Your weight and fortune, 25 cents

January 29, 2016 6:53 AM

I can't have a scale in my home, I don't have one at the gym, and it's not feasible to drop by my doctor's office. But once in a while I'd like to know my weight. Where in NYC is there a coin-op weight-and-fortune machine? (I used to go to the Musée Mécanique for this.) It's best if it's a minor hassle to travel to, so I'll consider all NYC locations.
posted by blnkfrnk to Grab Bag (14 answers total)

Best answer: Display model at Macys or Bed, Bath, & Beyond?
posted by Wretch729 at 6:59 AM on January 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

Do you need a fortune? I think CVS's have scales, though I'm not positive.
posted by three_red_balloons at 6:59 AM on January 29, 2016

Look for a whole foods or pharmacy with one of those self serve blood pressure units, the one I tried also had an option to give weight, a sensor in the seat I guess.
posted by sammyo at 6:59 AM on January 29, 2016

Response by poster: I would prefer a fortune and proximity to pinball, but I don't require it. I don't know why I didn't think of testing the scales in Macy's!
posted by blnkfrnk at 7:21 AM on January 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Waymarking has a collection of geolocated Coin-Operated Fortune Telling Machines, which includes some combination weight and fortune (or "wate and fate") machines. Sadly, there are more fortune tellers in boxes than the combination sets. Even more sad? No hits for New York via a Google search of the site, and the embedded map in that collection appears to back that up.

This is all to say, if you find some good wate and fate machines, you can add them to this site and make it better. Sorry I'm no help here.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:38 AM on January 29, 2016

Brookstones.
posted by dmd at 7:38 AM on January 29, 2016

Best answer: If you live anywhere near The Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg, there is a scale pre-set into the floor in the wing of the shop where you find the baking stuff, right between the bulk olive oil and the bulk flour. It's not an obvious scale, it's a panel in the floor that's sitting in front of an old-timey scale against the wall. But - it is functional, as I discovered to my surprise when I stepped on it when I was there recently (and my dismay, when I saw what the number on the scale was).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:25 AM on January 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

I see these all the time in bathrooms in large shopping malls. I'm unable to figure out how to Google that combination, but maybe you could call up a large mall near you?
posted by jabes at 8:34 AM on January 29, 2016

What about Coney Island, somewhere along the boardwalk?
posted by unannihilated at 9:07 AM on January 29, 2016

Pretty sure there is a zoltar machine outside Gem Spa on the corner of 2nd ave and st marks. Not sure of the closest public scale.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:18 AM on January 29, 2016

I doubt those coin-operated ones are very accurate. You could consider just going to a store like Walmart or Target and weighing yourself on one of the scales there. Digital ones likely won't be operational out of the box because they have a tab protecting the battery from being drained, but those needle scales that don't use a battery would work.

Some pharmacies have scales by their blood test kiosks too.
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:48 AM on January 29, 2016

A lot of grocery stores that have blood pressure machines have upgraded to ines that also check weight (from you sitting on them).
posted by aetg at 5:28 PM on January 29, 2016

Best answer: The space wing of the Museum of Natural History (pay-what-you-wish admission) has scales that will tell you your weight on Mars, which you could then convert to Earth measures.
posted by xo at 6:36 PM on January 29, 2016 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: For what it's worth, the Regal Cinemas seem to all be equipped with a wate-and-fate for a quarter. And Coney Island is now open for the season, so I should be covered!
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:06 AM on April 19, 2016