If you’ve ever left your AirPods wedged between subway seats or your tote bag forgotten on the Q, don’t hold your breath waiting for the MTA to give it back. A new undercover study by the agency’s own inspector general reveals what New Yorkers already suspected: The MTA is basically a black hole for your belongings.
Here’s what went down. In early 2024, investigators planted 24 “lost” items with transit workers across subway stations and buses. Months later, only one—yes, one—ever made it back to the Lost Property Unit. (And that was a keychain with an email address practically screaming “return me.”) The rest? Gone. Vanished. Possibly in the wild, possibly in someone’s junk drawer.
The inspector general’s office didn’t mince words, warning that employees may be discarding—or even keeping—passengers’ lost property. Ouch. Things weren’t much better on the Long Island Rail Road, where only 47-percent of test items resurfaced…