Marvelous Library

Yesterday morning, I was walking across East 7th Street, when I saw this array of abandoned books:

Abandoned books.

Why would someone lug these books all the way to this spot and not put them into the dumpster, I wondered? They probably had trouble lifting them.

This morning, I passed by again, in the rain:

Abandoned books in the rain, and a chair.

This time, someone added this sign:

This sign.

So these books were dumped here by a neighbor of Felix Caro, local book hoarder!

She describes the pile as "a marvelous library" — let's take a look!

Dog Soldiers.

Desktop Publishing.

Microsoft Word 4.0.

Extreme Remedies.

Marvelous!

The problem now is, with the dumpster in the way, the Sanitation Department workers won't be able to cart these books away to the dump!

#eastvillage #abandonedbooks #dumpsters #7thstreet #rain #hoarders

Dumpster Liners

In an effort to keep dumpsters clean and free of unsightly scratches, some dumpster owners have taken to putting liners inside their dumpsters.

Behold, on St. Mark's Place, a mere two weeks ago:

Clean and tidy.

I can just imagine some East Villager coming out with a hose and filling that dumpster with water and making a makeshift swimming pool — it would like an art project!

#eastvillage #artproject #dumpsters #dumpsterliners #stmarksplace

Looks Like The Bad Old Days

In a lot of ways, the East Village still looks like it did back in the bad old days.

Take this scene, for instance, on East 7th Street and Second Avenue:

Big mess.

What a mess! A vacant lot, a full dumpster, trash beside the dumpster, trash beside the vacant lot, a dirty car…

The only thing missing is a freegan rummaging through it all!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #cars #dumpsters #secondavenue #trash #vacantlots

No Parking Update

Things are going to get pretty noisy for the itinerant bookseller on St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue!

It looks like those garbage cans and 2x4s that stopped people from parking their cars beside his book tables were holding the place for a dumpster!

Dumpster delivery.

It probably won't be safe to leave his wares beside the dumpster — freegans will think it's being thrown away!

Speaking of thrown away, someone abandoned this television set just behind where I was standing when I took the picture above:

Abandoned television set.

What's on the telly?

Looks like graffiti!

#eastvillage #booksellers #dumpsters #secondavenue #stmarksplace #abandonedtelevisions #graffiti

The Full Dumpster

I saw a dumpster on East 6th Street, that was so full!

How full was it?!

It was so full, a Coke can fell out of it!

The full dumpster.

#eastvillage #dumpsters #6thstreet #cokecans #trash

6th Street Dumpsters

As every East Villager knows, when a dumpster arrives on the scene, it's going to be there for a very long time. So long that you might think there was never a time when it wasn't there!

But then, one day, it just vanishes, like this one on East 6th Street, leaving nothing behind but the outline of garbage and leaves:

Outline of garbage and leaves.

Meanwhile, further down 6th Street, another dumpster appears:

Another dumpster.

It's the dumpster circle of life… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #dumpsters #trash #6thstreet

Forklift in a Dumpster

You see a lot of things in the dumpsters of the East Village, a lot of it gets pulled out and taken home by freegans!

What you don't usually see, however, is someone throwing away a forklift, like this one that I saw on East 6th Street:

Forklift in a dumpster.

By tonight, the bottom of this dumpster will be covered with the debris that East Villagers throw in as they pass by!

Every empty container is a trash can, especially when they're already trash cans!

#eastvillage #dumpsters #freegans #6thstreet #forklifts

OCDumpster Again

One thing that happens when you use the same path getting into and out of the East Village is that you begin to notice changes to things that some people might say are downright insignificant!

One such change is that of the contents of the OCDumpster, on St. Mark's Place:

Now filled with sand.

Soon after, the sand was gone:

Out with the sand, in with the rubble.

But what's that? Concrete?!

Concrete.

How did that get there? How did someone roll wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow up that mound of rubble?

Insignificant my eye!

#eastvillage #stmarksplace #dumpsters

OCDumpster

What else can you call such a neatly-packed dumpster, on St. Mark's Place?

Neatly-packed dumpster.

OK, fine… Art!

#eastvillage #art #dumpsters #ocd #stmarksplace

Teeny Tiny Dumpster

I was walking across East 4th Street recently, seeing if there was any activity in the dumping ground that has formed outside the beloved El Jardin del Paraiso, when I saw… a teeny tiny dumpster!

Teeny tiny dumpster.

It's so cute! It's like a tiny little baby dumpster, for tiny little baby garbage!

Maybe if someone hangs a No Dumping sign on the side of it, people will start putting their trash there, instead of on the sidewalk!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #eljardindelparaiso #dumpsters #litter #garbage

East Village Parking

What is unusual about this parking job, I saw while walking across East 7th Street this evening?

Wedged in too tight.

He's wedged in too tight between two dumpsters!

What about this one?

One wheel on the sidewalk.

If you guessed it's that he has one wheel on the sidewalk, you're only partly right. What's unusual about this is that the whole thing isn't on the sidewalk!

This is just some of the types of parking you see, when walking around… the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #3rdstreet #parking #dumpsters

Inside the Dumpster

Walking across East 4th Street the other day, I came onto this:

Blue-lit, open-door dumpster.

This was a real find — you don't usually see dumpsters with their door open! This is what it looks like from the discarded building materials' point of view, blue light and everything!

Alternative perspectives are easy to come by, in the East Village!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #dumpsters #opendoors