Brooklynites’ diamond ring rescued from dump with NYC sanitation department's help

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC. Gothamist Listen Live Donate News Brooklynites’ diamond ring rescued from dump with NYC sanitation department's help By Apolline Lamy and Giulia Heyward Published Aug 7, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. ET

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The New York equivalent to a wild goose chase may involve tailing a garbage truck, in hopes you can relocate a family heirloom.

At least that’s the case with one Brooklyn resident who realized they accidentally chucked out a pair of rings, and had to enlist the city’s help.

The Brooklyn resident reached out to the city’s sanitation department after realizing they had accidentally thrown out their grandmother’s platinum and diamond wedding rings, according to a DSNY official. Sanitation crews were able to pull a truck from the department's Brooklyn South 13 District and direct it instead to a waste management facility on Varick Street.

While the incident is being touted as a miracle on social media, it isn’t the first time something like this has happened, officials said

The resident had accidentally put the items into a central compactor within their apartment building, which added another layer of difficulty to the search, said Joshua Goodman, a DSNY spokesperson.

New Yorkers throw away 24 million pounds of trash, recycling and other compostable materials each day, and something important gets chucked out every so often, Goodman said.

“A few times a year someone will reach out to us and say ‘I threw out something important,’” Goodman said. “And if they call us in time before the truck is emptied, and the material is loaded onto a barge or rail car to head off to its final destination, it may be possible for us to arrange a lost valuables search, and help them recover that item.”

But here’s the catch: It's up to the caller to dig through the hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash in that truck to try to recover items.

Goodman said that DSNY can supervise the search and help residents thoroughly searching for their proverbial needle in a haystack. And often, it does prove successful.

“People know their trash very well,” Goodman said.

And for any New Yorkers who fear they may have thrown out something of value, Goodman encourages them to call 311 as soon as they can because even an hour can make a difference.

Apolline Lamy is a reporting intern on the Day-of Desk. She is studying for her master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.

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