Good morning on this icebox of a Thursday.
When New York Fashion Week kicks off today, the catwalks of Manhattan will be filled with fabulously unaffordable outfits.
But you can own some of this fabulosity for a pittance — maybe not the outfits, but the fabric they’re made of.
All it takes is a subway ride to the last stop on the F, up four flights of warehouse stairs, past the noisy production lines of the Hanky Panky lingerie factory to the unglamorous showroom of Fabscrap in Jamaica, Queens.
There, you’ll find designer silk faille, delicate corded lace appliqués, fire-red duchess satin, midnight wash denim, and whole hides of leather in tobacco, charcoal or cobalt — for as little as $5 a pound.
Fabscrap, founded in 2015, is a nonprofit that recycles discarded fabric from designers like Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta and Eileen Fisher. It’s part of a movement to make the fashion industry more sustainable.
Fabscrap’s founder, Jessica Schreiber, is expecting a glut of new stock, “because after Fashion Week everyone cleans out.”
When we visited this week, volunteers picked fabric from garbage bags piled 12 feet high.
Cotton, wool and spandex are separated, and smaller scraps are sent out to be made into fire blankets, insulation and car-door lining. The good pieces are meticulously organized by color and neatly folded in Fabscrap’s retail space.
Last year Fabscrap collected 68,000 pounds of fabric — enough to fill 13,600 shopping bags or create an equal number of head-to-toe looks.
Ms. Schreiber, 29, a former senior manager at the city sanitation department and self-described “trash nerd,” founded the nonprofit after noticing that New York’s clothing recycling program didn’t accept fabric.
“The city collects reusable clothes and takes it to Goodwill,” she said. “It didn’t really fit their model.”
She started driving a U-Haul van around Midtown picking up 50-pound bags of fabric from designers. “I got to know a lot of the freight elevator operators in the garment district,” she said.
She was often told, “You work like a man.” She took it as a compliment.
Ms. Schreiber’s goal is to one day collect scraps from clothing producers, which generate a lot more waste than designers. “That’s where you have the potential to make a real impact,” she said.
But for now, she’s looking to expand her network of over 600 volunteers, who get free fabric and an important lesson.
“When you walk in and see this pile of waste it’s such an educational moment,” she said. “There’s no better way to change what someone thinks about waste than for them to see it and put their hands on it.”
Here’s what else is happening:
Weather
Yesterday’s slush is but a memory.
It will be sunny and dry, but temperatures might not get above freezing.
Wrap a fabric scrap around your neck: The wind could make it feel like 15 on your commute.
In the News
• Though liberal, Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city should not go easy on turnstile jumpers. [New York Times]
• Data suggests that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is managing to stabilize what has been a system riddled by delays and plagued by failing infrastructure. Riders, however, can’t tell. [New York Times]
• The high school graduation rate in New York State increased half a percentage point, according to new data. [New York Times]
• Frederic Lyman taught at four private schools in the 1970s and ’80s. He is now known to have engaged in sexual misconduct with students at all four of them, an investigation revealed. [New York Times]
• Roman Catholic dioceses in Illinois and New York are fighting over where Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who died in 1979, should be buried. [New York Times]
• Google is buying Chelsea Market for $2.4 billion, part of the rapid expansion of technology companies in the city. [New York Times]
• The federal corruption trial against Joseph Percoco may hinge on the credibility of the government’s key witness, Todd Howe; under cross-examination, Mr. Howe admitted to being a habitual liar. [New York Times]
• The T.W.A. Flight Center at Kennedy International Airport is being converted into a hotel slated to open in 2019. [New York Times]
• This year, you’ll be able to go camping on Governors Island. A luxury glamping company will bring “overnight lodging” to the island. [Curbed NY]
• A look at the nearly 400 workers whose job is to build trust with people living on the streets and bring them indoors. [WNYC]
• Affordable housing is still out of reach for many in Connecticut, a new report revealed. [Hartford Courant]
• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “A Great Commute”
• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Morning Briefing.
Coming Up Today
• Sip botanical cocktails and craft something for your Valentine at the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing. 6 p.m. [$18]
• A discussion about police violence with authors and professors at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. 6:30 p.m. [Free]
• Zadie Smith talks about her new book “Feel Free” at Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. 7 p.m. [Free]
• Dan Rather reflects on patriotism at Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side. 7 p.m. [$18, includes a copy of Mr. Rather’s book “What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism”]
• An immersive staging of “Dutchman,” about race and gender in the 1960s, at the Secret Theater in Long Island City, Queens. 7:30 p.m. [$20]
• Looking ahead: Common talks about his work and career with Marc Lacey, the national editor of The New York Times, at the Kaufman Music Center on the Upper West Side. Tuesday at 7 p.m. [$40]
• Islanders at Sabres, 7 p.m. (MSG+2). Devils host Flames, 7 p.m. (MSG+). Knicks at Raptors, 7:30 p.m. (MSG).
• Alternate-side parking remains in effect until Feb. 12.
• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
And Finally...
If discount fashion is not your thing, here’s another way you might save some money: Get help doing your taxes.
Our public libraries are working with organizations like AARP, Ariva, Food Bank, MMCC and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program to offer free filing help — and prevent you from overtipping Uncle Sam.
You have two extra days to file this year: The deadline is April 17. But why procrastinate? Those envelopes with Important Tax Documents Enclosed should have all landed by now. Don’t wait till you lose them.
You can get help today at:
• The Parkchester Library in the Bronx from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Sign-ups begin at 8 a.m.)
• The Epiphany Library in Midtown from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (First come first served)
• The Todt Hill-Westerleigh Library in Staten Island beginning at 11 a.m.
• The Riverside Library near Lincoln Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• The Chatham Square Library in Lower Manhattan from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• And freelancers will get special attention at the Science, Industry and Business Library in Midtown from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
A full listing of more than 200 library tax-preparation events can be found here.
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