2007年VOA标准英语-Busy New York Commuters Leave Thousands of Item

By Paige Kollock
New York
12 September 2007
 

New York City's metropolitan² population of roughly 22 million people is the largest in the United States.   But only about eight million people actually live in the city. Millions of others commute³ from outlying areas, riding trains into Manhattan each morning, riding them home again each night.  In those journeys, some things get lost.  Paige Kollock reports for VOA News.

Grand Central Station in New York

Every day about 10,000 people ride on Metro¹ North Railroads, a suburban⁴ and commuter⁵ railroad servicing New York City.  And every day, about 100 items are lost.

"We get a lot of suitcases, tote bags, backpacks, laptops," says Mike Nolan. He is in charge of Metro North's Lost and Found department at Grand Central Station in New York -- a department some have called "the best in the world."  "We get sporting goods, we get bikes, hockey sticks.  I've seen skis, I've seen a full set of skis, and sometimes we get golf clubs."

Monday through Friday, he and his employees process thousands of items, collecting them from trains, tagging them and processing them through a computer, all with the hope that they will find their rightful owner.

"One of the ways we help identify owners is every item that comes in receives a property tag.  On that tag we identify what train line, or where they were traveling, actually where we recovered it from."

Metro North has drop boxes in remote locations where both customers and employees can turn in items found on the train.  The railway company also has an extensive computerized tracking system that helps connect one man's black umbrella with its rain-soaked owner. "If you lost a Nike backpack, we have four of them here."

Employees go to great lengths to track down a lost item's rightful owner: e-mailing, writing postcards and calling up to three times. "Hi Andy, this is Metro North Lost and Found calling, we have a wallet that you lost.  We're in Grand Central Station on the lower level, office hours are Monday through Friday, just come in with a photo ID.  Just write down this property tag number and bring your ID.  Alright sir?  Have a good day."

Will he come fetch his wallet?  Chances are, he will, but a surprising number of people do not come to retrieve⁶ their property.

Lost items are tagged and stored

Nolan adds, "We have iPods, we have the Palm, the Treo phones, multiple iPods, we have wallets.  People will actually hand in cash. After the holding period of 90 days, the person who found it can come get it.  In a case like cash, we would then deposit it in a treasury⁷ account and it becomes the railroad's money."

No item is too valuable for busy New Yorkers to leave behind.  One woman left a diamond ring worth $15,000; another customer left a basset hound.  Several years ago, one disgruntled woman left her adulterous husband's ashes on the train seat. 

Recalling a unique item, "One time we had two sets of false teeth recovered and three people looking for them" Nolan said.

On this day, customers came in looking for a bag, a sweatshirt, a gift box and a car key. "It's a black Audi key" the customer described.

Kyle Smith was one of them.  But the highly sophisticated tracking system failed him. "I lost a gym bag on the way to my sister's. It was an overnight bag with some clothes in it, hair stuff, stupid crap like that."

Grand Central Station's lost and found department

Mike Nolan says he is often amazed at how many items are turned in to his lost and found department. "In a given year, we'll recover more than 20,000 items. So those are employees, customers, people that actually handed things in, if you can imagine -- there are 20,000 people in New York that are pretty honest, so it's a good thing."

And as long as New Yorkers continue to be honest, the dutiful servants of the left behind will continue their work.

1 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

2 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

3 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

6 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。