The New York Times visited our Stop 'N' Swap at St. George Library on Staten Island and gave it a rave review!

The rules of the Stop N Swap are punishingly strict: Bring whatever you want, or don’t bring anything at all; leave with as much as you care to, or nothing; come whenever you feel like it; go whenever you’re done. Oh, and it’s free — not just the stuff you pick up; there is no entry fee. Not exactly the usual mess of governmental red tape. Then again, GrowNYC is not your usual government agency; it’s a nonprofit organization run out of the mayor’s office. Its first swap meet was in 2002; this year, it plans to do five in each of three “cleaning seasons” — post-New Year’s, spring and before the winter holidays.

Read the article to find out more!

Photo by Dave Sanders

On January 22, GrowNYC celebrated National Swap Day with the second of five Stop ‘N’ Swap events taking place across the five boroughs this winter. More than 300 New Yorkers stopped by I.S. 52 in Manhattan to donate perfectly usable items and partake of the bounty that may have otherwise gone to waste in a landfill. Swappers took satisfaction in seeing their unwanted stuff put a smile on other’s faces and found joy in discovering great things they could use, at no cost to themselves or the environment. Clothing, books, toys, electronics, cookware and even a bike complete with training wheels quickly found new homes, leaving staff and volunteers an easy clean-up at the end of the day. The Stop ‘N’ Swap comes to the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn in February.

Learn more at www.grownyc.org/swap.