Holiday Tipping in light of the following.....

Congratulations on the new apartment!

No tips necessary -- your building staff is already paid handsomely.

That is crap -- if you just finished a large construction project -- tip in full -- $50 - $100 per person. TIP -- To Insure Promptness -- Construction projects are huge burdens to many in the building - lots of deliveries and trash,

i would say tip as if you were there for the whole year... it's an act of goodwill.
i moved in to my new place on dec 23.. i tipped the people i saw (ie day doorman) as if i were there the whole year, or close to it. but i don't think you need to tip based upon the size of your apt.
And CONGRATS on the new place- enjoy!!!!

Here's the thing: it is utterly reasonable and logical to give a token holiday tip given that you just moved in. Doing so runs the risk, however, of alienating one or more of your new building's staff. So on balance what do you do? Token tips would probably save you some relatively nominal amount in the scheme of your life and financial status. So is saving a few hundred really meaningful after all you've been expending to get into this new place? Surely not. Give the full tips. The money means a lot more to the staff members than it does to you. Spread some cheer.

I absolutely agree with Kyle. Given what you have no doubt invested in your new place (congratulations, may you enjoy many happy times and build happy memories), why not invest what is in the overall scheme very little more in your relationship with people who can make your life more pleasant. Plus you will be doing a nice for people who need the money and really appreciate it.

"To Insure Promptness"

Wrong. It would be "To Ensure Promptness." The use of "insure" in that context is a strictly American contrivance of too recent origin to explain the etymology of the word "tip."

I do agree with general consensus on tipping in full.

Again, this is such a shakedown mentality! Do we honestly believe we will not receive decent service in the year ahead in a white-glove building if we don't tip well during this time of year?

I don't tip out of fear--I actually am fairly certain I would receive good service even were I not to tip. I consider the yearly tip a part of my rent, however. I tip because I feel it is the right thing to do. OP clearly feels it is the right thing to do as well. I kind of feel--if you are going to tip, why be so negative??Is it really a "shakedown"??If you look at it as something positive, something nice for someone else, approaching it with generosity rather than mean spirited resentment I think you would mind the tipping season a lot less.

Here's an alternate view of the question. If you moved into the building in November, do you tip all of the staff in your prior building as well?

I agree with the concept of paying the full tip in the new building irrespective of when you moved in. On the way out, I would argue you tip only those who are particuarly helpful with the move out on the basis that the new owners will be picking up tipping responsibility for the unit.

what about if you're moving out feb. 1 and have lived in the bldg. one year...would $20 per service person be okay...i simply don't have the money to do more because their are numerous people to tip, including the postman who is terrific...I'm not comfortable with tipping so little but...

julia, it's the spirit. nobody expects someone to give who can't. that's why some of us take objection to the notion that we are only tipping to ensure service. hopefully enough people have both the generosity and the means to lighten the holiday spirits of those who help us.

but i do have a question. TS has decided that our super, who has been with the building for years and is beloved, not only needs to now take care of two buildings, but neither of those buildings will be ours. so last week was his last week in this building. not tipping him is out of the question, as is any reduction in tip. but as i suspect others are not so likely to hunt down someone who has moved to a new building, i also suspect i'll be shafting the new person if i don't give a full tip to him as well. any thoughts?

julia, it's the spirit. nobody expects someone to give who can't. that's why some of us take objection to the notion that we are only tipping to ensure service. hopefully enough people have both the generosity and the means to lighten the holiday spirits of those who help us.

but i do have a question. TS has decided that our super, who has been with the building for years and is beloved, not only needs to now take care of two buildings, but neither of those buildings will be ours. so last week was his last week in this building. not tipping him is out of the question, as is any reduction in tip. but as i suspect others are not so likely to hunt down someone who has moved to a new building, i also suspect i'll be shafting the new person if i don't give a full tip to him as well. any thoughts?

AR, I would give the departing super a "farewell gift" of his normal Christmas tip. Hopefully, most of your neighbors will gift him before he departs if he possible. As for the new guy, that's a tough one. I would be as generous as you feel comfortable being. Nothing wrong with a reduced "welcome" Christmas present but, if you can afford, remember it probably wasn't his choice to be transferred Dec 1 or therebouts. TS is a little different than working for a small ll/management company.

"however. I tip because I feel it is the right thing to do. "

Why?

Why is it "the right thing" to tip someone who's paid a full salary and benefits for doing his job?

Do you tip the janitor at your place of work? Do you tip your subordinates?

Matt--If there were a janitor at my place of work I might tip him as well. Why do I think it's the right thing to do? I am not even sure of the answer to that, really. I grew up in this city, with doormen, and we always tipped at the holidays. Everyone tipped at the holidays.My parents used to let my brother and me give the doormen their tips and it remains a warm feeling with me to this day. I do feel tipping has gotten out of hand. I do not tip my hairdresser, for example(for christmas, I mean), or my dry cleaner.I feel with doormen and building workers there is an understanding--whether you feel it is warranted or called for or not--that they receive cash "gifts" at the holiday season. I understand you feel differently, and since you have authority in your building to change the way things are done, you can do so. I believe I recall having read that you did in fact do so. Fine. But It's an understood tradition in this town--I know it, they know it.Rightly or wrongly, I would feel like crap if I didn't tip. And ultimately i would sooner not feel like crap :)

"But It's an understood tradition in this town--I know it, they know it."

We used to have another "understood tradition" in this town: organized crime infiltrating the sanitation and building trades.

Not all traditions are right.

evnyc: 'Wrong. It would be "To Ensure Promptness." The use of "insure" in that context is a strictly American contrivance of too recent origin to explain the etymology of the word "tip."'

Hmm? The use of "insure" relating to insurance is more recent than its original use as a synonym of "ensure":

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=insure

Having said that, tip isn't an acronym, either:

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp

NYCMatt = Mr. Pink. See, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_pdC7IEz1o at 1min 38sec.

Ya know, I sort of agree with NYCMatt. Why is tipping someone who gets a decent salary and benefits absolutely required? Why is it "the right thing to do?" I understand tipping your waiter/waitress who makes sub-minimum wage and absolutely relies on tips to earn a living, but building workers aren't in the same situation, as far as I know. Apparently, some of them make good money and all of them make above minimum wage.

In my mind, the only reason to tip is b/c I'm afraid of getting the cold shoulder if I don't. Maybe they won't come up to the apartment so quickly the next time there's something wrong. Maybe one of my packages gets "lost" in the mail room. that's why I feel like it's a shakedown.

My suggestion is to view tipping as a business tansaction. Tipping (or not tipping) itself is neither right nor wrong -- I strongly disagree with the 'right thing to do approach'. It is more of a pragmatic thing to do. If one lived in the building for only a small pasrt of the year, there is less of a rationale to tip -- after all you did not receive the services the full year. If you are moving out early next year, there is no need to tip fully either. If you will need some slack at moving time, simple tip extra everyone involved then. On the other hand, if you feel you will need staff services on an ongoing basis, tip well. To illustrate, a few years back when I was a recent college graduate and held a few noisy parties, I always tipped the night doormen. Sometimes that very night, sometimes a bigger tip than the rest of staff at year end, but I always took care of them. The same went for the weekend porters because they let me get furniture and other large items delivered on Saturdays. For everyone else,I would slip $10-20 at year-end and that would be it. Worked for me every time. Now, however, I live the sedate life of a Manhattan professional, and do not require any help from the staff above and beyond their regular duties. So, I still tip, but slip each of them $20 in an envelope and that is it. There were two people who treated me rudely, so I left no tips for them at all. I hope the staff share tip amounts with each other. Basically, tip them as you need them.

"To illustrate, a few years back when I was a recent college graduate and held a few noisy parties, I always tipped the night doormen. Sometimes that very night, sometimes a bigger tip than the rest of staff at year end, but I always took care of them. The same went for the weekend porters because they let me get furniture and other large items delivered on Saturdays."

Ah.

So you tipped in order to break the rules.

All the more reason for buildings to outlaw this whole "tipping" practice altogether.

Oh we live in a new rental building and have been here 10 months and more doors are being opened in the past few weeks by the socalled concierge.

"All the more reason for buildings to outlaw this whole "tipping" practice altogether. "

I don't disagree.

tojc:
2 points

rule #1..take the high road

point 1. ignore the idea that you only lived there a brief portion of the year. Tipping good now will at least show good faith on your part. When you move out in "X" years will you tip pro/rata in August? probably not. Tip now!

point 2. speak to the super NOW about ratting you out. Clear the air NOW.

rule #1..take the high road!

patient - if the super hadn't "ratted" him out, and a board member or the managing agent had found out about the owner's "minor changes during construction" (minor to TOjc but possibly not minor in the management's eyes), the super ran the risk of being fired or disciplined.

So maybe it's better to just forget the whole thing, rather than putting the super on the spot, especially if he helped everything else go smoothly on the construction.