Build It Green! NYC
3-17 26th Ave., at 4th St., Astoria 718-777-0132
There are salvage stores (like Olde Good Things in Chelsea and the Demolition Depot & Irreplaceable Artifacts in Harlem) with more-exhaustive inventories of antique lighting, windows, doors, and plumbing, but Build It Green! NYC specializes in goods that won’t blow your budget. Five bucks buys you a gallon of paint; $15 gets you a bathroom sink. And big-ticket appliances are drastically slashed as well: An unused Viking stainless-steel fridge might sell for $3,000, roughly half what you’d pay for a similar model at P.C. Richard & Son. Most of the inventory comes from buildings about to be demolished or revamped, including new condos with finicky owners who swap out standard designer appliances and cabinetry for newer stuff. At its core, Build It Green! NYC is a nonprofit that aims to keep materials out of landfills, so the staff have built relationships with developers and demolition crews as well as television and film studios that regularly drop off unique and reusable props.