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NYC building supers say they're eagerly awaiting holiday tips from tenants this year
By
Liam Quigley
Published Dec 24, 2024
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Liam Quigley
By
Liam Quigley
Published Dec 24, 2024
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New York City’s building superintendents are banking on tips this holiday season, and many are eager to advise tenants — especially younger ones — on how much they should give.
“ Fifty bucks is fine,” said Dominick Romeo, a veteran super who maintains buildings in Manhattan. “A hundred bucks will keep them smiling for a few weeks after Jan. 1.”
The tips may sound steep to cash-strapped New Yorkers who already pay sky-high rent prices. Romeo noted many supers don’t make much, and that many rake in $2,000 to $5,000 a year in gratuities. He pointed out supers also pass along the tips to other building staff, as well as postal workers.
Mike Rivera, another longtime building super, said a nice tip during the holidays might lead supers to be more responsive to tenants’ needs.
“ You would definitely go the extra mile for them, and you would go even more of an extra mile for them if they were a good tipper and a nice person,” Rivera said.
Still, Romeo said, some New Yorkers who give out hefty tips sometimes believe they’re owed extreme attention from their supers.
“ The Upper West Side, or the uppity west side as I like to call it, I could get close to 6 grand,” he said. “Sometimes ... I even give them 200 back because I'm like, no, here, that's too much.”
“I'd rather get less of a tip ... which equals less of a problem.”
Romeo said supers have come to expect smaller tips from younger tenants, especially in buildings with high turnover – making it harder for him to distribute to other workers.
“ Surprisingly, the younger generations who are moving in, those are what the supers are seeing less tips from,” he said.
Romero said some supers keep a naughty list of non-tipping tenants, but also said he understands when tenants can’t afford to tip.
“ I don't take those things personally,” he said. “Life happens.”
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sanitation
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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