tall, soft sculpture drunken Santa holding a cigar, and it's worth, upon research, between $8,000 and $10,000. It was spectacular, named him Stanley, and he is now on his way to a fraternity house at a Midwestern College.

Brian Lehrer: Margo, that's a great story. Thank you very much. I thought you were going to find chests of drawers, kitchen utensils, things like that. We're getting stories about these rare finds of valuable works of art. We're going to turn the corner a little bit because Jennifer in Tenafly has a really good suggestion, I think, of one of the things you can do with stuff besides just throwing it out that might benefit people other than the random individual walking down the street, right, Jennifer? Hi. You're on WNYC.

Jennifer: Yes. Thank you so much. Good morning. If I'm going to be moving back to my very tiny East Harlem apartment and giving up this gorgeous space, this apartment in Tenafly, I wanted to do some good and I've done this in the past and the Lupus Foundation, veterans groups and others. One of the great things about the suburbs is that you can park. If you plant your stuff out in the front of your building or apartment by 7:00 AM, they pick it up and you get a donation form and it's a win-win on both sides. They do the work for you and you make a contribution. I think it's wonderful.

Brian Lehrer: If you still itemize your deductions for charitable contributions, you get that tax deduction too. Jennifer, thank you very much. Obviously, folks, we're not going into all the many good charities that will take furniture donations and all kinds of things. That's what we all should do when we can. These are mostly your stories of what you have come upon out there. By the way, we did just tweet the picture of what I came upon in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx, all those all those bags with the Picasso print on top. In case you want to check it out, it's probably not still there. That was days ago now, but Consuela in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Consuela.

Consuela: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. I found I was doing deliveries with my son last year during the pandemic and we had a delivery at-- we had to pick up food at a pizzeria in Bed-Stuy. Right next to the pizzeria, I found this huge painting, I couldn't believe it. It was just such a good painting. I walked over to it and it was an original, an acrylic. I asked the woman from the restaurant if this was hers, she said, "No, somebody just brought it for me, and you can have it." It was really big.

As I was putting it on the roof of my car, the guy that brought it to the restaurant came over and said, "I'm the super of this building in Manhattan. I had to empty out this apartment built, this apartment, and I found the painting. I offered it to the owner of the building and he said, "No, no, no, just trash it." He brought it to the pizzeria. He said, "On the back, you'll find the name of the guy and everything." It's an original acrylic by Oscar Suarez. He still is alive. He lives in Argentina, and I have yet to get in touch with him. It's an incredible painting.

Brian Lehrer: All this art. That's a great story, Consuela. Art, and more art. Let's see. Ciny, is that how you say it, in Brooklyn? You're on WNYC. Hi, there. Is it Ciny? Am I saying your name right?

Cindy: Oh, Cindy.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, Cindy, they left out the D. [laughs] Hi.

Cindy: Yes. Okay. Back in the '80s, I was a student at NYU and I used to walk, take these long walks up and down Manhattan. I found a unopened box of Monkees' fan mail.

Brian Lehrer: The Monkees, the pop band?

Cindy: Yes. An entire box of fan mail to them unopened. I guess it's kind of sad, really.

Brian Lehrer: Unopened. Interesting. Well, this connects in a weird way. Here's a little bit of a Queen's trivia. This connects in a weird way to the earlier caller who said he found a Jimi Hendrix poster and that the opening band for that concert was the blues band leader, John Mayall. Well, there was a concert in Queens where The Monkees were the headliners, and the opening act was this up-and-coming guitarist and songwriter named Jimi Hendrix. Can you believe it?

Cindy: No, that's in the wrong order.

Brian Lehrer: Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees before he hit a big. Anyway, Cindy, thank you for that story. Katie in Brooklyn, I think, is going to get the last word with another piece of good advice for folks. Hi, Katie.

Katie: Hi. Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Yes. What have you got? We have 30 seconds.

Katie: Yes. The Buy Nothing group is a hyperlocal giving group. Every neighborhood in Brooklyn and most of Manhattan has one that you can find on Facebook or the app. You can get anything you need for your apartment or gift anything you don't need, and it goes and stays in your immediate community.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. These are great groups. One of my producers was just talking to me the other day about what she gives and what she gets on her Buy Nothing group. Thanks for giving that some love. Katie in Brooklyn, thanks. Thanks to all of you for your stories of what you have put out or what you have found on the street or some better things to do with things that you're going to get rid of. Brian Lehrer Show was produced today by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, and Carl Boisrond, and Zach Gottehrer-Cohen who edits our daily politics podcast, Juliana Fonda at the audio controls.

Copyright © 2022 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.