Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Look, This Is Just A Nice Story About A Woman Who Forgot Her Purse On A City Bus And Managed To Get It Back
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 11, 2017
Modified Aug 11, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Courtesy Stephanie Seiler
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 11, 2017
Modified Aug 11, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
It's not really all that hard to lose a bag, phone or baby on public transportation, and the odds of ever getting your stuff back are always slim. So it was incredibly lucky, then, that when Bushwick resident Stephanie Seiler left her bag on a bus in Brooklyn on Wednesday, she was able to get it back—with the help of a couple kindly drivers and smartphone apps, of course.
Seiler, 43, had just hopped off a B26 in her neighborhood around 5 p.m. yesterday when she realized she'd left her purse containing her wallet, credit cards, cash, ID and keys, onboard. The bus had already departed the stop, so she flagged down a cab on an e-hail app in hopes of catching up.
"I jumped in the taxi and I said, 'I left my purse on a bus, I'm watching it on MTA bus time and it's at such-and-such stop. Do you think we can get in front of it?'" Seiler told Gothamist. "And he immediately was on the case."
Seiler's driver used Waze to navigate the traffic, and skirted some of the more troublesome routes to get her ahead of the bus. "He was really reassuring. He could tell that I was a little distressed," Seiler said.
Eventually, the cab caught up with Seiler's bus at a depot at Cadman Plaza and Tillary. "The taxi driver dropped me off and wished me luck," Seiler said, and then she ran to find her bus driver. "I recognized my driver. And I said, 'Hey, did you by any chance find a black purse?'" she said. "And he said, 'Oh that was you, I remember you! I have it, it's right here.' I was very happy.'"
Apparently a passenger spotted Seiler's bag, and the driver had them bring it up to him right away. After confirming it belonged to Seiler, he handed it back to her, and Seiler says all her possessions were still inside. "I asked him, 'Is it ok if I give you a hug or would it be inappropriate?' And he was like, 'Bring it on!'"
Another bus driver snapped a few photos of them. "It was a great day, this great community of just, normal every day goodness and people. It was lovely," Seiler said.
Seiler says the whole experience was a nice reminder in a dark time that people can be Good. "With everything that goes on in the world I think we tend to focus on catastrophic thinking, and sometimes we miss all the goodness sitting around us," she said. "It wasn't like this heroic act, but it was numerous people jumping in and doing a normal, everyday decent thing."
Also Good? Smartphone apps. "We always look to technology and humanity being separate, but it was a merging of technology being there for us and us utilizing the technology," Seiler said of the various apps that helped her in her bag-seeking journey. Just one more reason to should graft your iPhone to your hand.
Tagged
barts people
bus
MTA
purse
original
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
5 men charged with trespassing in 2 Manhattan manhole cases
Two people who were found soaking wet and smelling of sewage say they went underground to look for jewelry, according to police and a criminal complaint.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 7:49 p.m. ET
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
News
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
By
Carol Chen
Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Black couple seeking Queens apartment sues over racist text from broker
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .