Spotted In Bed-Stuy: The Brooklyn Free Store

I was recently asked by Emily Cantrell, the kindly proprietress of Huitzilli, how my job was going. I told her it had indeed gone— somewhere else— but I had commenced writing about some of my choicer experiences and published some of them. The second installment of “Stupid Customer Tricks”, lest anyone is wondering, has (for the most part) been drafted. Now it is simply a matter of proof-reading and refinement. Follows is one incident I plan to incorporate in this tome.

A teenager (while holding up a mini Nerf football) asks:

I can have this for free, right?

To wit I replied:

But of course. This is the Free Store! We get shit in and give it away to people!

I mention the previous anecdote because today during my peregrinations around Bedford Stuyvesant I happened upon an honest-to-god free store.

So what does this establishment have in the way of merchandise, you ask? I went inside to find out! Prepare to be amazed, amused and a wee bit discomfited, dear readers!

New York Shitty analysis: I have to confess that, as a colossal bookworm, I was rather impressed with the vast array of reading material (including Foreign Affairs magazine, no less!). But the Greenpointer in me cringed at the sight of that mattress. A lot. Check it out!

The Brooklyn Free Store
Store Hours: 24/7/365
218 Walworth Street (educated guess)
Brooklyn, New York 11205

UPDATE,  March 21, 2011: it would appear this institution has been razed. You can get the skinny from my buddy at Bed-Stuy Blog.

Miss Heather