‘Charity’ Donation Bins Proliferating on New York Sidewalks

A growing number of private companies are illegally placing putatively charitable used-clothing bins on sidewalks in New York City, mirroring a national trend that is raising concerns among nonprofits that legitimately collect secondhand items, according to The New York Times.

New York City bans such bins on public streets and sidewalks, although they are allowed on private property with the owner’s consent. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, the city tagged more than 2,000 illegally sited bins and confiscated 132, compared to 91 tags and 10 confiscations four years ago.

The bins typically have signs indicating that donated goods will go to the poor or to charities, but city officials say most of the clothing is sold in thrift stores or in bulk abroad, generating profits for the often-shadowy companies that operate them.

Goodwill Industries International, which had moved away from sidewalk receptacles in favor of having donors bring items to stores or central collection points, is bringing back bins in response to competition from what the charity’s president and CEO, Jim Gibbons, called “dark-of-night property violators.”