The NY Subway's Weirdly Successful Lost and Found System
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- čas přidán 14. 05. 2024
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Video written by Amy Muller
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I think Amy is the real MVP of this story
@notnow the clip im looking for is men kisssing not because im gay, but i like scientifically analyzing the ability to make with the same sex but with the twist is the gay men kissing is a trans man which means she still have the shape of scientifically the body of a woman but the physiological of a man.
@@izznazhanzur I don't see anything wrong here
@@izznazhanzur If this is a bot responding to a bot then it has my begrudging respect for being actually interesting. If it's not, then what a power move.
@@ShaunCheah If it were a bot, that would make it even more of a power move. Try writing a bot that successfully identifies posts by other bots just to make fun of them.
What's an MVP?
I love how that one person ghosted Amy after saying they were talented 💀
"hmmm maybe a little too talented"
Just to let you know, I got your thing.
No returns though, finders keepers or whatever
Maybe they lost their phone on the subway 😂
@@stevenb891 lmfao 🤣
Lets make up a story about what happened to them. Because "Amy" didn't reply until a few hours later, during that time, the person who found the journal got arrested for stealing the journal, the journal is now locked up in evidence, and the finder is locked up in jail for 5 years because they can't afford bail and the prosecution is really slow to take a case to court.
I feel sorry for the person who lost a half saxophone.
😂
Half a Saxophone is the jazz podcast Sam will launch next
I only feel half as sorry for them though as the person who lost a whole saxophone
I can imagine that half a lost saxophone would still count as a full saxophone to the lost and found workers
@@hamza-chaudhry Nah, losing half is worse
the remaining half is a constant reminder of your failure
You did not test the lost and found system, you tested people turning things into the lost and found system. Get 5 more journals, turn them in YOURSELF and then file a report. Then you can see how well they can match you with the items.
*edit: fixed typos
This is actually a fair point, Sam.
They did that with the 1 that the new Yorker returned to them
This is going to be in a video where Sam roasts you one day
I feel like finding lost items is probably a critical part of the lost and found system. They are supposed to be cleaned at the end points during which those journals should've entered the system.
Look at the big brain on Brad!
🤣👌
Sam would make a good PhD thesis advisor. “I sent my student to perform research. How long did it take? I don’t care. Were the results interesting enough to be publishable? Doesn’t matter, gotta release the video anyways”
Soon enough, he's going to be publishing papers in journals about things that are mildly worth making a six-minute video about.
ARE YOU SERIOUS! I lost 50,891 cell phones on the subway last month, and the MTA said they still haven't found them. What bunch of liars!
You've just lost the wrong 50,891 phones, sorry man.
Shit, my bad
Hahahahah
hey baldbozo i found your 50k cellphones on the 1 line headed to the bronx right now if you want them back
@Nate Wolf sweet man. I'm in hunts point, can you bring them by tonight. Sometime after dark. I've got a big reward for you!
A friend had a tip for me years ago: transit lost & found is a great place to get free umbrellas. Just show up at the lost & found office and describe your preferred umbrella. Someone, somewhere almost certainly has misplaced an umbrella matching your preferred umbrella.
Works also for stationary, calculators, books etc if you go ask in college labs. You wont believe the amount of people who leave everything when leaving
@@TojiFushigoroWasTaken what is a stationary?
@@strateeg32Not sure if you're aware and just asking a rhetorical question, but he meant stationery (not "stationary"), which is writing and other office materials.
@@OC-CPA No it was real question. I did not understand it
@@OC-CPA Thank you for your answer and also for explaining what stationery is.
My wife lost her laptop at JFK Terminal 8 a few years ago during a hurried and short connection and surprisingly getting it back was a pleasant experience. American Airlines runs the terminal and the officers at their left/lost and found department are awesome. First of all (and this is rare in the airline industry) they have a phone number they actually answer with no voice mails or telephone trees. Plus once given the description of the lost computer they stayed in touch and when it got to the lost in found department (it was found by a restroom attendant within minutes of when my wife left it) it was easy to arrange to pick it up as thankfully she was transiting back through terminal 8 just a week later. All in all a great experience and I have to give a gold star to American Airlines for running such an efficient operation with friendly and helpful employees.
I ran money through an airport and this woman rapidly approached me and the police officers that were escorting me to complain about this suspicious backpack she found left unattended in the bathroom. So apparently she was worried it may be a bomb and decided to take it and bring it to the police herself. So naturally they brushed her off, took the bag, and asked me if I was cool with taking a slight detour to lost and found once we hit the first floor. We get there, and there's this other really nice woman who was waiting by the lost and found ecstatic that we had her bag. I'm imagining a world where 30 seconds after leaving the bathroom she realized what she did and went back to get it only to have it stolen by the crazy old lady. Either way, turns out their lost and found system is pretty decent all things considered, even if the old lady thought it was a bomb. Imagine thinking that and then taking possession of it LOL.
But does it work on wallets ?
That's amazing. I lost my passport in Zurich airport once and had to travel all the way around the airport twice to find it
(The people at security recognised me on my second time through and comforted me while I cried from stress lol)
@@violet7773 wow !? How long it took it to find ?
Imagine being the person who goes to claim their lost Adult Toys. Then imagine being the person who says "actually these aren't mine, have you found anymore?"
Sir, this is the New York City _public transit system._ Of _course_ we have more than one abandoned briefcase full of marital aids. Please follow me.
I'm betting it was a salesperson's case. In which case, imagine having to tell your boss that you lost your dicks on the subway.
I think the kind of person who loses a whole briefcase full of sex toys on the NYC subway then actually goes to claim them from lost & found would just take them even if they weren't the right ones.
@John La Duke definitely not, you don't want someone else's used sex toys, that's gross
@@akariaTXreaper Well you're right, I _don't_ want them, and it sounds like _you_ wisely don't either. I just suspect that the person who goes to the subway lost & found seeking their sex toy briefcase is probably a lot less picky - and hygienic - than we are.
Sam wins Boss of the Year for his kind and considerate treatment of interns
not sure if there’s any amount of money that would make me feel ok with going through a bureaucratic mess
Sam sounds like an intern.
People could just go through the cell phone as long as it isn't locked and find a phone number to call. I used to work at Target, and the morons that worked there just dropped everything in the lost/found bin behind customer service. I found a cell phone, looked through the numbers, found a home number, called it, and the owner of the phone picked up. 20 minutes later she was at the store, thanking me, and handed me 40 dollars as a thanks. It's almost like a variation of the bystander effect. Just return it yourself, it doesn't take much.
I'm more surprised that there are people who don't have a password on their phone
If it's an Android phone, press the "emergency" button on the lock screen, this will NOT call emergency services, but instead open a menu that can have medical info etc., Which if filled out can also have other people's phone number in it
And if you call those numbers, make sure that you start off with "Hi, I found a phone and you were written as an contact" so that you don't scare their friends
YT won't let me edit my comment, so here's an correction:
Pressing the emergency button will open a phone keypad, with an "emergency information" button above it, here's the previously mentioned Information
@@MrHack4never There is a similar feature on the iPhone, press Emergency then Medical ID to access it.
What I do find annoying is people who come to pick up their lost phone but neither tip nor say "thank you" and kind of blame you for them losing their phone in the first place? (Shouldn't you at least be happy if you are reunited with your lost phone? So why are you angry? At me?)
I was wondering where I left my 114.5 saxophones. Thanks for helping me find them, Sam.
Well, if you had done the math, you would have realized there would be 114.5 lost saxophones this year. Then you could have had the discretion to not lose them in the first place.
@@OrangeC7 But if he hadn't lost them, then someone else would have. He was actually doing the world a favour
I work at a resort in the mail room. I ship out maybe 5-10 lost and found items a week. Usually it’s a phone charger or a stuffed animal. Sometimes its more valuable items like phones or laptops. Once, after a burns night celebration, it was a ceremonial Scottish claymore.
How on earth did you fit that through the postal service?
@@mintcervida6372 You can just mail swords. Even if they're sharpened and totally ready to raid a Miami Chuck-e-Cheese. I've done it.
(Posting a sword, not the chuck-e-cheese thing)
@@dabbinghitlersmemes1762 this is The comment of all time
@@dabbinghitlersmemes1762 I have done that twice now!
Regarding the guy who ghosted: Its possible he got spooked. Returning things to people is already a bit scary - I once returned a wallet to a guy, except when we made the handoff he accused me of stealing the money that was in it (there wasnt any inside when i found it) and he got real hostile real quick. The only reason i turned out ok is because im 6'1 and also i pointed a gun at him - but the way Amy responded like "yeah i can literally meet you anywhere and anytime" seemed a little sus - especially given how motivated she was for just a journal.
Even amy's initial response was weird. Normally when you return something to someone who isnt planning on mugging you with friends, the person gives up a little info or makes the situation less tense like "i live around ___ but if you want we could just meet up at broadway lafayette?"
Im gonna need some details on that first paragraph lmao
@@clethtinthiallor9179 yeah same bro like deadass 'and also i pointed a gun at him' like shit went 0 to 100 real quick
maybe instead of pointing at a gun. You could have just used some reason. Maybe something like why would I ever return a wallet if I stole it?????
@@TheChessRunnerlay off the booze
@@TheChessRunnerThis comment just spews stupidity. You don’t think he tried reasoning with the hostile individual before pointing a gun at them?
I recently lost my phone at a resort in Florida. It was on the in-resort shuttle; my husband could see it moving around to all the stops. We called to let them know and got no feedback. My husband went to the nearest shuttle stop and just waited, but by then it got to the lost and found, so he went and they had almost 400 phones.
They didn’t believe my husband when he described the phone, despite him being ON THE BACKGROUND, one of our WEDDING PHOTOS. HE’s the GUY. IN THE PHOTO.
They actually said, “If you’re really her husband, call the phone.” Sooo he did. Then they finally believed him. 🤦🏻♀️ Made him sign more forms than for our apartment, and finally released it to him.
He went all Dad on me then, “I hope you learned a valuable lesson,” but I let it slide, because he was really the MVP and saved the day.
he's a keeper for doing through all this bs to help you.
@@Game_Hero He really is. I deal with chronic pain, and he’s also a champ about that too. He wants to help me do the things I can do, but he also steps in when he sees I could use some help.
Tonight, for example, I had to get out of bed after three hours of trying to sleep due to pain, and he was barely awake, but he was suggesting getting up and drawing a bath for me, wanted to know if a heating pad would help, or if I needed to get up and move around.
He’s just a stellar man and it shines through in all his actions. I’m a lucky lady. ☺️
This might be the most high effort HAI video yet. We’re approaching 3/4 Interesting territory.
The system actually worked for me. I left my wallet on the bus and they emailed me from the lost and found and let me pick it up a few weeks later. I was stunned that they actually succeeded in that. It helped that my wallet was unique and easily describable: light blue with lots of little pictures of bicycles.
I love this new style of field research focused video essay. Not only is it different to the now saturated space of YT video essays, it also completely changed the outcome or what would have been a (positive) overview of the list and found system, exposing how effective it truly is. Keep it up!
Well, it's a fairly small sample size and a narrow slice of the types of items people tend to return, so while it makes for an interesting video the research is relatively weak evidence.
ANY lost and found system relies on one thing, FINDERS. Also, 95% of people who work on things like the subway (or any public transport) aren't going to bother turning things like journals in, or even opening them. They're just going to toss them out unless you've already called and had a BOLO issued for it. The reason why they turn in cellphones and SS cards and such is those things are IMPORTANT. You can easily go BUY a new journal, but replacing your social security card is a pain. TBH if you want your non-important items back, put a label either on the front or back (or ideally both!) with "if found contact " If I see that, I'm more apt to pick it up when cleaning my bus than if I just see ANOTHER discarded (to me) journal
True. They should have gotten bricked phones and lost them with custom art on the back panel in acrylic paint including the owner's name. That would have cost 8 dollars a phone, not much more expensive than a journal
Agreed most people dont care much about journals
@@RoundShades Didn't even need phones. Could have dropped just about anything even semi-important. Hell, most people won't turn in a phone (not counting drivers/operators) to a lost and found. A better option would have been to drop something like an ID card (i.e. a fake university ID or something) and track THAT
Someone brought up the biggest brain move that should’ve been obvious but simultaneously easy to not think of. Just give the attendants the item yourself saying you found this and it’s for lost and found, then later check up and see if you can retrieve it officially. It’s the only surefire way to test efficacy of the system itself and not the general trust of NYers which we all know is low ass hell and unpredictable
Wow what a impolite fucked up city, even in London that can be a bit selfish you'd find the tube workers hand in bits and bobs like that most of the time as it's just the respectful thing to do, where is the USAs manners?
So ironic that amy wrote the video and made sam say i dont care😂
The NYC subway sure has an efficient system. Seems like the Lost and Found will always have a huge stock of unclaimed items.
I left my bag + passport on a train in Osaka once. I managed to contact the train attendant and retrieve it in Nara within an hour. Super efficient and easy!
A friend of mine traveled from Australia to New York lost his wallet with about $30 cash and no ID in it. After making his way back to Australia the NY police were able to find it and contact him giving a travelers check for the cash amount. They found him by identifying a Costco membership card and investigating who it belonged to
*TIP* Put a sticky label on your phone w/ a friend's contact info + your first name. Even if your phone becomes damaged/stops working, you can still be reached.
But do *not* write your personal email since if someone has your email + your phone/sim, there's a risk they'll be able to gain access to your bank account, etc. Write a friend's info.
I read a study that said 50% of items lost on NYC subway are found. Amazingly, they said that this percentage is actually high compared to other subway systems.
I imagine many New Yorkers and most tourists don't even bother trying because they think it's hopeless. This stat could probably be much higher.
It would be interesting to repeat this but with airtags in the journals, probably glued IN the covers but idk, so that you could tell exactly where they ended up because they could just be bad at matching found items to the loss reports.
wonder if there'd be some ethical/legal problems with this to consider.
That's where my 1/8th of a saxophone is. I've been looking for the past 1.42857 weeks.
I've been to Penn station once. For my next trip from Harrisburg to Providence, I took a 90 minute layover at the 30th Street station in Philly rather than the 20 minute layover at Penn.
Seriously? Good video as usual but here in Chicago I would think that anything lost on public transit is bye bye unless you notice right away. Case in point; I was on my way to a Blackhawks game and had a Jersey(sweater) in a bag. I got off the bus at the United Center and immediately remembered I left the bag. I chased the bus a block to the next stop and lo and behold a nice person saw the bag and saw my crazy ass running after the bus and handed the bag to me at the back door. That was a $300 oopsie...almost.
Question to all: how do you lose your cell phone when it is glued to your hand and eyeballs?
I’m loving the true investigative journalism by the HAI team
Love how we're doing stuff out in the field for these videos now. Keep it up, it makes the content 10% more interesting. You can name the channel 5.5/10ths as interesting now 🥰💚
Haha! Or 55/100ths.
I live in NYC and had to take Lyft last week because at 10 PM, my closest subway station said no trains were running that night, so it was either walk 25 minutes to the next closest train or call a Lyft. As I was getting out, my phone fell out of my pocket and into the car. I spent about 5 minutes calling the phone and about 45 minutes arguing with Lyft until they finally reached out to the driver...who said he didn't have the phone. I had just got it a year ago and was planning on keeping it for a few years, guess not since I never got it back.
I once lost my favorite winter hat on a bus. Next day I was out and about and hopped on a bus. It just so happened to be the exact same bus I had ridden the day before, and my hat was exactly where I had left it. Made my day.
So now we are doing practical research for HAI videos?
The production value is really going up I see!
I really enjoyed this video, especially (!) because Amy actually tested what you where talking about 😁 (even though this example relied upon the people in NYC and not so much on the subway lost & found system
PSA: if you find a lost phone, you can dial single digits in an emergency call to call favourite contacts in order.
In the Emergency menu there may also be a medical ID with the owner’s information.
Seeing this video after watching how Seoul's metro Lost and Found system works really does show how culture also plays into the success of a lost and found
This is the first time I laughed at a "maybe the real X was the friends we made along the way" meme. Well done, HAF!
I lost an umbrella on a bus yesterday. It does a circular line, so 30 minutes later I came back to the bus stop and just picked the umbrella.
I'm more interested in the 8,000 lost social security cards. Like, I've only ever needed mine a handful of times in my life. And it certainly doesn't contain anything I need for my own reference, which means it's staying wherever I put it until I need to take it out for said handful of reasons.
I scrolled so far to find someone who noticed the social security cards! That’s so many for something people rarely carry around!!
They should do more experiments like this.
You don't pay not to go to Penn Station, you pRay not to go to Penn Station: "Lead us not into Penn Station!"
Lost and found is such a fascinating part of business that people don't think about.
Very cool to hear about it!
I really like this new video format where you do an actual test
Looking forward to the newest Nebula Original: Half a Saxophone
Love your channel(s) and videos so much. Following you for years, now. Thank you 💜💜💜
Hi! I live in the American South, and I lost thousands of dollars worth of technology inside my school bag a few years ago in a subway station in New York, on the last day of my trip there with a flight from LaGuardia to Atlanta departing 3 hours from when I lost it. Amazingly, a month or so later, after having to grapple with all the shit I just lost, I got a call from the MTA saying they had found it and were going to FedEx ship it to me at the fastest speed available to them at no charge to me. Turned one of the most stressful times in my adult life into a genuine victory for public-facing logistics.
I live in Philly, and twice now when I've lost things of value (an Android and my wallet) on a SEPTA bus. I was able to get them both back quickly, the phone I picked up the next day, and the wallet, 3 days after. My wallet even had the cash I had in it still there! SEPTA in general has become even trashier lately, though. I'd be willing to bet the chances of lost stuff getting stolen has risen lately.
It’s funny. I lost my wallet on Toronto’s Go Transit train a couple weeks back. It runs from Oshawa to Hamilton so it’s the main commuter route from the suburbs to the city.
I followed it with an AirTag from some random apartment building in Scarborough back to the main Go station and it stopped right where lost and found was. Called and got it back the next morning. Over $200 in cash, every credit card, I.D. and everything else was there.
Most People are good and honest - and this was a much needed reminder of that fact for me
Transport for London (The Tube and London's other transit) has a very similar set up with some very funny items as well!
When I lived in Toronto I was genuinely impressed with the TTC's lost and found I wouldn't be surprised if there's loads of similarities.
I listen to a lot of CZcams videos while I drive (side note to avoid being on my phone behind-the-wheel I had all the videos I want to watch on the road to a playlist before hand) this one started playing as I hit a dead zone, and I hear " you know what sucks" followed by two minutes of silence and loading
The fact that lost items are put on the same armored trucks that pick up fare money seems like a premise for a movie heist.
Loved this video. HAI has evolved past being a series that finds cool facts on the internet and is now hard-hitting investigative journalism that conducts research to test claims.
5:08
“Longer than it takes for the MTA to give you your phone back…”
Mmmm are you sure about that?
Cmon man, at least give Amy a shout out to her socials. She earned it. Well done Amy, your awesome. 👏👍
I’m am now delightly surprised to see non-stock/animated footage
Tokyo Disneyland has an awesome Lost n Found. My wife lost her train card but she remembered what the balance was on it the last time she tapped off. The Lost n found staff had a card reader to read the balance of any cards turned in and they speedily found a card with the balance she said was on it. We figured out it was definitely hers and not just some random one, because the serial number on it was consecutive to mine.
Who keeps loosing saxophones on the NYC subway?
I watch HAI videos for the cheeky grin guy @ 3:49. I see you there!
I would argue the clerk bothering to even respond to you makes that person the most helpful person in the subway system
The saxophone math was terrific.
The Tokyo metro system has the biggest lost and found operation, followed by London.
Japan's culture is very good about theft though from what I understand. it'd be interesting to test out leaving a high value item on public transit there and seeing how easy it would be to get back
@@silvaskiproductions3937 High value items are more likely to be returned all across the world.
Of course, if they aren't, well, you have lost something of high value. But the chances of getting it back are better. It's all about feeling lucky, I suppose ...
Does every video have an "Ending #2" in the captions and I never noticed or is this a goof?
starting at 4:24
Gives me a little hope that I may find my brand new glasses that fell out of my bag a few years ago! I thought the Lost & Found office was a myth until now! 😂 😂
If they found a SSN card why don't they just mail it to them? Surely you can find out their address and charge the recipient for postage
Hard to know what someone's current address is
The system does work for "important" things (sorry Amy's journals). I have gotten my keys back twice from the MTA. The first time was before the internet and I had to fill out a written claim. The last time was also the last time I passed out on the subway on my way home from the bar. Sober 6 years next week
I wonder if the system is more or less effective for things like cell phones that are more valuable.
Definitely more. Not just because it's more expensive, it's just that it's arguably the most important thing one owns.
Meanwhile a random journal probably wouldn't even be given a second look before landing in a litter bag.
You showed the back employee entrance. The public one is a fancy booth in penn station at the base of the escalators near 34th and 7th
As someone who lives near Boca, I was not prepared 😂
whoa you're so talented! sadly I had a mental breakdown and had to set your notebook on fire to take it out on the universe. Hope you're well!
_-The girl that ghosted Amy, probably_
Disneyland surprisingly has a remarkable lost and found. My daughter lost her cell phone and they overnighted it for free!!!
This saxophone joke just killed me !!!
Honestly, thanks to that one guy who returned that one book!
Losing a saxophone on a New York subway is enough to have someone take a header
The fact that this much stuff aren’t stolen after people left them surprises me.
Fun "fact": according to some studies the journals would have been more likely to be returned if there had been money in it.
Amazing video!
"Well we haven't gotten any of our lost items back, I'd call that a weirdly successful!" - Sam
"oh damn where did I leave my air con unit?!"
What is this, a crossover episode with Wendover Productions? Bravo Amy!
I think you vastly underestimated the amount of saxophones in the lost and found by not taking into account the post pandemic saxophone boom
What kind of person tells Amy they want to return her journal but stops responding smh
Interesting sponsorship about a carbon offset effort that is more likely than most to work... perhaps I'll check it out.
Nice to know Amy uses Field Notes.
I lost my wallet twice on the bus. Both times I picked it up at the lost and found, 6 months after I lost it the second time. They contacted me, I was certain it was gone that time lol. I was impressed to say the least, something the mta gets right.
I'm 50% sure that the sex toy briefcase was lost as a prank
Great bonus smile for the saxophone community :)
Wow I can’t believe I never knew about this before. 😧
Ooh, I saw Nokia 3310s! Because of course, those things are indestructible.
The New York subway is now going to feel the power of CZcams! Their claims are going to jump up.
Wow literally this is uploaded when I realized that I lost my ONLY winter hat in my school
good luck finding it.
Plot twist: Amy cared just as much and just threw all but one in a bin and gone for a cozy coffee 🤭
i love how short your videos are
"I've lost my patience but found it when i got off" 💀
0:02 - Sam at the end of every Jet Lag game
Should use GPS tracked Journal, it'll be more interesting to find wherr it ends up
You should now to a video on the Tokyo train system lost and found
I lost my phone twice on the Subway and the first time a guy just yelled at me that I had lost it and the second time someone handed it in to the station manager, who gave it back to me after describing my background picture (my boyfriend) in detail 😅
Thumbnail should be “Going from “half as interesting” to “super interesting” in less than 6 minutes”