While I was out of the country, Take a Seat was featured on Wooster Collective and then Gothamist. (And then Trend Hunter! Ha!) I'm not sure how it made the rounds, as I've kept the project pretty quiet for now, but it was a nice surprise. (Anyone want to fess up?)

Almost immediately, the criticism came pouring in. I had no idea the project would be so controversial; personally, I think it's one of the most entirely rational things I've ever done. Granted, most of the criticisms were from the grouchy computer chair philosophers at Gothamist, and they're a tough crowd. But I gave the criticisms a good deal of thought (as I am wont to do) and decided to answer them, starting with the least constructive:

1. Don't put trash on my subway platform: Come now. Just because it's in someone's garbage pile doesn't mean it isn't a perfectly functional object. There are many reasons someone might toss out a chair: they spilled paint on it, it doesn't match the new decor, they bought new chairs and don't have room for the old ones. Trash is not black-and-white, yes-or-no, either/or. It's entirely subjective.
   
   
2. Bedbugs!!! This is the "terrorism" of freeganism in NYC, which is to say, it's the catch-all "don't trust anything" reason people fall back on whenever they're afraid of something unusual and don't want to examine their fear further. Look, I know how awful bedbugs are. I've been lucky to avoid them myself, but I've had roommates and friends suffer through them and I am acutely aware of the risks.
   
   Very few of these chairs contain fabric (which are more conducive to housing bedbugs); most of them are composed of metal or wood. And the chairs usually live in my own apartment for a few days before being dropped, so it's in my own self-interest not to adopt bedbug-beridden furniture.
   
   Further, you can tell for what reasons furniture is being thrown out in the first place. If you see a mattress, chairs, bedding, and a couch, something is definitely wrong. But if you see a desk, chair, and filing cabinet, chances are someone just upgraded their home office.
   
   Ultimately, and this is the real point: you are just as likely to acquire bedbugs by standing next to someone on your rush hour commute as you are by sitting on public furniture, MTA-sanctioned or otherwise.
   
   
3. Drunken "a-hole" throwing the furniture onto the tracks and causing delays: This was perhaps the most surprising response I received. It's an attitude that expects the worst out of people, an attitude that I rarely possess, and an attitude that someone who is trying to affect this kind of positive change perhaps should never possess.
   
   And yet, it is something I should have thought more about. Am I creating more possibilities for problems?
   
   Maybe. But the drunken a-hole could bring any piece of property down into the station with him, or the drunken a-hole could snatch someone else's property. And I keep coming back to the fact that I have never in my life encountered, as far as I know, someone who would do such a ridiculous thing. Doesn't such an act go against the self-interest of the drunken a-hole? Presumably this person desires to be in transit just as much as the non-drunken a-hole or drunken non-a-hole. Yes, drunkenness renders some rational facilities less functional than normal, but then, should all of public life be engineered as drunk-proof?
   
   And at this point I conclude: the only person responsible for the actions of the drunken a-hole is the drunken a-hole.
   
   
4. Liability: The idea is that it's possible I could be held liable for people who injure themselves while attempting to use the furniture.
   
   Is this true? I imagine only a lawyer can really tell, and even then, I bet it's speculative. And anyway, if I had the time and money to hire a lawyer to consult me on these matters, I'd be spending them on bigger and better projects!
   
   Regardless, this underestimates the level of self-preservation New Yorkers must possess to survive in this city. Though I've never stuck around to watch riders' reactions, I imagine the chairs are often greeted with skepticism - "Who's chair is this? Why is it here? Is there something wrong with it?" - and only utilized by people who just really need to take a load off. So there's an acknowledged and calculated risk by those who sit in the furniture: because the object is unusual and out of place, it may not work perfectly, but the perceived advantages outweigh the disadvantages (again: economics!).
   
   
5. Crowding already crowded platforms: I find this to be the only valid concern, and it's something I perhaps should have addressed explicitly on the website, but I thought it was so obvious! So let me state it here: drops are made with thorough awareness and complete concern for when the furniture might be a liability (by taking up much-needed space) instead of an asset, including day of week, time of day, width of platform, and expected size of ridership on the platform. (For example, I will never make a drop at the 59th and Lexington N/R/W stop.) Further, drops often happen at night, when there is plenty of room on the platform, when trains run less frequently, and when people are most tired and need to take a seat.