Ruben

So, the first part is mostly just background, such as your name, your age, where you’re from, and how long you've been a doorman.

Ruben Alverado, I was born here, but I was raised in Ecuador, so I consider myself more from Ecuador than the United States. I’ve lived here since I was 18. I came back to New York, and I lived in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island. And right now, I’m in Long Island. I have a wife, married twice. Six kids with the two different wives—two and four. And I was born in 1966.

And how did you hear about the position in this building?

My friend. Not a friend, my brother, basically. I’ve got 31 years in this building.

Would you say it was a quick turnaround between first applying and then your first day?

It was really quick. I think it was March 7 of 1990-something.

What does a typical day look like for you at work?

I work 8–4, Monday through Friday, Saturday and Sunday off.

Would you say there are some days you prefer over others, or are they all the same?

It's all the same. All the same. The only difference is the morning shift and the afternoon shift. The afternoon shift is like you gotta release, you know, give more packages. You receive a lot in the morning, and then whatever you receive in the morning, whoever's working 4 to 12, you know, is busy. Doing a lot of schedules—I've been doing, you know, different days off, like Monday and Tuesday, then Thursday and Saturday, then like Sunday and Monday.

So, you'd say the afternoon would be the busiest time for you?

In the morning, actually. The morning is busy because the packages come in and people leave for work. It’s slightly busier.

What do you look most forward to in the day?

I’m doing it right here—answering tenants, getting to the phone, dealing with complaints, and all the stuff.

Is there any part of the day you prefer most?

Sometimes, not all the time. Because when you’re busy, you know, the day goes fast. If it's too slow, the day will go slowly. But I prefer the morning, to be honest with you.

And would you say deliveries such as packages and food come in different waves, or is it evenly spaced out over a shift?

Yeah, different waves. We get DHL, we get USPS, we get UPS, we get Federal Express, we get LaserShip. Then, we get a subcontractor coming through security.

And how many waves are in each shift?

I would say a lot. I don’t have the right number, especially in the morning when there is a lot.

Is the job busier or less busy at different times of the year?

Christmas is the busiest day of the year. Right now, the way everything is going, Amazon and all that, it's busy every day. Every day is Christmas because of the packages, especially this week; I think it's Amazon free prime time. Yeah, it's going to be free starting tomorrow. So, yeah, it’s busy at Christmas, but every day is busy.

Does the increase during Christmas ever feel too overwhelming, or is it manageable?

Overwhelming, yes. Christmas is overwhelming. You can see the crazy maid screaming, “Chupa, chupa.” We get all different kinds of people—we get crazy, medium, sweet, sour, bad people,  and good people. Some are good tippers, some bad tippers. We also get paid weekly. Some people get direct deposits, and some people get an old-time check. They want to see the check.

And what do you feel is the most crucial aspect of your job?

Everything. Everything. A little detail that you leave on the side, and, you know.

And when there's a food delivery and a package and a resident coming in, how do you prioritize which one to get to first?

When the food delivery comes, that's the first thing you’ve got to do. First security deliveries. We never deliver food. They come through the service entrance, and security calls the tenant. Then, security brings it out. No one is allowed to bring food deliveries up. Only the guys inside are secure enough to bring it up. Only the contractors can go up there—you know, update that checklist, show the ID, and then, you know, give them like a pass with their name and picture. The packages, when the tenants are here, we give it to them. Or we ask them if they want me to send them out? Sometimes, they want you to give it to them or something. And if someone wants to come in and they’re not in the Building Link, we have to try to get in touch with the resident. So, that's what we're doing. We're doing like security with no weapon, nothing. Nobody can have a weapon. If anybody can walk in and come with a gun, hopefully never, and start shooting, just start running. Other than that, you know, we don't let anybody go in there. Even if they get upset and say, “Look, I came for my father’s apartment, but my father's in China,” I say, “I'm sorry, but I cannot contact China. I cannot give you the key.” You know, we had that two or three times, maybe. And all this time, we’ve had like two or three times that we don't let people in. Sometimes, they will wait right there until the next day, and somebody calls and says, “Hey, it's ok to release the key,” and we say ok.

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

It has a lot of stress. A lot, a lot of stress. With tenants complaining that they need help fixing a water leak, flood, or anything. They wanted help with it yesterday. That’s a stressful thing, and sometimes the tenants can give you stress because they get an email saying they received a package, but we haven’t gotten it in the lobby. The USPS brought two shopping bags. But they are looking, you know, they're scanning, like 11 o'clock, and they bring in two, me. So, then they go, oh, but then he's scanning my bag. I say we don't have that. He's coming; he's on the way. A lot of stress sometimes. Sometimes, I want to quit this job.

And how do you manage the stress when it pops up?

I let it go. If I have a problem in my house, I don’t bring it over here, and if I have a problem in my job, I don’t bring that to my house.

And if you had to put a number on it, how many non-residents do you see per day?

Hmm. Well, it depends. Sometimes you get a lot, so I would say 50-50. They come back at different times, in the afternoon or night.

How often do you interact with co-workers?

Not a lot. Unless when you go to break, the lunch break, that's when you see them, in that time. But other than that, no. You’re standing outside; you gotta stay alert all the time because tenants come in a car, and they need help. You gotta help with the luggage.

How many times would you say tenants go in and out of the building on a normal day?

Normal day? About 20-25.

How long do you converse with a resident on average?

Too much. I would say about 5-10 minutes. Most of the time, it’s just “Good morning. Goodbye.” In the morning, you’ll see a lot of people say, “Good morning,” before going out quickly. I talk more with co-workers than them.

Would you say there's a longer conversation when they enter or exit the building?

It depends. You can find when they're in the mood to talk in the morning, they talk to you. Sometimes they come back, and you hear them if they want to talk, they talk, but not a lot.

How did COVID impact your occupation? Like were there more food deliveries and packages, or was there less activity in the lobby?

It was less activity. But, still, we received packages like crazy. Mentally, it affected you a lot because you lost a lot of friends, family, and stuff. You know, we were here when the COVID strike. I got the COVID, I forgot to put the mask on, and I got the fucking COVID. Thank God I’m here.

Did COVID result in any changes in running or managing the lobby or building?

Mm, not really.

During the COVID era, would you say you got further and more distant from your tenants?

Oh yeah, a lot of tenants, they were like, they don't wanna see, they're not even wanna see you here. They want to just send you home. But we were ok, you know. I got COVID, but I took two weeks off because the tenants were so scared. I believe everybody got scared of it.

Now that we're a year out of the pandemic, would you say you're back to like the same closeness from before?

No. It changed a lot in a lot of ways. Now it looks like a normal, but nah. It's only like a makeup. It looks like this. But there's still a lot of people afraid. I still wear a mask when I go take the train home. Now, I wear a mask because a lot of people are coughing and sneezing. You don’t know. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

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