apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Living in San Francisco for almost 8 years now, I too have moved many pieces of furniture via the BART or MUNI lines. I used to take the BART to Ikea and would haul my purchases back to the city. When I was in college I even moved all my stuff to a new apartment about 10 blocks away with just an old shopping cart that was left in my building. I was such a starving art student that this clearly seemed the best way to move without having to spend any money on a moving truck; great workout though!

I once moved a 6-foot tall bookshelf (assembled) with the help of the bus system in Boston. The driver looked at me like I was out of my mind.

don't have any experience moving via mass transit but i'd love to see how you use your drafting table. i have a classic old drafting table and i want desperately to keep it, but i just can't seem to make it work for working at home! suggestions...?

With the help of two friends we once picked up a king sized Malm bed at IKEA and brought it home in Toronto via the subway (about an hour and a half trek each way)... once we got it home and assembled we realized that it's sold without the brace or slats... so back again... ugh! It was hilariously funny to try and get all the pieces into the car before it took off, some are really long!

did anyone read the comments under the youtube video...wow people HATE subway couch movers hard.

i wanna know how that girl convinced two guys to move the couch via mass transit!

Are people THAT poor? Jeez, rent a truck!

Weasel Dearest is Mr. Dangerous

I was on the Green Line in Boston years ago and stood next to a woman that had a 5 foot tall Christmas tree she was carrying - and not in the netting that makes it skinnier and holds the branches in.

i had two people help me move from bushwick to borough park via the subway (the L to the R to the D).
i learned my lesson and when i moved from borough park to park slope i rented a uhaul, which only ended up costing about $30.

and k_darling, i'm surprised they let you do that! when i lived in boston i tried to take a dish chair on a nearly empty train but i was kicked off!

Years ago, two roommates and I moved a couch on a skateboard.

The new apartment was only around the block and it should have taken 15 minutes, but we took turns riding on it and we were laughing so hard that it took us a lot longer to get there. At least we didn't piss off any commuters.

f-ing retarded! i cannot believe this.

I transported a wicker love seat from Pier 1 on the T in Boston on Memorial Day! Since it was late in the day on a holiday and we weren't IN the city (the store is in Brookline), the train was just about empty and it was very easy.

We couldn't get it into the car, and renting a truck, as suggested above would have almost doubled the price of our purchase.

When I lived in Sydney, I once wheeled an entire wooden closet rack, still laden with clothes and shoes from Bondi Beach to Bondi junction via Bondi Road (quite a way, and up a hill) because we couldn't dismantle it....Now I'm in Chicago, I relive the memories by moving the odd chair on the CTA...

ok, moving a couch is pretty ridiculous and freakin' bold too! that said, i've moved boxed lamps and my cb2 nesting tables (not as light as i hoped) during rush hour. not my proudest commuter moments, but a girl had to do what a girl had to do :)

Oh, I've moved all sort of stuff on the subway: 8'x10' rug, large antique mirror, 8' long base molding, chairs, etc. When you find stuff on the street, part of the challenge is not to spend $$ getting it home. You get a few odd looks but most people just roll with it.

If you can schlep it and it's not rush hour, why not?

We recently moved about a mile from our current location. While we did rent a truck for the majority of our stuff, we had a couple weeks overlap with the new place. So there were a few things we took over either in our bike baskets or packed inside suitcases on the bus! We also bring home large purchases on the bus too, when we can manage them.

I will never forget bringing home a 6" tall x-mas tree about five miles on the bus in Seattle. I was really poor, and they were only $2.00... I couldn't afford a tree stand, so I hung it from a hook already in the ceiling, with the bottom suspended in a tray of water. I am sure the bus driver wasn't thrilled about all the needles I left behind on the bus.

if it was only 6 inches tall, it shouldn't have been too much of a problem :)

we once purchased an old (heavy, metal) movie theater chair at the coolidge corner theater here in boston and brought it home on the T... only coolidge corner is on the C line and we live on the E, so we had to go inbound to arlington, get off, carry the chair up and down the stairs, and go back outbound again. no one really seemed to mind - in fact, some people thought it was funny that we were sitting on it on the train.

A six-foot by four-foot oil painting. Still wet. Chelsea to Brooklyn, with a transfer.

Well here is a topic AT has not covered much, and to my delight I may add, is what we in Manhattan have is moron hipster kids. This seems like a prime example, althought I did not read the entire post, this is something that fits that profile. The white people and skinny jeans are dead give away..What's worse is these people are NOT New Yorkers, nor can they claim that right, many are from Ohio or the midwest and frankly, have had not the right PH levels since birth. See I handle these situations well..I tell them they are F*&%^&^ing...a*&^&^hol^&es.

This is immediately following the redundant, useless, sex in the city posts. Too much at once...

Jordan just confirmed hipster. Chelsea to Brooklyn. Sorry. Been a tough day..:(

Michaelc reminds me of some of the morons I worked with in LA. When I told one movie exec that I was from Kentucky he said whoa this must have been a change! I worked on Coalminer's Daughter! W T F? Yeah, because everyone in the state rides around in the back of their wagons full of coal, bare feet hanging off.

I'm amazed at how many people comment negatively on places that have never visited. Arrogance and ignorance, why do these always seem to go hand and hand?

Thanks Emerson. There is a difference btw making an ignorant comment as you suggested "I worked on Coalminer's Daughter!" and some moron hauling a 6 foot sofa on the subway. The likely candidate for such a venture is a hipster kid...It is disrepectful behavior. No one from another large city also would not consider such a feat. It is bad enough I have people with 3 bags jabbing me, all I need is a table leg from a 7'x'4 table in my back..Think about it..

i purchased an AC window unit at a pc richards in the middle of the summer and my stubborn ass dragged it onto the subway as i was too cheap to fork over another $10 for a car service to get it to my place. it was light enough for the first block, but then i forgot about all the stairs, and turns, and BS that there is in the atlantic terminal in brooklyn. two stops later and i'm lugging the thing back up the stairs again... onto the street... finally some nice fella took pity on me and helped share the load. ugh. never ever ever going to do that alone again.

I love when I see people with random/odd packages/items on the subway. It makes me smile.

I once bought an armchair from Housing Works, and had the best seat on the subway ride home.

First week of college:
Ikea futon mattress from Washington Heights to Wall Street, via the A train, ON A WEEKEND. Not to mention the slats kept popping out and sounding like gunshots.
Last Month:
Moderate sized mirror, on a heinous rainy day, during rush hour from Gramercy to Bushwick.

I've never done a couch but Mike and I moved a large Louis XVI chair on the subway and we brought home a 48" round coffee table (disassembled) on a Toronto streetcar because we weren't able to rent an Autoshare. Cheap but not so cheerful.

I agree moving a couch is pushing it, and I have some sympathy for others on the bus/subway. But that said I love it when I see people moving odd things via transit - makes me wonder about the story behnd it and I like that "I don't need a car" spirit.

I have moved stuff by streetcar, bus, bike, bundle buggy and a shopping cart I borrowed from my neighbourhood grocery. I have also just walked furniture over when moving close.

I also picked up lumber once to carry home via the pick up bay, which was built to accomodate cars - so there I was standing in line, with cars in front and back (and fumes making me woozy).

This sort of thing makes me think of the Mr. Bean sketch when he buys a new armchair and ties it to the top of his tiny car, then sits in the chair and drives home using ropes tied to the wheel for steering and a mop sticking out the car window to press the pedals.

I once helped a friend move a honking big sofa to a new apartment a block away from the old one. He and another friend rested one end of the sofa in the trunk of a girlfriend's car, hoisted the other end, and I walked (slowly) beside the car so she wouldn't drive too fast. Worked fairly well with only the odd "Slow down!" shouted out from behind.

I've taken a 5' Xmas tree on the bus, but it was wrapped up and the bus was not crowded. The largest I've hauled on the T was a framed poster and a small ice cream parlor style chair and they both fit in my old-lady wire wheel basket. I've also taken my cat to the vet in her carrier on the bus. Taking a sofa on the Green Line can't be worse than Sox fans from the suburbs who all think they have to stand by the door or else they might not be able to get out when we get to Kenmore.

Yeah, I'd move furniture on the subway if I had to, within limits of what I could carry. I try to be considerate of other people there, but in reality, I'd do it when it was less crowded for my own temperament.

I still remember seeing a poor guy lug an a/c unit on the subway in Queens last summer. Nobody else bothered to help him either.
Doesn't it make more sense to feel compelled to try to help out the poor guy lugging something so heavy and awkward than to get mad because it's an inconvenience to you?? I mean it's just like having the decency to get up off your ass to offer your seat to a pregnant woman (i've witnessed PLENTY of able-bodied men ignore them), an elderly person, or the disabled. I get more mad at people pushing and elbowing on a crowded train when they have no heavy awkward baggage at all.
Not everyone has a license or can afford to rent or own a car to move furniture....so they do what they can even though it is laborious. If you can't find a buddy with a car to help you...there is just no other choice.

It appears from the video, that the subway was not crowded that day so i'm sure very few people were jabbed. I say kudos for them....they probably got a good deal on a great couch and went for it no matter what.

Oh man, I can so relate, as I don't drive and have a budget of nothing, I've had some tricky times with large items and public transport and taxis.

The last time it was something slightly awkward, a long curtain rod on a bus.

about 15 years ago, i had a boyfriend who worked at Crate and Barrel. one night he brought home four (!) wrought iron and wicker barstools on the MTA bus. no easy feat! it was hysterical. i loved him for it.

There's nothing moronic about moving stuff on the subway, as long as it's not crowded. I live in NYC and have moved a Christmas tree, two large dining chairs, and several tall IKEA cd shelves (not all at the same time, of course). It's just part of life in the city. Renting a truck is an expensive pain, especially for something you're getting for pennies off craigslist. Just don't trip anyone, and you're good.

I think it's VERY tricky, but I moved a couple of sad old Louis XVI-ish side chairs I found on the street in Chelsea over to Brooklyn on the subway back in 1990, which came back to me in the mid-1990's when that friend moved away.

I hauled a fairly heavy box that contained the parts of a leaning bookcase over my shoulder and into the subway to my place from Home Depot, because it was raining and there were no cabs.

But no couches.

No experience with moving via public transit, but I have moved my entire house twice via VW Cabrio covertible. Put the top down and balace large items on the bike rack hooked over the trunk. It is actually really, really easy and the stares and laughs are very entertaining.