NYC Caches are impossible to get to!

[+chrisalecia]

Finding a cache in NYC is about as tough as anywhere else aside from the problem of signal bounce. But, I have located 3 caches that I can not get to due to muggles!! Boy am I becoming FRUSTRATED! I a finding these around my lunch hour during work. Every time I locate a cache there is always a limo driver sitting right there in his car or standing nearby smoking. I just today found a cache on East 44th St and across the street was 100+ women on line for Rachel Ray show!! Talk about an awkward moment! I even moved the cache with my foot to make sure that was it. But if I tried to get it I would have been discovered for sure. I have walked by a cache (that I have seen), on my way to work 3 times and have not had the moment to go get it. There has always been a muggle or homeless muggle right there next to it.

 

So, my question is how do I get these caches? The cloak of night is one option but I'm not in NYC at night. I thought of maybe dropping my backpack near the cache and discreetly slip it out while pretending to look in my bag. Any ideas from those who have had success in broad daylight in the heart of a city like NYC?

[+StarBrand]

Forget Stealth:

 

I advise you to not try and be stealthy. That just attracts more undue attention. Instead be bold. Be proud of what you are doing - act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't!!). Act as though it is your job to find that cache, a job you are very good at and proud to do. Find it. Sign it. Put it back and move on. Carry a clipboard and look professional - you'll blend into the background.

[+redwoodkestrel]

Finding a cache in NYC is about as tough as anywhere else aside from the problem of signal bounce. But, I have located 3 caches that I can not get to due to muggles!! Boy am I becoming FRUSTRATED! I a finding these around my lunch hour during work. Every time I locate a cache there is always a limo driver sitting right there in his car or standing nearby smoking. I just today found a cache on East 44th St and across the street was 100+ women on line for Rachel Ray show!! Talk about an awkward moment! I even moved the cache with my foot to make sure that was it. But if I tried to get it I would have been discovered for sure. I have walked by a cache (that I have seen), on my way to work 3 times and have not had the moment to go get it. There has always been a muggle or homeless muggle right there next to it.

 

So, my question is how do I get these caches? The cloak of night is one option but I'm not in NYC at night. I thought of maybe dropping my backpack near the cache and discreetly slip it out while pretending to look in my bag. Any ideas from those who have had success in broad daylight in the heart of a city like NYC?

 

I cache in San Francisco and often encounter similar situations... I often do the "tying my shoe" or "oops just dropped something better crawl under this bench to get it" tactic. I doubt anyone will notice you, especially if you already know where the cache is. I, on the other hand, often find myself "dropping my pen" under bench after bench looking for the elusive magnetic nano... Yes, I am a master of stealth.

[+Keelmann And Cici]

Forget Stealth:

 

I advise you to not try and be stealthy. That just attracts more undue attention. Instead be bold. Be proud of what you are doing - act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't!!). Act as though it is your job to find that cache, a job you are very good at and proud to do. Find it. Sign it. Put it back and move on. Carry a clipboard and look professional - you'll blend into the background.

 

I've found this to be excellent advice. The best form of stealth is simply appear to be doing something you are supposed to be doing. Attempts to be "stealthy" very often come across as "sneaky". Sure, I've been turned away by the muggle factor before, but generally I've found that if I appear to be doing something openly, I'm most often completely ignored.

[+Ambrosia]

I often pretend to be on the phone. It's amazing how you just seem to disappear in people's eyes when you're talking on your phone. I once found a cache magnetically attached to a metal box on a pole in the middle of an open park space, with about 20 kids and adults playing ball just feet away. As soon as they saw me loitering with a phone, their eyes just slid right over me. I've never had the phone ploy fail me yet, it give me an excuse to hang around in one spot without looking suspicious.

[knowschad]

I think you would have been OK going straight for that cache that was across from the ladies waiting for the Rachael Ray show, just as long as you didn't shout "Yum-O!" when you found it.

[+addisonbr]

StarBrand gives good advice. Also, if you're getting them on your lunch break, go with a coworker. Two people are often less suspicious than one person furtively looking around, and your buddy can take out a cell phone and pretend to take a photo, etc.

 

Good luck!

[+BlueDeuce]

GC1R67Y down in the Tribeca area isn't too bad, although it seems to have trouble keeping a working container.

[+Thrak]

Get a white hard hat, an orange vest, and a clipboard. You should be able to do just about anything you like without attracting undue attention to the cache.

[NEwhere]

Talk on the phone, or appear to be texting/reading on it. Or get a hardhat, clipboard and reflective jacket that says inspector as in building inspector on it....

[+chrisalecia]

I think you would have been OK going straight for that cache that was across from the ladies waiting for the Rachael Ray show, just as long as you didn't shout "Yum-O!" when you found it.

 

VERY funny! I liked that one!

 

Good advice everyone, thanks. Having another person is a good idea. Throws off the eye a little more. Construction garb is another good idea. Those guys seem to go everywhere and not get questioned.

[+hukilaulau]

Get a white hard hat, an orange vest, and a clipboard. You should be able to do just about anything you like without attracting undue attention to the cache.

Unless tourists mistake you for one of the Village People and hound you for autographs!

Taking someone with you pretending to take your photograph is probably the easiest way.

 

I've had the same frustrations in NYC. For me, the best answer has been, hop on a subway to Prospect Park. But if you only have your lunch hour, you can't really do that.

[TheDoctorPH]

personally i dont worry about people seeing me. i did a bunch of caching today and was in public the whole time. yeah there were a few cars slowing down to see what i was doing and i even had a guy stop to ask me what i was doing but i just explained to him that it was a game and he went on his old curmudgeonly way (seriously this guy was all about the "in my day we didnt have time to be looking for stuff in trees.").

 

so as long as your not doing anything illegal (AND DONT DO ANYTHING ILLEGAL) then who cares if people see u?

[+The Cheeseheads]

GC1R67Y down in the Tribeca area isn't too bad, although it seems to have trouble keeping a working container.

I found one near Battery Park. After walking past the area a couple times and having a fairly good idea of where it probably was, I sent the kids in after it while Mrs. Cheesehead and I sat on a bench. Nobody paid any attention to a few kids walking around through the bushes.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Uh oh. The one across from Rachel Ray should not be on the ground!

Okay. I've found 300 caches on Manhattan Island. Mostly on Saturdays though. Yes. It is a big city! Yes. There are millions of people walking by every hour! Yes. On rare occasion I've had to give up the search. Yes. Look like you belong. For the most part, New Yorkers ignore everyone else. The cab driver probably would not have noticed you feeling up the munimeter, or the telephone.

[+6NoisyHikers]

I've pulled the "architecture student" act a few times. If you have a sketchbook, pencil and camera - even a small measuring tape - you can pretend you are studying the details. And it give you a good excuse to get up close and personal with struts and bolts...

[+dameetro]

When I was in NYC earlier this year, the old "trying my shoe trick" worked on several caches that were under benches or on a fence.

Edited December 1, 2011 by dameetro

[+Ambrosia]

Uh oh. The one across from Rachel Ray should not be on the ground!

Okay. I've found 300 caches on Manhattan Island. Mostly on Saturdays though. Yes. It is a big city! Yes. There are millions of people walking by every hour! Yes. On rare occasion I've had to give up the search. Yes. Look like you belong. For the most part, New Yorkers ignore everyone else. The cab driver probably would not have noticed you feeling up the munimeter, or the telephone.

This is true. One of the funniest cache situations I have had was at the New York webcam cache in 2002. My husband and I stood in the middle of the busy sidewalk, staring up into a corner, waving and laughing while on the cell phone for something like 10 minutes. I don't think a single person acknowledged us as they walked around us. That just made us laugh even harder.

 

Although, the reputation of New Yorkers as being cold has not been seen by us. If you look them in the eyes and smile as you walk by, they smile back. I've found New Yorkers to be very warm and friendly, probably more so then most cities I've been to. I'm really thinking this is a by product of 9-11.

[+Harry Dolphin]

This is true. One of the funniest cache situations I have had was at the New York webcam cache in 2002. My husband and I stood in the middle of the busy sidewalk, staring up into a corner, waving and laughing while on the cell phone for something like 10 minutes. I don't think a single person acknowledged us as they walked around us. That just made us laugh even harder.

 

Although, the reputation of New Yorkers as being cold has not been seen by us. If you look them in the eyes and smile as you walk by, they smile back. I've found New Yorkers to be very warm and friendly, probably more so then most cities I've been to. I'm really thinking this is a by product of 9-11.

 

Were you holding the "Found Ir" sign? Or was that the earlier webcam? We had people ask "What did you find?"

They're every bit as friendly as anyone else. Possibly more so. But, with the number of people, one can keep his/her sphere of privacy by ignoring everyone else. Once, a lady was leaning against the sign the cache was hidden on. I dropped my back pack on the ground behind her, palmed the cache. Returned a few minutes later, dropped the back pack, tied my shoe, and replaced the cache. I was a foot from her! She paid me absolutely no attention.

[+Ambrosia]

This is true. One of the funniest cache situations I have had was at the New York webcam cache in 2002. My husband and I stood in the middle of the busy sidewalk, staring up into a corner, waving and laughing while on the cell phone for something like 10 minutes. I don't think a single person acknowledged us as they walked around us. That just made us laugh even harder.

 

Although, the reputation of New Yorkers as being cold has not been seen by us. If you look them in the eyes and smile as you walk by, they smile back. I've found New Yorkers to be very warm and friendly, probably more so then most cities I've been to. I'm really thinking this is a by product of 9-11.

 

Were you holding the "Found Ir" sign? Or was that the earlier webcam? We had people ask "What did you find?"

They're every bit as friendly as anyone else. Possibly more so. But, with the number of people, one can keep his/her sphere of privacy by ignoring everyone else. Once, a lady was leaning against the sign the cache was hidden on. I dropped my back pack on the ground behind her, palmed the cache. Returned a few minutes later, dropped the back pack, tied my shoe, and replaced the cache. I was a foot from her! She paid me absolutely no attention.

It was the Times Square Webcam

 

[+Coldgears]

This is true. One of the funniest cache situations I have had was at the New York webcam cache in 2002. My husband and I stood in the middle of the busy sidewalk, staring up into a corner, waving and laughing while on the cell phone for something like 10 minutes. I don't think a single person acknowledged us as they walked around us. That just made us laugh even harder.

 

Although, the reputation of New Yorkers as being cold has not been seen by us. If you look them in the eyes and smile as you walk by, they smile back. I've found New Yorkers to be very warm and friendly, probably more so then most cities I've been to. I'm really thinking this is a by product of 9-11.

 

Were you holding the "Found Ir" sign? Or was that the earlier webcam? We had people ask "What did you find?"

They're every bit as friendly as anyone else. Possibly more so. But, with the number of people, one can keep his/her sphere of privacy by ignoring everyone else. Once, a lady was leaning against the sign the cache was hidden on. I dropped my back pack on the ground behind her, palmed the cache. Returned a few minutes later, dropped the back pack, tied my shoe, and replaced the cache. I was a foot from her! She paid me absolutely no attention.

It was the Times Square Webcam

 

I live approximately an hour away. I'm leaving now, watch the webcam... I am knocking that cart!

[+addisonbr]

It was the Times Square Webcam

Interesting... a few years after the webcam was archived, the same was reborn by a different cacher as an Unknown cache / ALR:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=bc645a0b-215a-40c7-9db2-038cec802ff0

[+Ambrosia]

It was the Times Square Webcam

Interesting... a few years after the webcam was archived, the same was reborn by a different cacher as an Unknown cache / ALR:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=bc645a0b-215a-40c7-9db2-038cec802ff0

Oh, I hadn't seen that one. I probably walked right by it in 2009.

[+Harry Dolphin]

How time flies:

 

 

2007

 

 

2004

[+Ambrosia]

How time flies:

 

 

2007

 

 

2004

 

 

I was sad when the owner archived the webcam in favour of Waymarking. I love Waymarking, but there was no reason to archive the cache. They could have had both, win win!

[+BlueDeuce]

GC1R67Y down in the Tribeca area isn't too bad, although it seems to have trouble keeping a working container.

I found one near Battery Park. After walking past the area a couple times and having a fairly good idea of where it probably was, I sent the kids in after it while Mrs. Cheesehead and I sat on a bench. Nobody paid any attention to a few kids walking around through the bushes.

 

Kids are the best cover. No one is surprised to see them poking around and looking under stuff. Plus, as you said, you can sit back and let them bring you the cache.

[+Coldgears]

A short excerpt from one of my favorite logs.

 

Once I reached the spot, I knew exactly where to look, using the hint. I thought it was in the corner, and I kept looking, even going on the ground. IN THE RAIN! People kept asking, "Did I loose something." The mail-man nearby just watched, and eventually asked what I was doing, and I told him I was geocaching and gave a two second explanation.

 

After more searching, and more weird looks, and questions from passerby's... And even checking the other corner, I noticed something in my peripheral vision... I FOUND IT!

 

I noticed this mail guy still was wondering what the heck I was doing, so I asked for a pen, and signed it. I then had to explain what geocaching was, and showed him my geocaching coat. He thought it was only in the city, and I explained it that they were hidden everywhere.

 

His final words were, "So this won't blow up", and mine were, "No it's just paper". He didn't seem too convinced. Ahh well, I doubt he would muggle it, and I doubt he cares enough to call the police. I think he'll probably look geocaching up, because he seemed genuinely interested in it.

 

After wards, I knew I wanted to get out of the city and be home. I was freezing, it was raining, and miserable out.

 

That pretty much explains it.

 

I've never cared about stealth. Been "caught" for a drug deal because of it. I thought it was actually pretty fun explaining that the little bag was not used for drugs.

 

The conversation went like this.

 

"What are you doing? I got a call someone was drug dealing here."

 

"Err, I was geocaching."

 

"What is in that bag?"

 

"Clearly drugs, everyone knows the best idea for selling drugs is to put it outside a church on a Sunday, in the middle of a snow-storm, with below freezing temperatures."

 

He got a little POed, but I calmed him down. It was quite funny.

 

Another time.

 

Mall cop comes in.

 

"What were you doing by that fence?"

 

"Err, I was admiring the octagon tessellation..."

 

"I saw you pick up something over there..."

 

"Oh, that was a geocache."

 

"Show me it."

 

*I go over and pick it up*

 

"Here it is."

 

"Blaaah, no permission, blah blah, remove it, blaaah, I had to get a job as a mall cop because I didn't go to college and I am taking my frustration out on you blaaah."

 

All of that is true except the last sentence. He was nice about telling me to remove it.

[+GrateBear]

Like others have said, not a big deal by just being bold and grabbing the cache. And, in NYC, they probably won't even look at you once, considering all the other odd people that they see.

[+Viajero Perdido]

There was a cache at the busiest intersection in my entire city. Muggle central. I never had the nerve to go for it.

 

Then one day I happened to be walking by at 4:50am on a Tuesday morning.

 

Deserted. Tumbleweeds. Noooo problem!

[4wheelin_fool]

Finding a cache in NYC is about as tough as anywhere else aside from the problem of signal bounce. But, I have located 3 caches that I can not get to due to muggles!! Boy am I becoming FRUSTRATED! I a finding these around my lunch hour during work. Every time I locate a cache there is always a limo driver sitting right there in his car or standing nearby smoking. I just today found a cache on East 44th St and across the street was 100+ women on line for Rachel Ray show!! Talk about an awkward moment!

Rachel Ray is a hottie.

[+BlueDeuce]

Rachel Ray is a hottie.

 

But does she cache?

[catmom1967]

Finding a cache in NYC is about as tough as anywhere else aside from the problem of signal bounce. But, I have located 3 caches that I can not get to due to muggles!! Boy am I becoming FRUSTRATED! I a finding these around my lunch hour during work. Every time I locate a cache there is always a limo driver sitting right there in his car or standing nearby smoking. I just today found a cache on East 44th St and across the street was 100+ women on line for Rachel Ray show!! Talk about an awkward moment!

my daughter just pulls out the Bible and starts to read out loud and nobody looks at her but I just pick it and went asked what I'm do I say I'm playing a game never has anybody ask me more about it go out and have fun

[+popokiiti]

Macro photography, and photos from unusual angles for an assignment have been an excuse I've used. But our city is a lot smaller than NYC!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I've pulled the "architecture student" act a few times. If you have a sketchbook, pencil and camera - even a small measuring tape - you can pretend you are studying the details. And it give you a good excuse to get up close and personal with struts and bolts...

 

Even just a notebook (the kind with paper) and a pen/pencil helps. I was looking for a cache that was along a trail in the woods and heard some people coming down the trail. I pulled out the notebook started looking up into the trees and jotting down notes. I just smiled and said hello as they passed then found the cache.

 

When it comes to "stealth", as I see it, there are three things consider. Locating the container, retrieving the container, and replacing the container. When there are lots of muggles about, sometimes it can be easy to locate the cache, but being able to retrieve it without notice is another story. When I encounter a area which has a lot of muggles, I first look around to see what I might have to do to locate the container. If it means crawling around on my hands and needs in the bushes or looking under benches I might just pass on it and *maybe* try again another day. Sometimes locating the cache can be easy but the act of retrieving it might actually be much more difficult. I found one that within 20' of the windows of a Starbucks once that was pretty easy to locate, but took several minutes to extract the magnetic container from it's hiding place, only to find out that the container was a letterbox, and the actually cache was hidden in the exact same manner about a foot away. Fortunately, it was about 8:30AM on New Years Day so there was nobody around. On the other hand, sometimes when there are lots of muggles around it's much easier to blend in than if it's just one cacher and one or two muggles.

 

I generally don't care for cache which require stealth but my favorite muggle experience involved a cache located along the shores of Lake Tahoe. I was visiting my mother and brother and went to find a cache that was down a walking trail to a very scenic spot along the lake. I spotted the cache fairly quickly, located under a couple of rocks just behind a park bench. However, there was a muggle sitting at the opposite side of the bench. I got my mother and brother together and worked out a retrieval plan. I went over and sat on the bench, my brother stood near me, and my mother went over to the other side and asked the muggle, "do you know where Emerald Bay is from here?" As he was pointing across the lake pointing out the various mountain peaks and the location of Emerald Bay I was able to reach behind me and grab the container, then pass it behind my back to my brother, who then walked away with it back down the trail. Then we all got up and met together to sign the log and walked around a bit until the muggle left.

[+buttaskotch]

Although, the reputation of New Yorkers as being cold has not been seen by us. If you look them in the eyes and smile as you walk by, they smile back. I've found New Yorkers to be very warm and friendly, probably more so then most cities I've been to. I'm really thinking this is a by product of 9-11.

 

Don't know where you heard about our "reputation" but we NYers (and I specifically mean NYC folks) have always been friendly and its not because of the Towers falling. That is a huge misconception.

[TheDoctorPH]

2nd. i live right outside NYC and anytime ive been there people have been nothing but helpful. even to a country kid from MA.

[+lamoracke]

some situations just demand you go right up to it and grab it. Sure on a hiking trail you can wait out some bicyclists but someone puts a cache in a lamp skirt in a busy parking lot, well....just get it. As others have said, pretend like you are meant to be there. Its the CO's fault for putting a cache in there. Will draw less suspicion if you do it quickly vs just skulk there waiting out some car 3 spaces away to finish their cigarette or cell phone conversation.

[knowschad]

Finding a cache in NYC is about as tough as anywhere else aside from the problem of signal bounce. But, I have located 3 caches that I can not get to due to muggles!! Boy am I becoming FRUSTRATED! I a finding these around my lunch hour during work. Every time I locate a cache there is always a limo driver sitting right there in his car or standing nearby smoking. I just today found a cache on East 44th St and across the street was 100+ women on line for Rachel Ray show!! Talk about an awkward moment!

Rachel Ray is a hottie.

 

That's what I thought, too... until I got the Food Channel and actually watched her for a while. I can now "hear" her even with the sound muted.

 

EEVO

HOW GOOD DOES THAT LOOK?

YUM-O!

DELISH!

[+Mr_Toads]

I seem to have collected some stealth supplies in the back of the car over the last few years. Found a hardhat on the side of the road (they seem to fall off trucks all the time) while caching, cleaned it up and have used that to give me a bit of cover with an old orange vest. Find an old one, and go up to light poles or other utility like devices and pretend to record numbers off it. I keep an plain denim shirt to cover over whatever I wore to work so I look like a worker too. I have used a broken tape measure, a broken camera, a broken two way radio, really beaten up clipboard and my favorite, a meter (old ampmeter) in the urban areas. All these items were found on the side of the road or other places looking for caches (except ampmeter). Latest is binos in the woods. Actually, it was pretty cool using binos to look for tree caches!

Put that all aside, if you act like you are suppose to be there, it works everytime, unless the person staring at you knows you have no business there... lol

 

oh, told wife I wanted a yellow roof light for when I am doing ones on country roads, as you can't alway park far off the road.

[+bflentje]

Finding a cache in NYC is about as tough as anywhere else aside from the problem of signal bounce. But, I have located 3 caches that I can not get to due to muggles!! Boy am I becoming FRUSTRATED! I a finding these around my lunch hour during work. Every time I locate a cache there is always a limo driver sitting right there in his car or standing nearby smoking. I just today found a cache on East 44th St and across the street was 100+ women on line for Rachel Ray show!! Talk about an awkward moment!

Rachel Ray is a hottie.

 

That's what I thought, too... until I got the Food Channel and actually watched her for a while. I can now "hear" her even with the sound muted.

 

EEVO

HOW GOOD DOES THAT LOOK?

YUM-O!

DELISH!

 

And she's got the filthiest fingernails of anyone on the channel.

[+taggdog]

Forget Stealth:

 

I advise you to not try and be stealthy. That just attracts more undue attention. Instead be bold. Be proud of what you are doing - act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't!!). Act as though it is your job to find that cache, a job you are very good at and proud to do. Find it. Sign it. Put it back and move on. Carry a clipboard and look professional - you'll blend into the background.

 

The clipboard idea is smart. I cache after work (sometimes during work) and I usually still have my work uniform on- Coveralls and a hard hat. I have actually had before get up and move somewhere else because they think I'm going to perform maintance on GZ or something. When not in uniform, I often use the cell phone trick as well.

[+TerraViators]

I had a hard time with a cache in a small courtyard near Madison Square Garden. It was above the head. At lunch time, I had to abort. I finished the day searching for virtuals.

[+Dgwphotos]

I've pulled the "architecture student" act a few times. If you have a sketchbook, pencil and camera - even a small measuring tape - you can pretend you are studying the details. And it give you a good excuse to get up close and personal with struts and bolts...

Art student would work well, too. You can say that you're doing a sketch.

[+TeamRabbitRun]

On the slightly off-topic of the friendliness of New Yorkers written about above, here's the deal.

 

NYers are the best, friendliest people on the planet, but only on their terms.

 

Lots of other places who have friendly people who smile at everyone and say "Good morning" to everyone they pass, but that's not 'NY Friendly'.

 

NYers see this as an imposition. We're all there for each other, but not on EVERY ENCOUNTER! There's simply too many of us! But, when there's an perceived threat or need? There we are.

 

Wanna test it? Stand in mid-town at lunch hour. Thousands of people will stream past you and no one will brush against you or meet your eye. Then, shout "Anybody know how to get to Brooklyn?"

 

Instant flash-mob. Seven hundred and fifty people will stop and shout THEIR favorite and undoubtably BEST directions at you. Fistfights will break out over which subway line gets you there faster on a TUESDAY! Traffic will stop. Cabbies will push business cards into your hands. Someone will tear their bagel in half for you. Mounted policement will part the crowd and offer to escort you to the subway entrance.

 

Then, shout "OK, GOT IT - THANKS!"

 

Instant silence. The river resumes. The need is over, the privacy bubbles snap back into place.

 

THAT's NY Friendly.

[+GeoBain]

On the slightly off-topic of the friendliness of New Yorkers written about above, here's the deal.

 

NYers are the best, friendliest people on the planet, but only on their terms.

 

Lots of other places who have friendly people who smile at everyone and say "Good morning" to everyone they pass, but that's not 'NY Friendly'.

 

NYers see this as an imposition. We're all there for each other, but not on EVERY ENCOUNTER! There's simply too many of us! But, when there's an perceived threat or need? There we are.

 

Wanna test it? Stand in mid-town at lunch hour. Thousands of people will stream past you and no one will brush against you or meet your eye. Then, shout "Anybody know how to get to Brooklyn?"

 

Instant flash-mob. Seven hundred and fifty people will stop and shout THEIR favorite and undoubtably BEST directions at you. Fistfights will break out over which subway line gets you there faster on a TUESDAY! Traffic will stop. Cabbies will push business cards into your hands. Someone will tear their bagel in half for you. Mounted policement will part the crowd and offer to escort you to the subway entrance.

 

Then, shout "OK, GOT IT - THANKS!"

 

Instant silence. The river resumes. The need is over, the privacy bubbles snap back into place.

 

THAT's NY Friendly.

Maybe that's where we screwed up. We asked a police officer and a bus driver in the subway station which bus to get on to get us back to our hotel. They were less than helpful, like we were an imposition to them. We never thought to step outside and shout our question to the mob.

[+Planet]

Don't let the cops mistake cache finding for public urination!

 

And if you happen to find yourself in that situation, make sure one of your cachers is NYPD detective.

[+hukilaulau]

On the slightly off-topic of the friendliness of New Yorkers written about above, here's the deal.

 

NYers are the best, friendliest people on the planet, but only on their terms.

 

When this off-topic side discussion first came up, I didn't say anything because I didn't want to hijack the main question. But now that it's been laying dormant for awhile, here goes:

 

I currently live and work in Manhattan about half time. I take the LIRR and subways about twice a week, and walk the streets often. I've traveled in the USA extensively, internationally... not so much.

 

IMHO, New Yorkers are in fact the rudest, most aggressive, and most oblivious people I've ever seen.

But they (mostly) don't do it on purpose. They are truly unaware that they are shouldering you aside to be first on the platform for a train that runs every two minutes (the shuttle), or that the people they cut off going up the stairs are trying to get to the same place they are. The drivers in Manhattan really ARE needlessly aggressive and obnoxious, it's not just a story tourists tell back home.

No matter how far out into the street you stand waiting for a light to change, someone will invariably come up and stand right in front of you, just to be first.

I can see where if you've been in NYC all your life, this doesn't bother you and you wonder what the big deal is. All I'm saying is, this stuff doesn't happen, to this extent, in other US cities I've been in

[+Sol seaker]

Downtown Seattle is tough, although not anything as tough as New York.

 

But still, when I had some caching time on Thanksgiving, I said, "NOW's the time to cache downtown Seattle!!"

 

We had no trouble parking, which is unheard of, and no muggle problems, which is even more unheard of.

We did in a few hours what would have taken us days otherwise.

 

My friend was rolling up a log for a micro we had signed, and she did get a cop looking over her shoulder to see what she was rolling. It was probably because she was bent over and hunkered down under an awning (it was raining). I turned and gave the cop a laughing grin, because it was funny, and he moved on without a word.

 

 

Generally I'm with the "just go get it" crowd.

If you act like you know what you're doing, then generally no one notices you.

Sometimes someone will, but that is the risk the cache owner takes by putting it there.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Forget Stealth:

 

I advise you to not try and be stealthy. That just attracts more undue attention. Instead be bold. Be proud of what you are doing - act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't!!). Act as though it is your job to find that cache, a job you are very good at and proud to do. Find it. Sign it. Put it back and move on. Carry a clipboard and look professional - you'll blend into the background.

 

What StarBrand said.

 

If anyone sees me and asks what I am up to I explain the game, give them the geocaching.com address and my contact info and tell them if they have any questions about getting started to call me.

 

Any cache owner who places a cache in a high-muggle area has no right to any expectation that you will play his silly stealth game.

[4wheelin_fool]

Forget Stealth:

 

I advise you to not try and be stealthy. That just attracts more undue attention. Instead be bold. Be proud of what you are doing - act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't!!). Act as though it is your job to find that cache, a job you are very good at and proud to do. Find it. Sign it. Put it back and move on. Carry a clipboard and look professional - you'll blend into the background.

 

What StarBrand said.

 

If anyone sees me and asks what I am up to I explain the game, give them the geocaching.com address and my contact info and tell them if they have any questions about getting started to call me.

 

Any cache owner who places a cache in a high-muggle area has no right to any expectation that you will play his silly stealth game.

 

I'd agree, but only for micros, as they have little or no value and would not be of any interest to a muggle. Small or regular caches most commonly hidden in tiny parks should be found discreetly.