Opening Day at the NYU Swap Shop
Over 2,000 items were taken in under 2 hours.
It was an otherwise quiet Saturday morning in August when Kate Koblegarde made her way to work at the NYU Swap Shop, a new storefront at 111 Second Avenue near the school’s Washington Square Park campus.
The week prior, NYU shared a video on its social media accounts advertising the store’s selection, which amounted to some 5,000 gently-used items scrounged from the dorms, including hundreds of microwaves, mini fridges, and even a working Xbox—all of which would be available to students for free. “We were like, we hope people are interested,” said Kate, an environmental econ major graduating in 2027, with a shrug.
By opening day, the clip had roughly half a million views on TikTok, and there was already a line around the block when she arrived.
Located in a former grocery store, which has sat vacant for years, thanks in part to the opening of Wegmans nearby, the Swap Shop is designed to reduce waste and promote the sustainable reuse of student belongings. Leading the initiative is Misty Germany, an NYU facilities employee who, along with a small team of student interns, began dusting off the shelves and collecting stock back in May. (NYU owns the building, so they don’t have to worry about rent.)
“The first year I worked here, I was baffled,” said Misty. When students move out each spring, she’s tasked with cleaning up after them. In the past, the school has partnered with charitable organizations like Green Apple Move Out (GAMO) to collect the roughly 20,000 pounds of stuff left behind. But pickers now know to visit the area and dumpster dive for treasures.
“Long live the rich, I'll be eating their scraps forever,” said one TikTok scavenger, who walked away with multiple bags of clothing in 2023, some with the tags still on.
Although a pair of Louboutins was up for grabs this weekend, many of the discarded items are courtesy of the university’s 21,000 international students, who hail from 120 different countries and can’t be expected to get a microwave past TSA or pay to store their stuff over the summer.
“Just find someone of your nationality,” one master’s student whispered to me when I arrived on Saturday morning, encouraging me to skip the line, which snaked around the corner, all the way down East 7th Street. Having gotten there early, his haul included closet hangers, a laundry hamper, and a chair. Meanwhile, his friend found a plastic sword. “We live in Brooklyn, so we have to be careful,” he joked.
Several stressed-out parents were also in line. “We just wanted to go inside and take a look,” said the mother of a freshman living in the Brooklyn dorms, who’d been waiting for over an hour. Others were there to lend a hand.
Due to capacity, the Swap Shop eventually asked parents to wait outside. “I was standing at the door telling people they couldn't bring their parents in,” said Kate. “I’m like, you’re in college now, you can go choose some stuff yourself. But some parents snuck in behind me.”
“One woman camped out in here with a fan, and she was FaceTime-ing,” said Misty, shaking her head.
By 12:30 pm, an hour and a half after opening, 2,000 items had been taken from the Swap Shop shelves, including all of the microwaves put out for the day.
“We were hoping to get a microwave, a shelf, something to put our toaster on, a shoe rack because our shoes are all in the same place right now, and personal room items,” said one junior living off campus on the Lower East Side with two roommates. She managed to score a lamp without a shade, and her roommates got a wobbly shelf that they were optimistic about.
“I feel like it makes more sense to leave the microwaves in the dorms,” she said. When I told her that the university allegedly provides them in Brooklyn, along with mini fridges, she rolled her eyes. “Girl, with that tuition, they can afford it.”
Another sophomore wanted to expand their appliance collection, now that they finally have a kitchen. After eating a whole lot of Lean Cuisine reheatable meals last year, the goal was to “chef it up,” maybe with a cheese grater and a blender. However, they only managed to find a coat rack in the shape of a horse’s head. “Exactly what I was looking for!” they joked, stroking its fuzzy mane.
When the Swap Shop closed early on Saturday at 2:00 pm, only 180 items remained. “All the swords are gone,” said Kate the next morning. Every Halloween costume was taken, except for a bumblebee getup and a striped prison jumper. “They even tried to take our personal cleaning supplies, like ammonia,” said Kate. “I asked them: Do you know what that is?”
A bucket of crutches was still there for the taking, along with hockey skates, a couch, three armchairs, and plenty of clothes, which would be used the following day as part of a mending workshop run by NYU’s Future Fashion Group. The team also restocked the shelves with dozens more microwaves, mirrors, and mini fridges.
“We’re happy that people can use the items we have, and are asking for more,” said Misty, who braced herself for the crowds on day two. “Hopefully, this is permanent.”
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