A while back, Bored Panda spoke with the creators of the StoopingNYC project to find out what they have been up to as well as how the stooping community is doing lately. “The growth of the community is incredible and we mean that in every aspect,” the founders told us.

“So many more submissions. So many more amazing items. So many more #stoopingsuccesses. And so many more great stoopers!” Today, StoopingNYC on Instagram is home to a dedicated community of 429K followers, but their audience seems to be still growing.

Part of the success of StoopingNYC seems to have to do with the fact that so many people find stooping a very fun and cool activity. The founders explained that the concept of a treasure hunt is universal, but stooping in NYC is unique to NYC.

“It’s been a part of the city culture for way before we started doing this. People are always moving and no two homes are the same size and shape. And then there is the fact that NYC has incredible, creative and diverse people… it makes it the perfect stooping city!”

There are many reasons why people get into stooping. Some just follow StoopingNYC to see what treasures people find, others want to save items from landfills, and the rest like that sense of nostalgia the goods give them.

If you’re a beginner stooper, you should not just start by following StoopingNYC but also be sure to follow the notifications that pop up and be ready to run at any moment. It turns out that real gems get stooped very very fast.

“There are also people who want the most unique apartments with money-can't-buy pieces, to those who love the gamification of a real-time scavenger hunt across the city," the creators of StoopingNYC told us a while back.

“We’ve tried to 'game-ify' the activity, making it feel like a scavenger hunt. And I think because of this, we have seen it become popular and trendy with an entirely younger audience (75% of our followers are 18-35 years old)," they explained.