Day 120

Day 120: Manhattan, NY

$0.01 found.

8th Ave. L Station: $0.01

Day 119

Day 119: Manhattan, NY & Brooklyn, NY

$20.02 found.

Stairwell in my apartment building: $20.00

8th Ave. L Station: $0.01

42nd St. ACE Station: $0.01

Day 118

Day 118: Manhattan, NY

$0.03 found.

 

14th St. A Station: $0.01

8th Ave. & 39th St.: $0.01

42nd St. ACE Station: $0.01

Day 117

Day 116: Manhattan, NY

No money found.

Day 116

Day 116: Manhattan, NY

No money found.

Day 115

Day 115: Manhattan, NY

$0.10 found.

Union Square L Platform: $0.10

Day 114

Day 114: Manhattan, NY

$0.11 found.

14th St. Union Square Station: $0.01

St. Marks btwn 3rd Ave. & 2nd Ave.: $0.10

Day 113

Day 130: Manhattan, NY

$0.03 found.

Walgreens at Astor Pl.: $0.02

Pret A Manger at Astor Pl.: $0.01

Day 112

Day 112: Manhattan, NY

$0.11 found.

Cosi at 53 E. 8th St.: $0.11

Day 111

Day 111: Westbury, NY, Mineola, NY & Brooklyn, NY

$0.04 found.

United Artists Westbury 12 Movie Theater: $0.01

Mineola LIRR Station: $0.02

Atlantic Ave. L Station: $0.01

Day 110

Day 110: Manhattan, NY & Staten Island, NY

$0.04 found.

Milk Bar at 620 Vanderbilt Ave.: $0.01

Vanderbilt Ave. & Park Pl.: $0.01

Home Depot at 2501 Forest Ave. Staten Island: $0.01

Day 109

Day 109: Manhattan, NY

$0.19 found.

Starbucks at Astor Pl.: $0.17

Astor Pl. & Broadway: $0.01

The Public Theater (men's bathroom): $0.01

Day 108

Day 108: Manhattan, NY

$0.01 found.

Cooper Sq. & Astor Pl.: $0.01

Day 107

Day 107: Manhattan, NY

$0.13 found.

The Public Theater:  $0.10

Astor Pl. & Broadway: $0.02

Union Square L Station: $0.01

Day 106

Day 106: Brooklyn, NY

No money found.

Day 105

Day 105: Manhattan, NY

$0.04 found.

Starbucks at Astor Place: $0.02

Chipotle on St. Marks St.: $0.01

Union Square L Platform: $0.01

Day 104

Day 104: Manhattan, NY

$0.02 found.

Astor Place and Lafayette St.: $0.01

Union Square L Station: $0.01

Day 103

Day 103: Brooklyn, NY & Manhattan, NY

$0.13 found.

Scott Ave. & Jefferson St.: $0.01

Jefferson Ave. L Station: $0.01

Starbucks at Astor Place: $0.01

Pret A Manger at Astor Place: $0.10

Day 102

Day 102: Brooklyn, NY

$0.12 found.

St. Nicholas Ave. & Jefferson St.: $0.02

Fulton St. G Station: $0.10

Day 101

Day 101: Brooklyn, NY & Manhattan, NY

$0.03 found.

Wyckoff Ave. & Jefferson St.: $0.01

Westbound L Train: $0.01

Downtown 6 Train: $0.01

Day 100

Day 100: Manhattan, NY

R$0.05 found.

Starbucks at 15th St. and Union Sq. E: R$0.05 (5 Centavos)

Year to date total: $30.80, R$0.05 and B/.0.01

Day 99

Day 99: Brooklyn, NY

No money found.

Day 98

 Day 98: Brooklyn, NY & Manhattan, NY

$0.19 found.

Port Authority near Metrocard Terminals: $0.01

28th St. Downtown NR Platform: $0.01

Key Foods Wyckoff: $0.16

Willoughby St. & Wyckoff Ave.: $0.01

Day 97

 Day 97: Brooklyn, NY & Manhattan, NY

$0.11 found.

6th Ave. & 55th St.: $0.03

On the Eastbound L Train: $0.01

El Beit - 158 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn: $0.02

Bedford Ave. & N. 7th St.: $0.01

Oasis - 161 N. 7th St. Brooklyn: $0.02

8th Ave. & 45th St.: $0.01

8th Ave. & 44th St.: $0.01

Day 96

Day 96: Brooklyn, NY

$0.15 found.

McDonald's at Wyckoff Ave. & Myrtle Ave.: $0.01

Wyckoff Ave. & Stanhope St.: $0.12

Wyckoff Ave. & Starr St.: $0.01

The 4th floor of my apartment building: $0.01

The above photo and my second find of the day at the intersection of Wyckoff Avenue and Stanhope Street brings to mind an interesting observation I have had time to develop in my head through the course of the first part of the year and that is the idea of "clustering."  Clustering, in the simplest of terms, is the idea that where there is one monetary denomination on the ground there is likely to be more.  It is a little too late for me to track this data, unfortunately, but since I began this project, I have learned to pay close attention to the areas in which I find one coin because I am more likely to find more coins nearby.  But the question is why is this true?  Is it because if someone is going to leave, or throw away, one coin they are more likely to leave multiple?  Is it a physical characteristic of the terrain that allows for similar objects to roll to a stop in nearly the same place?  Is it merely that certain more popular areas are where people are more likely to drop and discard their change?  The second idea seems a little far-fetched, but the third perhaps holds some merit.  I have no idea how to determine a percentage of likelihood for whether you might find some money in certain areas, or if you found one coin then, given that first coin, what the percentage of likelihood would be that you would find another and how that percentage changes with each coin you find.  I would calculate that into my final results at the end of the year, but I honestly have no idea where I would even begin to do so.  What I can tell you from purely empirical evidence is that you are much more likely to find one coin alone than two, and much more likely to find two than three, etc.  This observation is from looking at my previous data for the year.  Still, I find myself always slowing down and looking around the area where I find a first coin in case I might find some others.  If the chance of finding a coin at all is fairly low, finding a first coin drastically raises my chances of finding a second coin, and why not take a few seconds to look around.

Day 95

 Day 95: Glenwood Landing, NY & Westbury, NY

$20.26 found.

North Shore Middle School Playing Field: $0.01

United Artists Westbury 12 Movie Theater: $20.25

Being in Los Angeles for the past month and a half has brought my average daily find to about $0.11 per day, whereas prior to my trip I was averaging approximately $0.19 per day.  This realization brings me to two conclusions.  The first is that Los Angeles has very little money on the streets, and the second is that I was able to get very far ahead of my expected daily average before I went on my extended business trip while in New York.  Today's find, however, brings me back up and pretty far beyond my previous average to a new high of approximately $0.32 per day.  Of course, that new average will fall quickly as I get back into the swing of things in New York for the next two months, but for at least the next few weeks, my statistics have some cushion that will help keep them more on track.  I was very lucky today to find the twenty dollar bill, but I want to relay the circumstance under which I was able to obtain said money.

If you read my post last week, you'll know that while I was at LAX, another sharp-eyed traveler was able to snag a twenty dollar bill from right next to my foot while I stood over it, before I saw it was there, and that I beat myself up about it quite a bit.  Today's situation was the same, but in reverse.  I just finished the movie I was watching and was scanning the floors for change as I exited the lobby.  To my surprise, at side of the counter, away from any of the registers, there was a man standing over a fallen bill of some denomination.  I stopped in my tracks for nearly a minute, watching this man banter with the staff, completely unaware of the discarded denomination near his left foot - my brain was reeling at the parallels - and while I stood there, both watching the money and the people around me, I calculated the odds of being able to obtain the bill if I let the man walk away versus getting it immediately.  I remembered the situation at the airport last Saturday and decided to make my move.  I walked up behind him, picked up the bill, turned and left.  I was giddy, excited, and felt redeemed after last week.

I would guess that your first reaction, most of you, would be to chastise me for not asking him if he dropped the money, or at least procuring it in such a way as to give him a chance to claim it as his own.  To be honest, I thought about that in my quick decision to pick up the money, and I remembered what I said when started this little project: I will pick up all the money I see on the ground, no matter how awkward the situation might be.  This rules out the good-natured response that a lot of my readers might have had.  I point to other instances where I have had to duck in among lines of people milling about on top of money.  It was all change, to be sure, but it was still money.  To you readers who would criticize my actions today I ask if you think that every time I pick up any change on the ground near another person if I should check to see if it is theirs first?  Or do you think it is a matter of value?  Does the fact that I picked up a large amount of money make it different, or is it just because it was paper money?  Where do you draw the line?  From my perspective, and for the purposes of this blog, this year, there is no line.  All money on the ground is fair game.

Day 94

Day 94: Manhasset, NY

No money found.

Day 93

 Day 93: Brooklyn, NY

$0.11 found.

Starr St. & Wyckoff Ave.: $0.10

207A Starr St.: $0.01

Day 92

Day 92: Manhasset, NY

No money found.

Day 91

Day 91: Manhasset, NY

No money found.