It’s the tooth — subway riders leave their dentures behind on trains and platforms “almost every week,” the MTA says.
They’re perhaps the strangest of the 50,000 items lost in the system in 2013. Riders also forgot prosthetic legs, a car bumper and even a pet bunny.
“We get false teeth almost every week,” William Bonner, a supervisor at NYC Transit’s lost-and-found under the 34th Street station, told The Associated Press. “How do you lose your teeth?”
About half the lost items were found on subways and buses, including a diamond engagement ring and a briefcase filled with adult toys.
At Metro-North’s lost-and-found at Grand Central, about 100 to 150 items come in every day.
A rack collects hundreds of coats, and there’s usually a handful of bikes.
The holiday season is a forgetful time, with rushed riders leaving more behind than usual.
The MTA says it reunites 60 percent of lost items with their owners, with its success rate jumping in 2009, when the lost-and-found went online.
“We are the most successful lost-and-found in the country and possibly the world,” Melissa Gissentanner, manager of the Metro-North unit, told the AP.
Although some items are found by transit workers, many are turned in by fellow riders.
In 2012, straphangers turned in 24,445 items, up from 22,835 in 2009.
If items aren’t claimed after anywhere from three months to three years, they are auctioned in batches or donated.
Personal items, like false teeth, or property in bad shape are dumped if nobody claims them.