Penn Station got a brand new lost & found office this week, and it's now open in the Exit Concourse between Tracks 16 and 17. At 1,100-square feet and complete with an ADA-compliant, iPad-equipped customer area, it’s bigger and brighter than the old Main Gate location. And that extra square-footage is important for an office that collects nearly 20,000 items a year and handles a few hundred visitors a day. It also has video surveillance and enhanced security features to protect its high-ticket finds.
Of course, the lost & found also offers spectators a look at what fellow straphangers are toting around, and highlights of the current “collection” don't disappoint—they include a karaoke machine, a violin and... a chainsaw with a mysterious past.
“We’ve had swords, we’ve had—you name it, we’ve had it here,” said Steve Terracciano, the Penn Station terminal manager.
Terracciano recommends that commuters looking for their belongings start by filling out the form on the MTA’s website. As items come in, the computerized barcode inventory system will notify the owner if a potential match is found.
Sometimes, Terracciano says, the LIRR is able to do its own “detective work” and use identifying features on wallets or other belongings to track down the owner. They can even ship the item back (at the customer’s expense, of course).
The LIRR is able to reunite around 55% of found items with their owners, according to the MTA. Unclaimed items are stored from anywhere from three months to three years, depending on their value and according to New York state law. At the end of the retention period, the MTA will dispose of the items or sell them to a third-party vendor.
That chainsaw currently sitting in wait has been in storage since 2018, the MTA confirmed. But it's time is running out—the MTA says it no longer works, and is getting ready to (carefully) toss it.
Here's a deep dive into the old LIRR Lost & Found, which was flooded with Louis Vuitton bags, romance novels, drones and tequila.
