tipping the super

Issues? Let me guess, like most Manhattan dwellers you don't know how to change a lightbulb, or are too afraid to use a hammer to hang up that horrible overpriced piece of "contemporary" art that you were duped into buying at some snooty chelsea gallery. I say give him 5 or 10 bucks for the light bulb and 10 for the painting.

no, nothing like that.
my oven wasn't working so he was able to light something called the pilot light, also the toilet was making this running sound, so he changed the ballon inside, also freezer was not very cold so he reprogrammed the temperature control panel and my internets was not working so he was able to fix that also by checking the cable and he also fix the spam filter also so i can now get my friends invites to myspace, he also checked my credit ratings and found that a few things needed attention, he also did a quick peek at my colon and found nothing which is relief, i also have some cavities which i had no idea about until he checked out, he even found time to check the oil in the saab and everything is ok for another 10,000 miles, he even checked my 401k portfolio and thinks i can benefit more with aggressive stocks, he thinks i should put more into it, since my company also matches, he then even took a look at my CD and thinks the 4% i get at HSBC would be put to better use at Banco Popular, but he told me is partial to that bank anyways,
he even redid my subscriptions to Timout NY and Vanity Fair which is really cool, i told him he can always read them when he wants.

Ha! Good one #3. #2 is typical of the worst part of streeteasy. Useless and mean spirited.

OP, ignore these folks. It's customary to tip the super when you move in..introduce yourself and give him something like $40. But if you haven't done that yet and he's already done some stuff then go up to him, thank him and give him your tip.

$40 lol, renter, even my super would scoff at that measly sum.

Don't be a cheapskate! $40 is far from adequate. $400 is the minimal standard as of June 2007.

depends on your unit, building etc, I would say around 100.

what kind of apt-in a big building a super gets a six figure salary + free housing and cable TV and all utilities. How do I know this-the offering plan of my new cons states all these facts

As of July 2007, $4,000 per person per unit will become the customary tipping for Super when moving in Tibeca, UES, UWS, Chelsea, Flatiron, Midtown, West Village, East Village, LES, Battery Park.....

Tip your super 100 bucks.

Super has to live in the building 24/7 with low salary, relies on tips from tenants to survive.

I just moved in to a high priced (for me, but aren't they all?) rental and we have a temporary super we share with another building. I've never met him.

All the doormen and maintenance people are just great. But, can the big tips wait until Christmas? And is the Christmas tip different (or the same) as in coop/condo buildings.

Thanks in advance to savvy, helpful New Yorkers.

Super has free housing! And with that in mind I believe salary is not terrible.

Wow, it's clear you hit a raw spot with this one, and the reason is....NO ONE ever really knows what to tip, it's always uncomfortable, no matter what kind of apartment you have or building you live in. What can you afford? What did he do? I think the $40 dollars with true sincere thanks to him personally says alot and means alot. Remember, you'll probably need him to help you out in the future, now's the time to set the precedent. So giving him something now shows you appreciate him, which means he'll come help again when you need it, but not so much money that you'll have to keep escalating it as you go.

"Help" is not right but "Duty" to be proper. If someone does not get enough pay, ask for a raise. If someone does not like the job, go get a new one. To make excuse to squeeze more income from work is not right. Greed has no end.

A super has the best job in the world...he doesn't pay rent....if i knew what a hammer looked like I would definitely want to be a super when i grow up!!

It must be nice living in Walden Pond #16.

These supers will tighten your screws and screw you simultaneously!

Tipping when one moves in is just smart. Tipping at move in or xmas has nothing to do with counting how much money the guy makes. It is just the done thing to do and ensures you a superior level of service. People who stand on these dumb principals about how life ought to be--ie no need to tip, the salary is sufficiant are the ones who end up miserable because somehow things don't go their way and people seem to treat them shabbily. Life is too short, tip the damn super.

now that you have brought up xmas. how much is the right amount to tip super, doorman etc. at xmas. I used to live in rental and probably didn't think about this as much before.

Our building, years ago, set up a Christmas Fund (now called the "Holiday Fund" because of a few...whatever's). We give a lump sum to that, which then is distributed to all the staff (except the Super, we're to give him separately...he's not in the Union, which I'm not sure if that's why but that's how it works in our building) based on their years of service. This way, the guys we don't see very often, like the ones mopping and waxing the floors, all get something. It works very nicely. They are given money with only the names of the contributors, not the amount each of us gave. We then personnally give a little bit extra to the couple of guys who have really gone out of their way for us during the year. People give anywhere from $100 to $2,000 (there's a bunch of people who have combined 3 apartments in the building, so I assume they're the one's at the high end). We have 13 guys in our building...we give $500.

"few whatever's" --do you mean Jews

yeah, what's up with that? 'whatever's'????

I think he meant non Christians because everyone should celebrate Christmas no matter what religion thy are.

I'm just a little bit tired of the being Politically Correct thing is all. I'm married to a Jew, for petes sakes! Yeesh!

Yes one of my friends is Black and I too have a few Jewish friends that I let use my towels when they need to use the bathroom.

Mazel Tov

..why not just state Holiday Fund and leave your other bigoted comment out? Correct me if I am wrong but wouldnt it be unnecessary for you to write?

Big tippers get good service! No tippers get no service!

You're absolutely right. I apologize.

No tips and maybe no mail on time.

#3 Do you admit prior to the super doing all that for you, you thought he might be just another dumb borough person who was lucky enough to land a job as a Manhattan super? Now it has you thinking, "Wow all these people living outside of Manhattan might not be so bad after all. If fact they may be smarter than me. This guy in fact is so smart, he figured out a way not to pay for his apartment, while I had to shell out a million+." Did he tell you the story about how twenty years ago he was shopping for a place to live, looked at some places in Manhattan, was shocked at how people could pay so much more for such a small place and decided instead to buy an apartment building (and a weekend home in Westchester) in the Bronx which he now owes free and clear netting 20,000 a month ? While most people in your building are overpaid professionals who will get laid off in the next economic downturn. It must come as quite a shock to you, the fact your super may actually have more cash in the bank and overall net worth than your free spending neighbors who struggle to keep up with their mortgage payments? Now you are on your way to becoming a more enlightened Manhattan dweller. You realize everybody that lives beyond Manhattan's bridges in the boroughs and beyond are actually enterprising, intelligent and the ones who really make the world go round, while you spend your nights hopping from one soon to fail new Manhattan restaurant to another about to fail "trendy" eatery with horrible food. You're beginning to understand why the rest of the people outside use to laugh at you. How they shook their heads when you and your neighbors couldn't read a subway map or never got a driver's license .It's a good thing most of Manhattan is laid out as a grid with numbers, you had to spend so much effort learning just the street names downtown- that's why is was so hard getting around downtown Brooklyn when you first started to go their once a year (after a token booth clerk finally convinced you to take a subway map home and study it) in search of reasonable prices.

#26, it's not about being politically correct, it's the way #22 wrote his/her statement.

Maybe you don't care if people say offensive things about your spouse's ethnicity, but for those of us who actually are jewish we get it, regardless of what ethnic group is being targeted.

I think what he meat to say is that I'm married the a Jew for petes sake other than that she's perfect.

#34--I'm jewish and I don't "get" what was so offensive about his statement.(btw I think 22 and 26 is the same person) I didnt feel he was using the word "whatever's" as an insulting way of saying "jew"--I think he was just saying "non-christmas celebrating whatever they may be". Personally I get sick of the overdone political correctness too, and while you are entitled to your opinion and your reaction, it is your line "for those of us who actually are jewish we get it" that has prompted me to chime in.

sounds like you are the wife of # 22 as well as # 26.

ok, so anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas is a 'whatever'. How respectful.

#36, maybe you didn't grow up in a town where you had to endure your classmates complain how they couldn't hold morning church prayers because of those horrible jews which is probabaly why you don't 'get it'.

#39--no, you are correct, I did not. But I did not criticize your reaction to it, I simply objected to your saying "those of us who are actually jewish get it" meaning that you were speaking for allof us when clearly you do not. That is all I meant to say. I'm sorry you grew up that way.(truly, I am not being glib)

I think there are Jews out there you don't want to accept the fact they are Jewish so anything goes (i.e #34) and then you have another class of self hating Jews which is another category altogether.

an apropos moment for an "OY VEY"