Woman divides opinion after rummaging through dead person's belongings that were dumped on sidewalk

A woman in New York has divided opinion online after she filmed herself rummaging through a dead person’s possessions when they were thrown into the street.

The expert thrifter in New York says a restaurant owner hurled abuse at her for rummaging through trash that had been thrown into the streets. Only thing is, that trash was reportedly the belongings of a person who had died.

Thrift shopper Nichole, who goes by @nycnichole on TikTok, detailed an odd little discovery she made on the streets.

Speaking to her followers on social media in the clip, Nichole said she was walking through the city’s Upper East side when she found a massive mound of household items.

There was furniture, clothes, houseware items and other possessions all belonging to a woman who died last year in December and her apartment was being cleared out.

It is certainly curious as to why no one would have come and collected the items in that time, but as it was thrown out on the street, one can assume it was now deemed trash.

Nichole then decided to put her thrifting skills to work and began rummaging through to find anything of interest so she could find a new home for it rather than the garbage dump.

But she explained that a restaurant manager next to the pile of belongings came outside to scold her for going through the treasure trove of belongings, allegedly calling her ‘desperate’ for digging through it,

But it's worth noting Nichole wasn’t the only one taking a look at the items and hauling them off.

Despite this, Nichole did manage to divide opinions in her comment section, with some saying it was a good way to recycle no longer wanted items, while others deemed it to be a disrespectful act.

“That's creepy taking a dead woman's clothes,” one person criticized.

However, another pointed out: "This makes me so sad. this woman deserved better than to have her stuff thrown out, it all looks so good. I’m glad you saved some."

And someone else said about the restaurant manager's reaction: "Maybe she knew the person who died. Seeing someone dig through her dead friends trash would feel disturbing."

Many were quick to praise Nichole for her actions, with one person writing: I think you are honoring her memory by keeping her items and reusing them. That’s what I would have wanted!

“Good for you for taking stuff. I mean better to recycle and give it a new home than end up in a landfill or worse, in nature!” commented another.

“It's better to use the items otherwise they would go to create more waste.”

What do you think? Would you be out there digging or give it a miss?

UNILAD has contacted the restaurant of the manager who allegedly spoke to Nichole.