Anyone know where I can find a rental for the 3 leged Spider Dolly in NYC? I Checked AbleCineTech -- they require production insurance which is not in my budget.

Thanks -

you may have trouble getting anything from a rental house without an insurance cert. Try the classified section here, you may find someone cruising through who's willing to rent/lend one with minimal collateral.

Or, if budget is extremely tight, you may try building something. Dolly wheels are pretty easy to make, especially if the total load is only the cam and tripod. Obviously, the roll-up track and fold-down dolly is nice from the spider, but if you're limited enough on budget to not get an insurance certificate, it's worth looking a little lower down the line at building/borrowing track wheels and using PVC pipe.