Central Park Travel Bug Hotel

8.1k · November 16, 2004

Central Park Travel Bug Hotel - considering placing a travel bug hotel in Central Park since the only good option for Manhatten is TONY cache. Which is currently serving as a travel bug dropoff. The cache would be carefully placed in a spot not much frequented. (and NOT an ammo can!)

Any suggestions on placement? Or worries about placing one?

Edited November 16, 2004 by avroair

2.4k · November 16, 2004

My worry would be finding a spot to hide a cache big enough to serve as a TB Hotel, and secure enough that it wouldn't get found/plundered by non-cachers. If the thing goes missing, it's not just McToys and a logbook (or like a few/lot of the other CP caches, a container and a logsheet), it's likely a bunch of travel bugs gone, as well. That said, I know Central Park is big, and you could probably find a place to hide a full sized cache, but it's also busy, at least what I've seen of it. Is there a spot that's overlooked enough to make a TB hotel safe/successful? If so, I think it's a great idea.

10.1k · November 17, 2004

TONY got plundered yesterday. Several Bugs are missing. NYC needs a Travel Bug Hotel. I don't know Central Park well enough to suggest where it should be. Central Park obviously has a major muggle problem. It also has some areas with some very strange people. I'm thinking of our visit to Central Park Highpoing, when two guys walked by with the coment. Oh, I won't repeat it here. But obviouslu a gay cruising area. Hmm...

One thing that a Bug Hotel needs is security for the Bugs left there. Let me know if you need help scouting an area.

38.2k · November 17, 2004

It seems that NYC caches generally don't have a long lifespan. I'd hesitate to place a cache that will concentrate TB's in one spot in the city. If it gets plundered, you could lose a boatload of TB's. Perhaps near a rail line in NJ, or one of the outer boroughs would be a possibility,

8.1k · November 17, 2004

concentrate TB's in one spot in the city

The problem is there are very few spots already:

everything else in midtown is either a micro or very small

Pause - disabled

playground view - the resident bum took it

harbor view - taken AGAIN

In the Ramble -decon small

The Arch - won't last

White Duck - good, but small as a decon

Riverview - the resident bum knows where the cache is

everything else is either a webcam, virtual or micro

Roosevelt Island - too far for out of towners

5 Star NY - takes too long to find

The only viable cache is TONY NY which is in a high profile area. I am going to scout locations at lunch tomrrow. I am beleive IF I find a good spot it can be done.

1.5k · November 17, 2004

That park is amazing on a nice day, it's like a busy ant hill. Not many places that aren't crawling with people. You're gonna have to dig deep into your bag of tricks.

November 17, 2004

Pause, my good friend is out until the construction on the 59th St bridge is done - the area is just waaaaaaay to busy now.

I think a TB hotel in the park would be great - but finding a spot will be tough. The homeless abound since Guiliani left office.

I have some plans in the works for a JFK hotel - but that is going to be tough as well. There really isn't anywhere around the airport that could house one - my spot is a little off the beaten path but still manageable.

I will be in the city for karate on Sunday - so if you want to meet up and scout out a location, I'd be happy to give ya a hand. I am sure we could figure something out.

November 17, 2004

Manhattan definitely needs a TB hotel.

The large number of tourists brings a great opportunity for the bugs to actually travel around the world.

The problem as I see it is that most people don't want to make the effort to find a well placed (hence secure) cache, especially if they're on vacation.

Central Park is full of nosey people who are ultra-sensitive about it. If you read the logs of the caches that exist there, most tell stories that involve a 'local' commenting on geocaching. My point is that too many people know of the caches.

The parks in northern Manhattan (Inwood Hill, Fort Tryon) are just as accessable and scenic and offer more secure sites.

8.1k · November 17, 2004

The parks in northern Manhattan (Inwood Hill, Fort Tryon) are just as accessable and scenic and offer more secure sites.

Whereas I would agree both are excellent locations, I see very few logs for caches up there. Most people drive and dump Central park... which is fine, but they tend to stuff oversized travel bugs into the small tupperware containers, leaving the lids slightly open. More than once while visiting TONY the lid has been off.

Anyhoo, I am still going scouting tomorrow, IF I find a good, secure spot I shall consider it. Cachers always have the choice of NOT leaving their prized bugs in a cache if they feel it will get plundered.

November 17, 2004

Do they have combination or key locks for lockers in Grand Central station?

Maybe something like that... or perhaps a lock box where people can email for a passcode or something along those lines.

It would be extraordinary. Now THAT would definately be a NYC travel bug hotel!

just an idea. (off the soapbox now)

November 17, 2004

A locker in Grand Central sounds awesome. I love that idea. Perfect for those passing through. Don't know about the logistics though.

Oooh and an ammo box in grand central would definitely be cause to call in the bomb squad.

3.9k · November 17, 2004

It's definitely doable. IMHO it has to be in CP. A cache be made to be extremely difficult to impossible to find by muggles yet an easy find for cachers. I might be able to swing out there Sunday and met up with you and Neil. I think a little planning and a trip to Home Depot and it can be done.

November 17, 2004

There's a cache called Swamp Gas in Central Park... not a very pleasant place, which means few muggles. Somewhere in that area might work for a TB hotel. It has 170 finds since July 2003... it has lasted a long time.

Good luck, Avoair.

Edited November 17, 2004 by The_Z_Man

3.9k · November 17, 2004

There's a cache called Swamp Gas in Central Park... not a very pleasant place, which means few muggles. Somewhere in that area might work for a TB hotel. It has 170 finds since July 2003... it has lasted a long time.

Good luck, Avoair.

That's right. There's a few spots in there that could host a TB hotel... of course the swamp cache that's there is in the way... if only someone could adopt that cache.. maybe someone needs to kill the owner. Hmm... :huh:

November 17, 2004

Consider this - a micro that hides a key, and coordinates to a PO box or a Port Authority locker, or a hotel safe....

1.2k · November 17, 2004

Hello from oregon... here's a thought for you guys. A cacher here talked to a friend who just happened to be THE manager of the largest hotel near the local international airport. It's an Embassy Suites. Now we have a TB hotel cache in a nice, important place, hidden in the landscape. It will never be muggled. :huh:

I suggest you guys go here:

http://www.geocacher-u.com/resources/brochure1.pdf

...print off some copies of that brochure, then brainstorm what hotel or restaurant or business you could approach to host a TB hotel. Maybe a struggling business would be best. Let 'em know that it's good publicity. Maybe you'll have to approach quite a few... but one of them should relent if you ask enough. Emphasize how it is good for the business.

Oh yeah... mention the Parade magazine article. THAT should make ya look good.

2.3k · November 17, 2004

Great idea, Sparrowhawk. I know there's a TB Hotel in Queens, but that's a ways from Central Park.

1.2k · November 17, 2004

Heh... just had a picture in my head of a TB hotel cache safely located behind the bar at a pub with a happily cooperative bartender at hand. :huh:

"I'll take a Samuel Adams served on an ammo can, please!"

Edited November 17, 2004 by Sparrowhawk

8.1k · November 17, 2004

Do they have combination or key locks for lockers in Grand Central station

Good idea, but these have all been taken out due to a bomb security. Same goes for Port Authority.

The PO Box is a good idea, but costs money to maintain.

Finding a micro with a key is also a good idea.

A cacher here talked to a friend who just happened to be THE manager of the largest hotel near the local international airport

This has potential, a friend of mine is the manager of the Waldorf Astoria, very prominent hotel in NYC. The other hotel... where they filmed, Home Alone... corner of Madison and Central Park south... guess I could ask them... :huh: Put on my best upper-crust British accent!!!

1.5k · November 17, 2004

It's definitely doable. IMHO it has to be in CP. A cache be made to be extremely difficult to impossible to find by muggles yet an easy find for cachers. I might be able to swing out there Sunday and met up with you and Neil. I think a little planning and a trip to Home Depot and it can be done.

Mark, Neil and Joe collaborating on a cache hide? Man I ain't never gonna find that thing.

1.2k · November 18, 2004

A cacher here talked to a friend who just happened to be THE manager of the largest hotel near the local international airport

This has potential, a friend of mine is the manager of the Waldorf Astoria, very prominent hotel in NYC. The other hotel... where they filmed, Home Alone... corner of Madison and Central Park south... guess I could ask them... Put on my best upper-crust British accent!!!

For the record, at some upper-crust gated community complete with a gatehouse somewhere in a rich neighborhood in California, there's a cache which you get by driving up to the gatehouse and politely asking for the cache.

I wonder if they'd do the equivalent with the doorman?

Edited November 18, 2004 by Sparrowhawk

November 18, 2004

... guess I could ask them... Put on my best upper-crust British accent!!!

I would try to act a little more dignified than that.

If a cache can be safely placed in CP my utmost confidence would be with AvroAir to successfully place it.

1.2k · November 18, 2004

This has potential, a friend of mine is the manager of the Waldorf Astoria, very prominent hotel in NYC. The other hotel... where they filmed, Home Alone... corner of Madison and Central Park south... guess I could ask them... Put on my best upper-crust British accent!!!

Hey, here's another thought for ya. Say that the Waldorf is not the place to put the TB hotel. There IS another people hotel which would be perfect, but you don't know the manager.

First, clear permission to place a micro at the Waldorf. Let it get a few finds.

THEN approach the second hotel and let them know that you have a geocache at the Waldorf with full permission of the manager. Wouldn't they just LOVE to have a feature that the Waldorf currently has? And it attracts people from all over the planet? AND this hobby was in Parade magazine?

You'll get your TB hotel.

Edited November 18, 2004 by Sparrowhawk

2.4k · November 19, 2004

Consider this - a micro that hides a key, and coordinates to a PO box or a Port Authority locker, or a hotel safe....

That works great...until the first time someone doesn't return the key, or a second cacher walks up between the time cacher 1 takes and returns the key.........

8.1k · November 19, 2004

Thanks for the suggestions people.

I am currently in Oregon, to check out SparrowHawk's Portland Airport cache, which is really cool (although they have a parking lot to hide it in!).

In New York it would have to be inside a hotel or in central park... Neil and Joe, we could meet when I get back to scout some locales or talk to hotels.

November 19, 2004

There's alot of potential to a good bug hotel in Manhattan.

As an experiment of sorts, I placed my first travel bug with the mission of travelling the world - starting with getting to Germany. I figured what better place to put a bug with the hopes of getting it to Europe than Manhattan.

My thinking was:

1) I'm probably crazy and it will never move

2) Failing that, someone going on vacation will pick it up on their way to the airport

3) Even better, someone here on vacation will take it home with them. (A cacher in their home country will know good places to put a bug to send it further along, I figured).

Suffice to say, it took about a week, and it was picked up by a caching team from FINLAND. 'Rathskeller Rapscallion' is now on it's way to Scandinavia, and will find it's way to Germany much quicker than I could have hoped.

This said, it's not very scientific to use my single case as 'proof' that this idea would work - but, if we could find a safe location in Central Park to pop a ton of bugs, I think it could work out quite well.

My suggestion would be avoid things such as ammo cans, due to the potential overreaction of a New Yorker finding one buried in the park, whether marked Geocache or not.

Lots of people are in and out of the city on a regular basis, so if a safe place could be found, this could work out well I think.

1.2k · November 20, 2004

I am currently in Oregon, to check out SparrowHawk's Portland Airport cache, which is really cool (although they have a parking lot to hide it in!).

In New York it would have to be inside a hotel or in central park... Neil and Joe, we could meet when I get back to scout some locales or talk to hotels.

Dude, NO WAY you flew out here JUST to look at my cache!

Don't forget to have yourself a pint of Widmer Hefeveisen while you are here... we have some EXCELLENT locally-brewed beers and ales you should not miss!

Here's an idea for a new york TB cache in a hotel in the meanwhile: I assume that a largish hotel often has a parking garage, yes? How about negotiating space in there, and just have an out-of-the-way utility box in one corner or something, complete with maybe a padlock (post combo on cache page)? It would look like some sort of electrical unit, great camo for the TB hotel.

Heyyyyyy....! Same idea, part II!!

Someone told me once of a 2-part multi where the first cache contained just an orange vest or two. The second cache was a normal one located in a VERY public place in a fake electrical box. You visited the first cache, put on the "vest of invisibility" then went to the second cache where you were completely ignored because of the vest as you cached. When you were done, you put the vest back in the first cache for the next cacher to wear.

HA! If you guys decided to impliment something like THAT in the big city, make sure the "logbook" in the final leg is actually some yellow notepad attached to an official-looking clipboard! Imagine some guy in reflective orange vest next to an official-looking utility box pulling a clipboard out of the box... no reason to act stealthy! Just instruct cachers to have fun acting like a real authority who was assigned to visit the TB cache box! Ya can't lose.

If any of this works, I gotta make it to New York sometime.

Edited November 20, 2004 by Sparrowhawk

8.1k · November 21, 2004

Thanks Sparrowhawk,

I left you an Avroair geo-token signature item in the PDX cache. My bug is already gone and off in Germany... guess I am going to have to go over there and retrieve it!!! :laughing:

8.1k · December 8, 2004

I have a new idea (can't remember who mentioned this to me) that I passed by the New York City Central Park and Recreation department.

Leaving a container with a padlock at a central park location, (not decided on location yet) where geocachers would find a nearby micro with the combination (or just have it on the geocache's listing page). Cachers would be able to stop by and trade travel-bugs.

This would provide a safe and secure spot for trading which wouldn't rely on stealthy or suspicious behavior to find a well concealed container. The parks department seemed amenable to the idea, but I would need to fill out a recreation permit application for authorization.

Any thoughts?

3.9k · December 8, 2004

That solves just about every problem except for those people you just like to feel like they're doing soemthing wrong. You mean like an electrical utility box thingy? I had the same idea for a TB hotel near Mcarther Airport in Islip. Will it be hidden at all? Will cachers need to wear an orange vest and carry a clip board and tool belt?

December 8, 2004

The only problem I see would be security concerns. With the heightened bomb awareness, this will be a tender concern for the authorities. They will certainly want the lock's combination.

Also, it would have to a pretty big container. It WILL be very popular after it becomes established. Something along the lines of a small garbage can maybe.

Consider posting a message in the West and Southwest forums to see if something similar has been done in LA.

Good luck!

8.1k · December 8, 2004

You mean like an electrical utility box thingy? Will it be hidden at all? Will cachers need to wear an orange vest and carry a clip board and tool belt?

No, no and no! ... the micro WOULD be hidden and involve a quick search. The box with a lock would be out of the way but in the open. With full park permission and notification to parks personnel. This would minimize suspicion.

Yes, the parks groundskeeper would be given the combination. I see no problem with that.

The container would be large, bigger than an ammo can. Probably a wooden (or metal) trunk kind of box - 1" high by 2" wide. It would clearly read: GEOCACHE on the lid.

I haven't looked for a good location yet.

38.2k · December 8, 2004

Leaving a locked container where muggles can find it will scream "Open me" very loudly. People who wouldn't look twice at an unlocked container will have their curiosity piqued by a locked container. There will be people there with sledgehammers and hacksaws within 24 hours . Hey, its NYC man!

December 8, 2004

Good points Brian.

Does there really need to be a micro involved? It would be another possible weak link. Could the combination be administered in a different way, like in the encrypted hint? Maybe only available to premium members.

December 8, 2004

Explore the possibility of having the Parks people hold onto the cache at their offices at the Arsenal. A combination on the actual cache would be fine (since there would be no "hunt", the touristas should work for their smiley somehow ) but instead of hiding a key or combination in a microcache (which may be compromised), have cachers derive the numbers from various points of interest in Central Park. There are plenty of dates and other information on the statues and sights to use as clues for the combination.

8.1k · December 8, 2004

combination be administered in a different way, like in the encrypted hint? Maybe only available to premium members.

The point of a travel bug hotel is to offer a central location for cachers to quickly offload travel bugs. A combination on the description page would work best for this.

Leaving a locked container where muggles can find it will scream "Open me" very loudly.

The container would NOT be out in the open, but rather tucked away. One would have to have a reason to be there and sadly I don't see that something like that unlocked or locked would make a difference. The details and placement have not been hashed out yet.

This offers a better way of providing a haven for travel bugs than we have right now - which is nothing.

10.1k · December 9, 2004

There must be someplace in he park, not trodden by a million feet a day. But I haven't found it yet. The more remote spots seem to be trysting points.

Someplace in the Metropoilitan Museum, perhaps> Dunno.

1.2k · May 11, 2006

Now it's over a year later... did you New Yorkers ever create a good travel bug hotel in the area you were talking about here? <_<

Edited May 11, 2006 by Sparrowhawk

8.1k · May 12, 2006

Nope the application process was exhaustive. But I am willing to try again.

May 13, 2006

i have been thinking about this for quite some time, and i will try to get one up, as soon as i get a location, its just with the torist, and new yorkers, so paranoid its realy hard to place any cache, but i will try to set up something like liz's joules only larger just for TB's

38.2k · May 14, 2006

I think its just too risky a place. You don't want to loose a bunch of bugs in one swoop and full sized caches in Manhattan don't have a good track record.

May 14, 2006

i think i found a place for one its in approval right now, but it is not in central park. central park it too well maintaned to house a cache of any real size. but small parks and indents in buildings are now watched or maintained and are perfect for caches.

May 15, 2006

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...67-86a0ad5e89fb

its not in central park, but i can proudly say i think it is the largest container in NYC. "New York City Travel Bug Hotel (GCW13T)

1.3k · May 15, 2006

That's great. We visited NYC during December 05 and January 06 and caught up almost every cache in Manhattan. We had some difficulty to drop some TB's we brought from Portugal. A TB Hotel would be very useful by then. :lol:

We'll be back in NY in August! Guess we now have a good place to drop some tb's. :lol:

May 21, 2006

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...67-86a0ad5e89fb

its not in central park, but i can proudly say i think it is the largest container in NYC. "New York City Travel Bug Hotel (GCW13T)

hey, i was wondering if you wanted to help me consider an electrical box cache. i really like the idea of the orange vest idea... let me know if youre interested.

btw, im a bit concerned about the most recent post on your travel bug hotel. im wondering if it was muggled...

May 21, 2006

yeah it looks like the swag box was muggled. unfortuetly but from my email corospondense with the last finder it wasent where it was hidden that was the issue, it was that the user was seen exicting from the cache area. Most people dont appriacte that you have to be stealthy in nyc, if you are not stuff like this happens!!!!! i am probably going to disable it untill i decide what to due. but yeah jake lets team up on one, and get a real TB Hotel in here that works! :ninja:

May 21, 2006

by the way, whats the deal with NYCGA? is that for real? i cant find any info about it...

May 22, 2006

yeah i am trying to put it together, its something the like 5 of us who live here need to discuss....i think we should make one---just for the tourist and also for a kind of group care of some of the caches.

May 22, 2006

Well count me in...

Central Park Travel Bug Hotel

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