When we got a mortgage, we wanted to move as soon as possible
because we had plans to go back to Japan for our winter
holiday.
We made another mad dash to arrange the
closing and move the same day.
We packed about hundred boxes in only five days!
On moving day, as we finished carrying
everything out of our old unit,
we rushed to a lawyer’s office for the closing.
When I entered the meeting room, I was
surprised to see so many people.
Ten people were sitting around the large
table.
There were the sellers, an
elderly Indian couple, and both lawyers,
real estate agents, a mortgage banker
and our family.
Wow…to get a unit, there’re so many people
involved..
It’s almost a miracle all the people can
attend this meeting
on such short notice.
Before the meeting, I wondered why our real
estate agent said
it would take at least two hours, only for signatures.
But as
we were asked to sign more than
thirty documents,
two hours passed by fast.
I could really feel the “Contract Society
of America.”
At last, the seller, a surgeon, smiled and said to me;
“ That house is a really good place.
We have many family memories after living there more than forty
years.
You can make your family history there.
Enjoy your new life! “
She passed me a key.
That moment I finally, and for the first
time, realized,
“Yes, we got our own home!”
I entered our new home with the key.
We
went to work, carrying everything in.
Then a man, who looked like Jim Carrey with
very white teeth,
came in saying “ Hello!” in great spirits.
He was the super in this building.
I remember when the agent introduced this
building to us,
I found in a description “live-in super.”
“Do they have a supermarket on the 1st floor?” I asked,excitedly.
“No, no. A superintendent lives in this building,” he said with a
bitter smile.
The super seemed to be reliable and caring,
giving instructions to the movers like
“Do not spread the boxes along the
corridor,” or asking us,
“Do you need any help?”
So we asked him what we should do to fix up
the living room floor and walls.
“We can do it while you’re in Japan.
I know some contractors.
Payment? Don’t worry! I can pay in advance.
And if you don’t pay me back, as I know
where you live,
I will knock on the door every day. Hahahaha!!!”
He seemed so casual.
And then he called the
contractors immediately to measure the room
and ask what color we wanted, and
he was gone in a flash.
Wow. A super in New York City helps in so
many ways..
Supers I knew in Tokyo were very different.
They usually seemed to be retired elderly
men and
cleaned up a garbage area or entrance hall, but they were all much
calmer.
But here, the super stepped into our
apartment and looked more active.
Besides the super, we found there were four
or five doormen,
two handymen in this building, which has about 100 households.
Actually, we’re paying $1,800 a month for
maintenance.
At first I really could not believe this amount.
One thousand eight hundred dollars??!!
In Tokyo, we could pay our monthly mortgage
with that and
still have change left over.
In this apartment, the maintenance fee may
be high for labor costs for the staff,
but it is not all for personnel
expenses.
In a co-op, about half is the building
maintenance fee,
including salaries and for upkeep of the common space.
The
other half is real estate tax paid by the building.
Maintenance fees vary, depending on the
area,
but around this neighborhood, Midtown East, for a 2-bedroom apartment
with a doorman, many buildings charge more than $3,000.
As the maintenance fee is a big part of our
family budget,
we had a headache during our housing search.
We just wanted to live safely.
Safety and cleanliness don’t come cheap in
New York, in this country…
Anyway, before we came back from Japan,
I
wondered if Jim Carrey would come through for us and
our living room would
really be fixed up nicely.
I didn’t quite believe it, but he actually
did it!
To see the beautifully polished floor and
freshly painted walls,
I thought the maintenance fee was worth every penny.
In this old apartment, built a hundred
years ago,
there are some small problems to repair here and there,
but we can
always ask the super.
Especially for foreigners like us, all the
staff members are reassuring.
Doormen remembered our family and were kind
enough to ask,
“How was the holiday in Japan?”
“Did you have a good sleep last night?”
It made me happy to feel someone’s warm
support in an unfamiliar place.
When I was thinking I should bring a small
gifts for the staff,
I found something in front of my door: a card with “Happy
holidays!”
and all the staff members’ names on it.
I know what this is!
This card means they want holiday tips
before Christmas!
I understand at once because the real
estate agent told us
before we moved into the apartment,
“ You should give some holiday tips to the staff.
It will help you to
make a good relationship with them.”
Then I also remembered that one of my
friends living in New York
a few
years said the building staff members would suddenly
become very kind in this
season.
Well, now I understand.
If it’s because of the season, we don’t
care.
We really appreciate their help and want to
thank all of them,
so we prepared a holiday tip for everyone.
In Japan, we have a custom of giving money
to children
as gifts at the New Year, and when I was in Singapore,
they also
had a very similar custom to give some money,
called “Honpao,” in a small red
envelope to children.
But between adults, we usually send a gift;
often something to drink
or eat to
relatives or business partners either at the end of the year
or at the New
Year.
In New York City, to keep a good
relationship,
we give a tip to someone – not children, but adults - who helps
us.
It’s not a product, but cash!
It seems a reasonable and uniquely New York
way of Christmas giving.
