Joey

The first part is just background information: what is your full name, how long have you been here, where did you grow up?

Joey Careccia. J-O-E-Y. C-A-R-E-C-C I-A.

How long have you been in the building?

25 years. Too long (chuckle).

And where were you born and raised?

Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn, USA.

How do you hear about the position of the building?

I heard it from a friend who hired me for security.

Do you remember if it was a quick turnaround between your first day applying and your first day working?

I’d say within a week. Yeah, about that.

And would you say 25 years is the average tenure for a doorman or longer?

Yeah, I’d say average, about 25-30 years.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Typical day? Hectic, as you can see. So, dealing with tenants, dealing with their personalities, dispositions, attitudes.

Are there any days you prefer over others? Like weekdays vs weekends. Or a Monday vs Friday?

Good question. Friday. Yeah, that’s because that’s my last day. I get out of here Friday morning, and that’s my weekend. I will come back at midnight on Sunday.

And what days of the week or times would you say are busiest?

Uh, really, every day, from 4–midnight. That’s the busiest shift because you get everybody who’s coming home from work. In the morning, it’s pretty easy because everybody’s leaving, but 4–12, everyone’s coming home from work, dinner, meetings.

Are there any things you particularly observe on a night shift without much activity?

On a night shift? Yeah, people come home drunk.

Overall, would you say there is less activity?

Yeah.

What do you most look forward to in the day?

What do I look forward to? Going home. (chuckle). I'm being honest: going home. The end of my shift. Tonight, I’ll be here until 8 o'clock in the morning. Yeah, double shift. Double trouble.

Is there any part you least look forward to in the day?

Yeah, coming to work. (chuckle). If I’m being honest. Like today, I mean, today was my first day back from vacation. And when I got up this morning, I was like, “Oh my god, my first day back, I gotta do 16 hours.” I wasn't looking forward to it at all.

Would you say the workload comes in waves, or is it even over a shift?

Comes in waves. Yeah, like the 4–12 shift I’m on now. It’s usually busy from 4–8, and that’s it. From 8–12, it slows down. Everybody's home already. They take their packages; they take their dry cleaning.

Would you say it's one giant wave or smaller waves?

Smaller waves, yeah.

And how many would you say there are per an 8-hour shift?

An 8-hour shift? I’d say two, two waves.

What contributes most to the waves? People dropping by, such as nannies, babysitters, and food deliveries?

Mmm, that’s a tough one. Because you get so many FedExes, Amazon boxes and stuff like that. Then, after a while, that'll slow down, and we'll start getting food deliveries. Yeah, I’m going to go with food deliveries.

Would you say it gets busier or less busy at different times of the year?

Christmas is very busy. Oh, yeah. And you know what? It's funny because a lot of people go away for the holidays, but we're still busy. Because we get so many packages. You've got to see the back room sometime in December. Oh man, because everybody's ordering things, but they're not home. So, we can't put them in their apartment. But it gets busy because there are a lot of packages dropped off, a lot of stuff we have to mark down, and we have to tag.

Does the increase in workload around the holidays ever feel like it’s too much or too overwhelming?

Too much, yeah. Especially when you get into situations where, you know, when you're shorthanded, instead of working with three guys, you're working with two guys. You know?

What do you feel is the most crucial aspect of the job?

The most crucial aspect of the job? Communication.

If there's a lot of activity in the lobby with tenants coming in, you’ve got packages to hand out, and food deliveries coming in, how do you prioritize which one to get to first?

First come, first served.

How do you make the calculation between announcing guests or just sending them up? Is it frequency? Do you get a call ahead of time? A little bit of both?

Well, what I usually do is ask them. Let's say you're a guest. Do they know you're coming? If they say yes, then I'll let them up. If they say no, then I'll call and announce them.

Would you describe this job as one that causes a lot of stress?

Big time. Big time. Everybody thinks it’s easy over here, but it’s amazing. Like I said before, personality—you gotta deal with dispositions. People wake up on the wrong side of the bed. They're in a bad mood. When something happens at work, they come home, and they take it out on me. It's almost, you know what? For 12 years, I was a bartender. And this reminds me so much of being a bartender. Everybody stops you and tells you they have problems and headaches and what kind of day they had. And I really don't care. (chuckle) But I listen to them anyway because it's part of their job. But it's not as easy as it looks.

How do you reduce stress or relax on the job?

How do I reduce stress and relax? I’m gonna give you the real answer: a cup of coffee. And something else, let’s leave it at that (chuckle).

On average, how many times do you interact with non-tenants who walk into the building? Non-tenants?

Seldom. Seldom, yeah. You know, once in a while, you get a delivery guy here or something like that. But other than that, most of their business is with the tenants.

Would you say it's mostly the late afternoon on the 4–12 shift when they come in?

Yeah.

On average, how often do you interact with co-workers? And how long do you converse with them?

Co-workers? Oh yeah, you’re always interacting with them. So, I have to say, always. Sometimes, I’ll have another guy working with me in the lobby and there’s sometimes someone cleaning the floor there.

How many times would you say, on average, tenants walk in and out of the building?

Hmm. Consistently, every minute. Every minute. There's always somebody coming in and somebody going out at the same time

And what are the busiest times for lobby traffic? You said 4 to 12 when people are coming from work and school?

Yep, 4–12. It's always the middle shift. Because, like I said, in the morning, on the 8 to 4 shift, you know, we start at 8, but by 9, 9, 30, everybody's gone out to work already. So, the rest of the day is pretty slow until people start coming home at 4 o'clock again.

How long do you converse with building residents on average?

Hmm. Often. Yep, often.

Do you converse longer when they enter or exit the building?

I would say when they enter the building. People come in from work, and they’ll stop by for a bit and do a little yapping and ask for packages and whatever. They’ll tell you how their day went, like, “Joey, guess what happened today?” Like I said, it’s like being a bartender.

And how did COVID impact the occupation with more food deliveries and packages?

Yeah, yeah, both of those and we had to be extra careful with that stuff. Because, at the beginning, we had to wear gloves, we had to have our masks on, when we got packages in, let's say from FedEx or Amazon, we had to spray them, you know, before we put them in the back on the shelf. Everything had to be checked out and sprayed.

Are there any aspects from the COVID era that are sticking around? Or everything is completely back to normal?

Occasionally, a couple of people wear masks. A couple of the tenants come down with masks. So, when some people come in, they wear masks. I still wear a mask when I'm on the train. It's a pain in the neck because I’ve got emphysema, so it's hard to breathe to begin with. So, on the train to wear a mask for like an hour and a half drive, you know, it's a pain in the ass. Let me put it that way. But still, you know, rather safe than sorry. You don't know, especially with all these illegals that are in the country, you don't know what they got. They haven't been vaccinated. So, you've got to be careful.

What impact would you say COVID had on interactions with the residents?

Oh, big impact. Like people didn’t want to, you see how close you are? Nobody came up that close. Everybody would just walk halfway. Yeah, and they didn't want like, you know, when I gave them everything, they had to make sure that while I was giving it to them, I had gloves on. If I had no gloves on it was like, “Joe, put your gloves on please.” Like, ok, ok. You know, at the beginning when COVID hit, everybody was like so scared of it. They really didn't know what to do that was right, what to do that was wrong. It was really tough, let’s put it that way. Because there were so many things that you had to remember to do. Like I said, it got to be a pain in the neck after a while. Even now, when I leave Brooklyn to get on the train, when the train pulls in, I was like, Oh shit, let me put my mask on. You know, you gotta remember these things, unfortunately.

Would you say you got more distant from tenants during the pandemic era?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know it’s not a personal thing by being more distant like that. More like a precautionary thing, yeah. They were taking precautions just like we were. You know, people would say, “Joe, do I have a package. Could you do me a favor and bring it up to the front of the door and just ring the bell?” Then, when we dropped it off, they wouldn’t open the door until they heard us get on the elevator, which, like I said, you can't take it personally. You can't hold it against them. You know there’s some of the people who were taking being careful to another level.

And would you say you've re-established the close relationship you had with tenants from before the pandemic now?

Yeah. After three years, we’re pretty much back to normal.

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