New York City has five boroughs, and 68% of its available housing stock is renter-occupied, according to the 2023 survey. When Zelbi opens in New York, one photo can list an item from a Park Slope brownstone, a Bushwick six-family or a West End Avenue apartment, and someone nearby collects it.
Skip the donation drop-off in New York
The city offers free curbside removal for large items. The Department of Sanitation says residents can set out up to six items at the curb per collection day, and pickup appointments are no longer offered. Metal and rigid plastic go out with recycling, and other non-recyclable large items go on the trash-only day.
Zelbi works another way, starting from one photo. It writes the listing, and the giver picks the day and time, then meets the claimer or leaves the item outside.
Free furniture pickup in New York
Washington Heights sits on abrupt, hilly ground, and its longest step street is a set of 130 stairs. On Zelbi, the giver meets the claimer or leaves the item outside, as the giver chooses.
New York's climate profile gives 125.4 days a year with at least 0.01 inches of precipitation, from the 1991–2020 normals. With curbside pickup, the giver sets the time an item goes outside, and the claimer confirms it in the app.
Free stuff near you in New York
People in the New York metro search for "donation centers near me" and "furniture donate near me", each 1K-10K times a month. Zelbi's map shows a neighborhood area rather than an address, so a crib listed in Astoria would show Astoria, not the giver's door.
When Zelbi opens here, a listing could come from Astoria, where Astoria Park has the largest of the city's public pools, or from Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick, a main shopping street.
Items on Zelbi are free. The only charge is a $2 platform fee, paid by the person who claims an item; giving something away costs nothing.
A simpler alternative to Craigslist free, Freecycle, Buy Nothing and Trash Nothing
Free-stuff groups already have a following in the New York area. A free-category Facebook group for the area counts tens of thousands of members.
One photo to start
Zelbi writes the listing from the picture, which keeps back-and-forth messages to a minimum.
Accounts behind claims
Every claim is tied to a Zelbi account and an authorized payment, so nobody arrives anonymously.
A clear cancellation cutoff
Until two hours before pickup, a claimer can cancel for free, and a later cancellation costs $2.
Zelbi is an independent app. It is not affiliated with Craigslist, The Freecycle Network, the Buy Nothing Project or Trash Nothing. Their names belong to their owners.
Moving or decluttering in New York?
Census Reporter's New York profile counts 3,379,651 households averaging 2.4 persons each. When one of those households moves, one photo of each item is enough to start a listing.
Permit approvals for new housing units fell 76.2% in 2023, to 16,348, according to the city's 2024 Housing Supply Report. In Washington Heights, five- and six-story New Law Tenements make up most of the housing stock from before World War I.
Bring Zelbi to New York
From Park Slope to Washington Heights, what you're finished with can find its next home nearby once Zelbi opens in New York.
Join the waitlist