Sanitation man amasses $160k collection of items that were thrown in trash

[Liberal_in_LA]

For 30 years, sanitation worker Nelson Molina kept New York clean -- and in the process found beauty in other people's garbage, rescuing enough condemned items to fill a warehouse.
On the second floor of a sanitation truck depot in East Harlem, he has amassed an astonishing collection of thousands of objects once chucked in the bin but now lovingly cleaned and restored.
Walk to the back of the depot, climb a small, steep staircase and you find yourself in an enormous space that at first sight might appear to be a flea market.
But none of these items are on sale, although some could fetch a pretty penny. Molina values his collection at $160,000 and calls it 'Treasures in the Trash.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3489975/Turning-New-York-Citys-trash-treasure.html#ixzz447LwfJt1

[jwirr]

1. My dad used to hunt the dumps for bicycle parts to help kids

fix their bikes - he was the neighborhood go to man for the kids. He found thousands of perfectly good items that he would salvage. I suspect I may still have some of those items in my home.

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

One question: why aren't they selling them?

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Seems like he has the start of a museum - maybe thats why he is not selling

[valerief]

3. What a fun place! nt

[forest444]

4. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Especially those 1940s-era Royal portable typewriters.

[Thespian2]

5. For so many of us humans,

out of sight...out of mind. If we can't burn it, we throw it away...Isn't it great that Mr. Molina rescued things that others did not want...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. We hauled out my old manual typewriter recently to fill out some forms....

A little 3in1 and it was up and flying.

[Vinca]

7. Good for this guy.

As an avid treasure hunter, I'm incapable of passing a "free" pile by on the street without checking it out. You'd be surprised what you find.

[840high]

12. Me2 - my latest find

4 dining room chairs with nothing wrong with them. My daughter was delighted to have them.

[Vinca]

14. I'm always amazed at what people throw out.

One day, out of the same stash, I found seeds for my garden and a Coco Chanel scarf. Treasure hunting is so much fun!

[Lazy Daisy]

8. I know of 2 people

1 goes to dumps to search out craftsman tools. Sears guarantees them for life, he digs them out and returns them for a new one. What he doesn't need he sells. Makes a bit of coin doing it.

The other used to work in an affluent suburb of Chicago for a garbage company driving and collecting. He'd find all kinds of treasures that had nothing wrong with them, just "last years model". Again, some he kept, some he sold.

Makes you rethink what you throw in the trash.

[FailureToCommunicate]

9. I have a similar affliction, but I always pass the (useful) items on to Goodwill.

Got the affliction from my parents, but their excuse had more relevance: they lived thru the Depression.

[mopinko]

10. one of my fave things about chicago

is the totally amazing shit you can find scouring the alleys.

[Tab]

13. 42nd St in NYC used to be that way too

except more literally

[Tab]

11. The town I used to live in

the transfer station had a place for trash, recycleables, etc., but also a open shed area where you could put stuff you didn't want/need yourself, but someone else might, and rather than throw it away you'd put it in there. Wandering in you could find anything from skis to duck decoys. It was more of a "freecycle" sharing area.