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."
Skis stand next to a Native American children's play tent. There is a stained glass window and a memorabilia tie from the hit show "Baywatch."
There are dozens of photos and pictures, dated portraits of unknown people perhaps thrown out because of limited space in cramped New York apartments.
To walk the collection is to retrace 30 years of life in East Harlem in intimate detail from the majority Hispanic area, where Molina was born and still lives today.
"It's really well done. You can see the evolution of the neighbourhood," said Martin Bellew, a retired New Yorker on a scheduled tour.
The premises are not open to the public, but visits are occasionally organised.
"I call that a museum but it's not officially a museum," says Molina, a man of slim build who retired in 2015 after 34 years at the sanitation department.
"I've been a picker since I'm nine years old," said Molina, now in his 60s, who says he inherited the habit from his mother who never threw anything away.
"She's 83 years old," he said. For Christmas, he buys her tool boxes, pliers and a drill to help her make things.
"She's still into it," Molina added.
Moving
In a city that each day produces 12,000 tons of waste and where the mayor has vowed to stop sending garbage to landfills by 2030, Molina had to work hard.
At first, he kept his finds in a corner of the depot. Then he took over a hall and then the entire second floor when 15 years ago it was deemed too fragile to withstand the heavy weight of sanitation trucks.
Sanitation department rules prohibit workers from taking home anything they pick up on the streets but not from keeping objects at the work place.
Molina has spread out his collection with the utmost fastidiousness. Objects are grouped together thematically and lined up on tables: African statuettes, action toy dolls and typewriters.
Molina, something of a handyman, has mended broken objects and repaired electrical parts to bring back to life a Santa Claus and an artificial fountain.
His favourite piece? It's a heavy Star of David sculpted from metal recovered from the site of the Twin Towers in remembrance of a victim of the 9/11 attacks.
Now retired, Molina still comes to the depot twice a week to look after his items, which he insists belong to the warehouse.
"I don't want anybody to take care of it," he said. His son, who also works at the sanitation warehouse, was not interested in the task. "He told me 'you're crazy, that's too much work.'"
But the future is uncertain. In the next four to five years, the collection will have to move.
The Metropolitan Hospital, which owns the site, wants to claim it back.
"Ideally, it should stay in this neighbourhood," says Robin Nagle, anthropologist in residence at the department of sanitation. But she admits the cost of renting a dedicated building would be exorbitant.
AFP RELAXNEWS
Tue Mar 15 2016
![Turning New York trash into treasure Turning New York trash into treasure](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2016-03/61458017224_NewYorktreasure.jpg)
Former New York sanitation worker Nelson Molina views some of the items in his "Treasure in the Trash" gallery. - AFP Photo/Don Emmert
![Gangguan kualiti air di Pasir Puteh bersifat sementara - AKSB Gangguan kualiti air di Pasir Puteh bersifat sementara - AKSB](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/41714212749_TBMASALAHAIRGEN.jpg)
Gangguan kualiti air di Pasir Puteh bersifat sementara - AKSB
AKSB Pasir Puteh akan melakukan aktiviti flushing di kawasan terlibat dan sekitar Selising agar bekalan kualiti air pulih untuk jangka masa segera.
![Suspek kes keropok beracun dibebaskan dengan jaminan polis Suspek kes keropok beracun dibebaskan dengan jaminan polis](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721107133_keropokberacunrem.jpg)
Suspek kes keropok beracun dibebaskan dengan jaminan polis
Suspek yang juga pekebun itu akan dilepaskan dengan jaminan polis sementara menunggu keputusan Timbalan Pendakwa Raya.
![ADB semak semula unjuran pertumbuhan 2024 bagi negara membangun Asia kepada 5 peratus ADB semak semula unjuran pertumbuhan 2024 bagi negara membangun Asia kepada 5 peratus](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-04/71649228054_TBADBBOX.jpg)
ADB semak semula unjuran pertumbuhan 2024 bagi negara membangun Asia kepada 5 peratus
ADB berkata permintaan domestik berdaya tahan, dengan eksport dan pembuatan yang meningkat, akan menyokong pertumbuhan tahun ini.
![Bank buku diwujudkan di perpustakaan awam negeri - Saraswathy Bank buku diwujudkan di perpustakaan awam negeri - Saraswathy](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721222006_SaraswathyKandasami.jpg)
Bank buku diwujudkan di perpustakaan awam negeri - Saraswathy
Setiap bahan bacaan itu akan ditapis terlebih dahulu bagi memastikan kandungannya bersesuaian untuk pelajar.
![Ahli Parlimen Machang mungkin digantung 6 bulan Ahli Parlimen Machang mungkin digantung 6 bulan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-01/81705870474_WanAhmadFayhsalP.jpg)
Ahli Parlimen Machang mungkin digantung 6 bulan
Ahli Parlimen Machang, Wan Ahmad Fayshal Wan Ahmad Kamal berkemungkinan bakal digantung daripada menghadiri sidang Dewan Rakyat selama enam bulan.
Chelsea siasat laungan perkauman Enzo terhadap Perancis
Kelab bola sepak Chelase pada Rabu mengumumkan prosedur tatatertib ke atas pemain tengah mereka, Enzo Fernandez, susulan dakwaan telah mengeluarkan laungan bersifat perkauman terhadap Colombia, selepas memenangi Piala Copa America 2024 bersama skuad Argentina.
Lebih daripada 60 kanak-kanak ditahan, dipukul, diseksa di El Salvador
Lebih 60 kanak-kanak di El Salvador ditahan, diseksa dan dipukul secara rambang semenjak kerajaan mengisytiharkan darurat lebih dua tahun lalu untuk membanteras amalan gangsterime.
Datuk Bandar Paris berenang, yakin sungai Seine bersih
Datuk Bandar Paris, Anne Hidalgo berenang di Sungai Seine menjelang acara olimpik sebagai usaha menyakinkan orang ramai bahawa kualiti sungai tersebut cukup bersih dan bersedia untuk digunakan.
Biden akan tarik diri jika doktor dedahkan ada masalah kesihatan
Presiden Amerika Syarikat Joe Biden berkata beliau akan menarik diri daripada Pilihan Raya Presiden jika doktor mendedahkan beliau mempunyai masalah kesihatan.
Wanita racun lima orang kemudian bunuh diri
Seorang wanita berusia 56 tahun dipercayai meracuni lima pelancong Vietnam dengan sianida yang dihidangkan dalam cawan kemudian meminum racun itu sendiri di sebuah hotel mewah di Bangkok, menurut polis pada Rabu.