Q: I live near Columbia and have 24 bags of clothes that I can’t get Goodwill or the Salvation Army to pick up. Who’ll do it?
A: To the Salvation Army, anything north of 110th Street is “the Bronx.” Its Bronx warehouse isn’t accepting clothing till March, though, and Goodwill has stopped its pickups altogether. That leaves Catholic Charities (402 East 152nd Street; 718-292-9090), part of the Archdiocese of New York’s Catholic Charities, to take up the uptown slack. It treks to all parts of the Bronx and Manhattan above 14th Street for pickups of one bag or more, then hands it out on a nonsectarian basis to those in need—the elderly, AIDS and domestic-violence victims, the homeless. A pickup can take a week, though. If you’re in a hurry, try City Opera Thrift Shop (222 East 23rd Street; 212-684-5344), which will go anywhere in the five boroughs (and sometimes the suburbs), usually in three to five business days. Its sales of quality vintage items benefit city culture, and it gives the leftovers to Goodwill and the Salvation Army—which is where you were trying to donate your stuff in the first place.