Supers & Resident Managers Technical Association

Part-Time Super?
by Denny Lee, New York Times
Sunday Sep. 9, 2001 One building, one superintendent, is how Nathaniel remembers his job. "You'd wake up in the morning and take care of your building like it was your own," said Nathaniel, who asked that his last name not be used.

But for many city supers, those days are becoming rare. Last year, Nathaniel, 43, lost his job and apartment in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and was replaced by a part-time super who lived in another building.

After months of searching, Nathaniel landed a job as the super for one building on the Upper East Side and three on the Upper West Side.

Housing advocates say that landlords of buildings with fewer than 50 units are getting rid of their live-in supers, who usually pay no or low rent for their increasingly valuable apartments, and replacing them with supers who maintain several buildings. For tenants, they say, the change means delays in repairs.

"Landlords are skimping," said David Powell, an organizer for the Metropolitan Council on Housing, a tenant group. "You're seeing a lot more buildings where the super lives farther and farther away."

For landlords, sharing a super among several buildings lowers costs and frees up apartments for rent, said Roberta Bernstein, president of the Small Property Owners of New York.

Under city rules, buildings with nine or more apartments must have 24-hour janitorial services. The owner or super must live in the building are at least on the same block, or live within 200 feet of it.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development said it gets complaints about the lack of an on-site super, but that they rank low compared to other grievances, such as no hot water.

Bill Meyerson, spokesman for Local 32B-32J of the Services Employees International Union, which represents superintendents, said he had seen no drop in membership. But Eugene Marabello, president of the Superintendents Technical Association, said nonunion supers are vulnerable. "Their apartments are probably worth more than their salaries," Mr. Marabello said.