Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm moving back to New York after many years. Are there any laundromats around First Avenue and 70th?
There are a few but not as many as back in the day.
Off the top of my head:
Todd Lane on East 77th between First and Second (not highly rated)
Dapper Duds on Second Avenue (1549) between 80th and 81st
The Mat II on York (1605) near 85th Street (open 24/7)
Super Wash 85 (1605 First Avenue) near 84th Street.
There is another on York near 83rd but not sure of the name.
Here is the thing; many laundromats here have moved from coins/cash to those card systems. Some allow you to use a debit/credit card to get a card and add more funds, others only take cash. Some places charge you for the initial card (two to four dollars) but that amount is credited IIRC onto the card.
This is all these cards are proprietary to the mat purchased. So if you put twenty dollars on card for day Dapper Duds you cannot use it at The Mat II. So most persons just stick with one or perhaps two places and keep things at that.
The Mat II is the largest laundormat on UES and draws a crowd from all over Manhattan including the UWS. Have met persons their from far south as the West Village/Tribeca and West as UWS/Riverside Drive.
My sympathies go out to anyone who must drag clothes to and from a Laundromat.
Actually have a washer and dryer in my apartment. However find those huge washers at the local Laundromat better for doing bulky/heavy things like blankets and quilts. Also if have let things go too long it is easier to get several loads (or one big one in a 50lb machine) over with at the laundromat.
For about $6 or so can wash 50lbs of laundry in 31 minutes. That would take an entire day or more in my washing machine (holds only 11lbs and takes nearly two hours to complete a cycle).
The dryers at laundromat are larger and hotter than mine as well so can get that 50lbs of wash done in a bit over one hour. I do just put everything in a bag and come straight home to fold in peace.
Ah for the good old days when you could take your laundry bundle to a drop off point and it would come back in a few days with the sheets washed and ironed, the shirts laundered, ironed and folded with cardboard around the collar and the back, the suits dry cleaned and pressed and even your underwear and towels pressed. Those full service laundries are a thing of the past. Modern living. Yuck.
Ah for the good old days when you could take your laundry bundle to a drop off point and it would come back in a few days with the sheets washed and ironed, the shirts laundered, ironed and folded with cardboard around the collar and the back, the suits dry cleaned and pressed and even your underwear and towels pressed. Those full service laundries are a thing of the past. Modern living. Yuck.
There are still a few places around that do "French hand laundry" service. You'll pay a small fortune (something like $25 or so for one sheet) but there you are.
Otherwise you can still find small (usually Asian run) neighborhood laundries that will "hand finish" certain items. Who or where the laundering is done is another matter.
Bottom line is given CODB in NYC in particular Manhattan small places have a hard time. Rents are going up and many places have had to close in consequence. The only way others survive is taking in large amounts of work. Once you start doing that it can only mean it is sent to a wholesale laundry elsewhere for processing.
How will these laundromats afford the commercial rents? That's going to be an issue in a few more years the way we are going.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.