deskthority

As the subject says, looking for recyclers and thrift shops in NYC that are likely to have vintage Cherry and Alps boards.

Never seen a keyboard in a Manhattan thrift shop. Not worth the space it takes up really. Best luck is in Brooklyn or Queens. That being said do you have an unlimited metro? If not it is not even worth hitting up for the low chance that they will have a keyboard.

Edit: There is an NYC Meetup group for mechanical keyboards

The fastest way around NYC is a bicycle.
http://gothamist.com/2006/05/19/taxi_vs_bike_bi.php

I thought I read something here about a recycling center up in Greenpoint in Brooklyn.

Maybe Parak has a lead?

XMIT: Taxi vs Bike? well if you can afford a $30 taxi then you mind as well buy the keyboard on ebay, also NYC is murder city USA for cyclist.

codemonkeymike: Aww shucks. Thanks for the reply anyway. When & where does the group meet?
XMIT: There's no chance I'm biking from the UWS to Brooklyn in winter. God Bless if you do!

When I was in high school I would ride from Bay Ridge to near City Hall just about every day. 7.5 miles, ~30 minutes. Below 32 F it was miserable. But really the worst is the wet roads.

At the time I found all of my vintage boards - AEK I and II and IBM Model M mostly - through either school trash or a contact who was recycling IT equipment from a magazine for low income folks. Sometimes we'd get lucky dumpster diving in the NYU area, we found a bunch of Wang terminals that way once.

Previous thread for reference - also includes some good recycling facility etiquette. Maybe elecplus has a lead that can be shared.

vendors-f52/who-can-scrounge-in-brooklyn-ny-t13414.html

Your more brave then I XMIT. Any who, I never had any luck at the e-waste recyclers in Central Jersey. They are too much worried about liabilities when you talk to them on the phone. Apparently you have better luck just showing up and asking some times.

You might have some luck incorporating an LLC (small business) and then calling on behalf of that small business. Many of these recycling facilities live in the past (think land line telephones and fax machines) and are only used to business-to-business transactions. As an LLC (maybe even a sole proprietorship) you can send and receive business invoices.

Keyboard recyclers have more in common with automotive junk yards than anything else. Indeed, just plain showing up is often half the battle.