Holiday Tipping Questions

Hi Lobster:

This is a new spin on an old topic.

1)If you keep increase the amount yearly, you will end up way over-tipping.

2)Cash in a tip card envelope.

3) Nope. The doormen and porters that do more and I saw more often got more than part-time/weekend/overnight.

How's your new apartment? Is this your first Holiday season living there?

1) No. If i have a bad year, everybody should have a bad year...If I have a good year, others will have a better year too. Why should I insulate others from my own pains and gains.

2) Cash also so that they can choose not to report it. Check creates a paper trail.

3) I never did. Some people got 0, some got smaller amounts, those that did their job exceptionally well helping me got more.

True for #3, Snuffles.
The idiot super did not get a tip from me nor from several other unit owners, no matter how often we saw him standing in the lobby wearing his stupid red Christmas sweater.
We just walked on by him, out the lobby door.

Hi Truth. You are correct that this is a new spin on an old topic and for that reason, I was a bit hesistant to start this thread.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday season as well.

http://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2012/11/brickundergrounds_2012_holiday_tipping_guide

Thanks, lobster.

It's a new spin on an old topic, so you're O.K. to ask.

NYCMatt isn't around. We all know how he feels about tipping staff. lol.

bramstar: Pay by the smile!

doorman: "Get yer smiles, here! A dolla-a-smile!"

I tip all the porters equally. I may not see each of them all the time, but their jobs often keep them out of the "public" spaces. The building is immaculately kept, trash is collected what seems umpteen times a day, so since I cannot assign praise (or more money) to any one individual I think it only fair that they all get the same.

1) With Snuffles there.

2) Cash.

3) Nope, I have never given a staff member 0, but exceptional service deserves more $.

Lobster: I like the questions. I find it annoying when the self-annointed keepers of the board refer you to a discussion that took place three years prior.

I still have no clue on what appropriate amount to tip is. The thing that bramstar posted says range of $25-150 per guy. That is totally unhelpful.

What happens if you live in an apartment and you recently got laid off? You need to pinch pennies and tipping is kinda hard to do.

bobnay: If you can't afford to tip, just put 10 bucks in an envelope and explain that you've been laid off and hope to be able to tip your regular amount again next holiday season.
The doorman already knows that you haven't been leaving for work as usual and they suspect that you lost your job (if you were on vacation, you wouldn't be home).

If you're really tapped out, just skip the envelope, wish them a happy holiday and the explaination should be enough to suffice.

Maybe you won't get a smile but they won't punch you out or anything like that.

Good luck, hope you find a new job soon.

@bobnay, keep in mind that these are "tips"; ie - rewards for exceptional service rendered throughout the year. These individuals are not on your payroll and if anyone is feeling pinched then by all means look after oneself and one's family first. Hoping that no one here ever finds themselves in such a situation, but tips for the doorman would very, very quickly fall towards the bottom of my financial priorities if it were ever the case.

A few years back I got an email from a broker with some guidelines on tip amounts. While I don't remember exactly how much, she did say that the size of the building plays a part in it. If's it a large building, you tip less but more if it's a small building. I think the amounts were $100-300 for super, $20-30 for porter and $40 to 70 for a doorman. Don't hold me to these numbers as it's from my memory as I no longer have the email.

The more apartments in the building, the more tippers giving tips.

But if you're getting bad service from a staffer, don't tip that staffer.

My super could have stood in the lobby in his stupid red holiday sweater and brought in a big kettle and rang a bell --
and I still wouldn't have given that putz one cent.

"What happens if you live in an apartment and you recently got laid off? You need to pinch pennies and tipping is kinda hard to do."

This is why my building made tipping the staff *illegal*.

Staff gets annual bonuses from the building's general treasury. That's it. This way no one is made to fell compelled to "tip" these handsomely-paid union employees.

O.K. Matt: That's a good reason.
Obviously holiday tipping is ingrained in most residents' mind as a must, so the tipping ban in your building
makes sense.

I don't feel compelled to tip anybody for anything unless they are paid a low hourly wage, as waitstaff in restaurants are. I tip my manicurist and hair stylist at Christmas.
If they weren't doing a good job for me, I would go elsewhere for those services.

Our union staff insisted on expanding their health plans to their extended families, so I never tip.

$3k extra for health benefits or a measly couple hundred bucks, i think i more than gave the xmas (ahem, holiday) spirit

I agree with Snuffles. The more disposable income I have that year, the more I tip everyone year-round and buy more things.

Which is why Obama is fooling no one when he says that taxes on millionaires (I'm a "millionaire, " My wife and I make over 250k.) won't slow down the economy. You better bet your azz that next year, my tips will be down and my spending will be down. Sorry bud, the government took your tip.

The responses to question 1 are interesting to me since my assumption is that an owner will tend to increase the amounts given to building staff over time unless your economic circumstances change drastically such as when someone retires or has his/her salary cut quite a bit. I assumed that I would need to up the amounts given to building staff once every 3 or 5 years.

My building has a total of 16 doormen, porters, package room people, etc. I tip everyone, simply as a holiday 'thank you' to say that I value them (I think my building has a really terrific staff). I tip everyone equally, because if someone went above and beyond during the year to assist me with something specific, I take care of them for that specific situation right there and then.

I gave each person $50 this year.

my tips and spending will be same as ever, whether my taxes go up or not, good year or bad.

if one cant tip reasonably at a given restaurant, or in a given building, one cant afford to be there. sounds like youre living beyond your means.

god forbid one of you lose your job. if a couple of points of marg tax rate increase requires that you cheese on tipping, imagine.....

1) I have gone up a little since my first year in amounts I give primarily because I came to experience just how extraordinary the service is that the building staff as a whole provides. There is not a weak link among them. And they are all employees for a very long time.
2) I only tip with cash.
3) I do tip all in same position equally. Everyone of them scores a 10/10 from me in terms of doing their jobs and it isn't worth splitting hairs over a $10-25 difference in terms of the day doormen versus the over night doormen.

Fwiw: here is how I break it down for my coop in GV:
Super: $200
Handyman: $100
4 Doormen: $100 each
Part-time Porter: $75
Second Part-time Porter (fewer days than other one): $50

Oh, but kyle: you should be giving the second p/t porter the same as the regular part-time porter.
Why split hairs there for him?
Sometimes the second p/t porter has to fill-in for the regular p/t porter (when he's on vacation or calls in sick).

Really kyle: Break loose with the extra 25 bucks!

yikes,

Disingenuous of you to believe that tax rates have no implication on spending. It is not merely "a few percentage points. " After rent and food and other necessities, those "few percentage points" are what comprises your disposable income. If taxes go up, does not your rent, mortgage, property taxes, cost of food, metrocard stay fixed?

I agree, I won't go to a restaurant unless I can afford 15%. So therefore, if my taxes increase, instead of tipping less at restaurants, I will go there less. Same result. Tips go down. Everyone who works in the food service industry and every other industry suffers.

If the economy is an engine, taxes are the friction. Too much friction and the engine stops. (try 100% taxes and see if anyone will show up to work tomorrow or buy anything.)

JW, we are talking about a few percentage points to your marginal tax rate. So a few percentages after 250000 should really have no impact on your ability to tip.

Thanks to those who actually gave some examples.

How come supers always get so much more? They get paid more yet provide me less direct services. Also any insights what to give the guy who only does the Sunday night shift whose name I can never remember?

Here's a question: (And I feel kind of grinch-y asking, forgive me)

While I appreciate the giving-cash-thing and I realize it's preferred, I'm not totally down with the staff getting thousands of dollars of un-taxed income every year. Why is there no obligation for them to pay taxes on that money? It strikes me as very dodgy.

Tip by cash or by check- neither would be reported for tax purposes
You're going to file the IRS form reporting your payments to each individual? LOL

Yes, one could say there is an obligation to pay taxes on the X-mad tips, but frankly the 15% tax rate enjoyed by the "masters of the universe" is a far more egregious example of tax avoidance

It's all the same. Avoiding taxes is avoiding taxes regardless of your income bracket. At the end of the day, it's up to the individual whether or not to claim. But considering the amount acquired in many buildings, it's a considerable sum to be kept off the books.

unsure:
"That ain't workin'
that's the way ya do it,
play your guitar on the MTV
that ain't workin'
that's the way ya do it
money for nothin'
and your chicks for free..."

I get what you're saying.
You and I would have to report thousands of dollars in income.
The big machers avoid, the building staff avoids.

I'm here with dozens of musicians who must report the income they earn, in every state and country they earn it in.
Their accountants get paid big bucks just to file it all.
You and I Pay.

Quick survey around the green-room:
Most building staff prefer a signed photo, poster,guitar, drum-skin, concert program and that sort of thing rather than any amount of money from well-known musicians.
Most of it ends up on e-Bay.

This is my first year as owner and I looked through old post for some guidelines. My bldg has about 200 apartments. I tipped the 4 doormen (4) $100, porters/handymen (7) $50 and super $150. Happy holidays everyone.

My building has 20 workers with over 500 units so I give less than the above examples since there are so apartments. Of course, I'm sure some people don't tip at all but even if it's half, it's a pretty good amount.

>200 unit "B+" rental:
super 125 (he's the third we've had this year! all of them seemed ok by me)
handyman 100 (he's a lifer and a nice guy)
doormen 75; 100+ to the 2 who look out for me, my tottering old father who uses my apt occasionally, my daughters, wife and stepkids
porters 50

I get the feeling I am on the generous side, tho my building is not full of richies.

I pay checks only so that one does not steal the tips of another. When I was a waiter years ago, such tip stealing happened.

oh and i neglected to say, my building is non-union and all but the super are pretty much in the class of working poor--so this cash is not free money to them. it helps where help is needed.

i hear you jason--i give cash but try to hand to ea staff member, based on similar cancerns as yours--which means i can still be handing into the new year.

ph41,

Typical democrat claptrap. Romney paid a 14% tax rate. Think that's low? RATEWISE, that's higher than what 97% of Americans pay. Not to mention his 14% on his income is millions more than the 14% you probably pay. Look at your 1040 last year and calculate your effective tax rate after deductions.

A lot of people don't understand tax rates. The highest tax bracket is 35%. That does not mean ALL your income is at 35%. Only the amount above $380k. So mathematically, there is NO WAY ANYONE's tax rate will be 35%. Not to mention if the vast majority of your income was dividend income or capital gains, which is taxed at 15%.

The AVERAGE TAX RATE for Americans is 11%.

What is it about Democrats that makes them ENJOY and ENCOURAGE giving more money to Caesar? When you walk into the local DMV and see these fat and lazy government workers with zero social mobility, the first thing you want to do is hire more of them???

I also tip by check but mainly for my own convenience so I avoid a trip to the bank. I doubt that my building staff would steal tip envelopes from one other, but it wouldn't surprise me if it does happen in some buildings, especially a very large building with many tenants and staff.

I also tip each doorman $100, but I do tip the daytime concierge higher than the evening one since he is especially helpful. I also tip my handyman very well since he has done quite a few minor repairs in my apartment saving me money and the bother of finding an outside handyman. It is difficult, as Kyle noted, to distinguish in small amount the tips to give to building staff so for example, I tip all the porters the same although I know some of them better.

Thanks for all the feedback here.

unsure,

Taxes are like gun control - the only people affected are the law-abiding.

If taxes were actually collected on every dollar in legitimate taxable transactions (e.g. the hot dog vendor declaring every single penny of his cash income), we'd have a surplus of 1.1 trillion, not a deficit. Increasing tax rates only affect office workers and employees of corporations who file W2's. Everyone else just shrugs it off.

I can't count the number of contractors or others who've asked me to pay them in cash instead of card or check so the transactions are less traceable by the IRS. My neighbor owns a restaurant supply business in Chinatown and every weekend, he'd come home with a big paper bag full of cash. How is this fair in any way? I work in an office. I can't cheat one penny on my taxes. And now they're going to raise MY tax rates and leave him paying zero. Half these people who are "under the poverty line" make way more than the rest of us in un-reported income.

really? so there are many working poor who, if they declared all their cash income, actually bring home more than "the rest of us" incl your household, income of which you describe to exceed 250K?

"Fwiw: here is how I break it down for my coop in GV:
Super: $200
Handyman: $100
4 Doormen: $100 each
Part-time Porter: $75
Second Part-time Porter (fewer days than other one): $50"

It seems remarkably little to tip the doormen less than $10 per month or to nickle and dime the porter who sorts through your trash and recycling by $25 compared to the doormen. The total amount seems to be less than the old rule of thumb of 1 month's maintenance in a co-op at only $825 total for all the staff for the whole year.

">200 unit "B+" rental:
super 125 (he's the third we've had this year! all of them seemed ok by me)
handyman 100 (he's a lifer and a nice guy)
doormen 75; 100+ to the 2 who look out for me, my tottering old father who uses my apt occasionally, my daughters, wife and stepkids
porters 50"

How many total doormen in the building?
When you tip $75 in cash, do you give three twenties, one ten, and one five?

@matt, my condo is union, and as near as I can figure out, by the time the payroll of $2.3 million goes around to 45 employees (plus a handful of temps) no one is getting "handsomely" paid to take care of hundreds of people and an $11 million physical plant.

They do have good benefits as far as healthcare/pension/time off, but certainly not to the point where tips are unappreciated (many of these employees are also in college, or the older ones are trying to put kids through college) or undeserved.

Holy cow, did I just agree with @yikes?

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

@Matt, what do you bonus your staff? Each year we go through this exercise setting bonus amounts for the staff not knowing what's typical. Our mgt company provides some comps, but I feel there's no good basis for comparison.

yikes,

Our household income after federal taxes, state taxes, city taxes, unemployment tax, Social Security tax, property taxes, sales tax, gas tax, cell phone tax, water tax, electric usage tax, cable tv tax buys us roughly $150k of actual goods. Drop that to $100k after investing in 401k, paying for health care insurance, long term disability insurance, life insurance, etc. Split between a family of 3 after paying the mortgage, and metrocards, and other essentials, we roughly have 20k of disposable income to spend on fun things like vacations and restaurants. Apparently, we make too much for our own good, Government knows best how to spend my money.

I don't get it yikes. If you think taxes are too low, why don't you just take less deductions and write a bigger check? Why are you asking the government to take more of my money? Leftists and democrats are always the ones screaming about "big brother. " You want to make brother even bigger???

Yikes,

I didn't answer your question.

We'd certainly be a lot closer to having a surplus if all taxable transactions were taxed. My old neighbor, (the guy who moves his cash in a brown paper bag) drives a late model Benz.

Every single cash business in Manhattan is under-reporting income. Mom and pop shop? Local pizzeria? Local coffee house? Jewelry store in Diamond District? How many times have people approached you to give you the "special" price if you paid them in cash? If there was no tax advantage, it wouldn't matter if they paid cash,check,credit. There is a huge gray market in this country and no one has thought to better enforce the tax rates we already have.

here you go...

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/How-Do-You-Report-Suspected-Tax-Fraud-Activity%3F

knock yourself out.

It's always a special source of joy and hilarity for me when someone earning several times the median income in the richest part of the richest country in the world shows up to say that they're so hard put upon and struggling to get by that really they're probably worse off than the people that clean up after them. The absurdity is even enhanced this time around by the fact that it's being used as a pretext to be cheap and take out the perceived burden of being only mildly rich on people earning 20% as much.

Let's allow jordyn the opportunity to tell us how he pridefully tips at the upper end of his building, how he is in the soup kitchen on Christmas Day, how every piece of change ends up in the coat of the homeless guy on the grating downstairs and how he refuses to take all tax deductions he personally disagrees with.

what's funny is that you gripe that there are many who operate businesses using cash to minimize their ordinary income, but youve got no issue with mittens paying a lousy 14% rate on his 25 million last year.

i guess it's ok with you that a bunch of lobbyists/lawyers, bought by wealthy, managed to effect that "carried interest" income be taxed as cap gains, while your income cant qualify for such hugely preferential treatment.

but then it's not ok for your 15$ an hour doorman to take in a bit of holiday cash from the relatively wealthy? or your contractor to enhance his income with some cash business.

oh and some advice from a relatively wealthy "leftist"--move, you cant afford the lifestyle you aspire to here in nyc--and from what you describe, if you or your spouse lost your job, youd be bankrupt soon enough--hoe unfair would that be?

woes you!

People who give someone $75 are cheapskates. Saving $2 per month is worth it? What do you do, give 4 $20s and ask for $5 back? Or do you visit the teller and ask for $5s instead of just using the ATM?
Amazing how there can possibly be criticism from some people about paying more in taxes or living beyond your means, but you must save $25 because it wasn't the doorman who helped your daughter or the porter who swept well enough in front of your door.

I guess there are two alternatives - being a hedge fund manager or wanting big wasteful government. No one is in the middle if you ask yikes. He's a special wealthy liberal so it is ok.

You can stick your advice where the sun don't shine. The only advice you seem to have for anyone is that if you complain about taxes, you should get out of the country. Or you should move to somewhere else. My job is in Manhattan. How do you propose I do that? And yeah, if we both lose our jobs, we're fucked. You're not? Then you're probably a leech.

Using deductions and minimizing taxes via financial advisors = legal
Using cash to avoid paying taxes = illegal

Guess that distinction is lost on you.

I'll bet you voted for Mr. Heinz 8 years ago. He made 270mm the hard way, he banged his wife for it. I'm sure you had no problem with Heinz Kerry taking a million deductions and using offshore accounts to shelter his cash. Hypocrite just like every other Democrat.

Mittens gave 29.4% of his income to charity. What did you give again? Obama? Biden? ($369/year).

I don't have a problem with people trying to make a little extra cash on the side. I've got a BIG PROBLEM with these same people voting to make MY taxes higher when they cheat or pay NONE to begin with.

bgrfrank:
lol.

I tipped every staff member except the super.
For 10 years I left the tip envelopes with one of the daytime doormen to give to the overnight doorman until I gave the overnight doorman his tip envelope directly. He was very happy to receive it and told me,: "Thanks so much, I had a feeling that the daytime doorman has been taking my tip envelopes left with him."

That daytime doorman got fired not too long after that but not because he was scarfing the night-time doorman's tips.
He suddenly "left" his employment at the building (according to the other daytime doorman).
In fact, he was coming to work drunk and smelling of beer.
He was found zonked-out, sleeping on a lobby chair at 4pm by a unit owner who didn't bother to shake him awake, just took a photo and sent it to the managing agent.
HO, HO, HO!!!

JWL: LOL!!!

Look who you're responding to:
He's the former "wbottom", now "yikes" and he's envious of anybody who works for a living in the music business.
He could have spent some of his wealth buying a couple of tickets to attend the hurricane Sandy benefit concert at MSG last night.
But that would still not have permitted him entry to backstage and the VIP lounges.
So, he takes his anger and envy out on me.
As if I care whenever he makes an ass of himself on streeteasy.

Question, if I moved into a condo in early September, what should I be tipping? There's a super, 2 maintenance guys, 5 front door, 4 door men, and 3 porters.

Other than the initial move-in (which no one helped except to supervise us so we wouldn't break anythning), really haven't had them help out with anything major.

Am I expected to pay full years worth? What is the overall budget you think is right? $500 - 600? Less? 170 units in the building roughly, in a B property.

Thanks!

Own or rent?
How many people in your apartment?
Are you planning on staying more than a year? More than two?

Own. Two ppl and medium term

25 bucks a pop, tops!

JW, it's simple: you are cheap--and you are looking for reasons to stiff your building staff--so you twist your fox-based politics to justify your selfishness

and youre in deep sh!t if one job is lost--two? youre on the street

live within your means, so you can afford not to stiff service workers who help you

and watch your karma--itll keep you off the street!

I think it should always be a percentage of your rent if you're a renter or the 'market rent' for your unit if you're an owner. When I lived in a building with over 30 staff members, I chose to give some people $0 and others up to $70 based on performance. That's how it works in corporate America, so I didn't think it should be any different in this situation. If someone did a horrible job or their job function didn't really warrant a tip in the first place, they got $0 and that $ went towards someone who did an exceptional job. For the staff I never met, I would give them something if whatever their job function included actually ran smoothly.

For example, there was one concierge member who was always on the phone on personal calls in the morning so I would have to wait.. and wait for her to finally hang up and help me when I was rushing to get to work. And when I left my keys for my sister to let herself in one weekend, this same person was a horrible witch to her and pretended like she didn't have the keys for almost an hour. I would have given her negative tip if I could have!

Yikes,

It has nothing to do with being cheap. I'm one of the most generous tippers everywhere I go, especially cabbies. I would hate to be a cabbie or waiter, so I tip them extra. HOWEVER, if I have less discretionary income, I will be taking cabs and going to restaurants less. That means that these people, who are reliant on tips, will make less. Not difficult logic.

Quite honestly, on tipping building staff - I don't really get much service from them. They open the door for me, hold packages, and they get a fairly-paid UNION wage. I don't ask for special favors or requests like other people do, with carrying bags, etc. I'll still tip them, but definitely not $50 each. (x40)

JWL: No need to waste time explaining to wbottom/yikes.
He's a bitter middle-aged divorced guy.

Live your life and spend your money the way you want.

With the exception of the superintendent and his asistant, I tip all 46 employees the same amount. Many of them I don't interact with, but they make life in the building more pleasant. I also tip generously for any additional thing they do for me during the year - little repairs, taking down the luggage, etc.

I am still amazed how stingey kylewest is. Last year he said he didnt give Xmas tips for his garage staff.

what percentage of one's rent should it be?

hunter: God knows I will regret this, but where did I say I don't tip garage staff? I don't tip during the year every time I enter or leave the garage, but I tip everyone there for the past year's service this time of year. We pay out more than what it costs to keep the car there for a month. And its an expensive garage. Why you singling me out for trumped up stuff?

You are right. I made a mistake. Two years ago you said you tip for Christmas but you don't tip during the year when you get the car out. I remembered something was remarkably stingey, but I got it backwards, my apologies for being wrong about this.

NYCREBUBBLE, I'm in a similar situation. I don't think anyone answered your query. I moved in to condo in August. so it is a partial year, does that matter? and 4 concierges, 3 doorman, and the usual porters, handyman, super. also, tipped super when i moved in. My inclination is to give the super the same amount as the 7 protectors, since I've already given him a decent sum.
7 concierge/doorman is excessive. all (or mostly all, are very nice).
A recent email from some Corcoran broker (I must have gone to an open house), suggests $200-$500
for super, and $100-$500 for doormen. My gut tells me that is excessive. And I have 7 "doormen"
Does anyone think that those are rational amounts? (at the high end)? Does anyone give out $500 per employee?

Huntersburg,

I do not believe that it is being stingy not tipping the guys at the garage if you take the car out often. Sometimes I do not have singles on me and sometimes I will give $5.00 and sometimes 10.00 but not everyday. You make it seem like Kylewest doesn't pay them at all. He said that he doesn't pay them everyday, when he tips the guys more then a months charge he must be giving each guy around $100.00 each for the holiday. That isn't stingy is it?

What I read is that he does not tip at all during the year. I'm happy to be corrected.
Also, $100 each at Christmas at the garage, that sounds great, but it seems inconsistent with the measley sub-$1000 total tips he gives for his intimate special co-op.

I have lived in 4 coops in the past 25 years,and have used their garages. My new cars always have nicks and small paint chipping from mishandling. About 30 percent of the doorman get up to open a door. I have had to continually ask to have the hallways vacuumed. In fact I do my hall myself. Only 1 super in these years wasn't a lazy fat slob who does nothing. We tip out of fear. Fear they will do less. This is their jobs. Amazing we are suckered into giving.

Thanks primer. Seems pretty straight forward to me. Making sure one has singles always at the ready for daily garage tipping seems ridiculous. I take my car out perhaps 100 times a year. If I were to tip $2.00 each time that's $200 per year. If I were to tip coming and going, that's $400. In aggregate I tip them more than that--I just prefer to do it all at once.

As for building tips, I don't see where H's $1000 benchmark comes from. I never heard of a benchmark like that. I think $200 for the super is about as much as anyone gives in a reasonably sized coop. And $100 for most other staff is also at the upper range of what people in coops give. If someone comes in to help 2 days a week, yeah, they get less than the full time doorman or handyman. Duh.

"@Matt, what do you bonus your staff? Each year we go through this exercise setting bonus amounts for the staff not knowing what's typical. Our mgt company provides some comps, but I feel there's no good basis for comparison."

A good rule of thumb in my building (and from what I'm hearing from other board members) is $1000 for the super, $200 per doorman, $100 per porter.

Benchmark is one month of maintenance. How much is the maintenance is your lovely co-op?

There was a good point above about the $75 cheap tip - you have to go out of your way to save the $5 vs an $80 tip, and don't tell is you have $5s "at the ready".

Face it, your behavior doesn't live up to the image you try to portray here.

It's expensive to keep a car in Manhattan.
Add the garage staff to the already long list of people receiving tips.
If you had to tip a doorman each time he opened the door for you during the year it would add up.

^^^And that is from the *building* itself. We do not allow our building staff to accept any gifts from individual shareholders.

Kylewest is on the money about tipping. In order to factor in building size, my rule is that if every one adjusted for apt size tips the same, a doorman or support staff should be able to make 3-5k. A bit more for the super if you want him to promptly take care of any reasonable issues in your apt.

Why should building staff be allowed to shake down building occupants for thousands of dollars in cash? If they need the extra money so badly, do what those same occupants would do if THEY needed more money: GET ANOTHER JOB.

Tip $8.12 per month for the doorman. Imagine what you are supposed to give if you aren't a millionaire or billionaire in NYC.

I've recently moved to NYC from Chicago and need some help. In my prior condo building, the board established suggested guidelines based on monthly assessment and any monies given went into a pool that was split among the building staff. That certainly made it easy!! And any special recognition could be given to the staff members directly. Now that I am a renter in NYC (in a fantatic building) I want to recognize the staff, but find it difficult to hunt people down due to my work hours. Two different doormen have informed me I could not leave gifts for the staff at the front desk. I guess it makes sense, but leaves me in a bind. So, if you're still following this comment...please can anyone offer me any advice how to make sure I am able to contribute to the staff when I never see them and I have no place to leave a gift?

NYCMatt,

I have been living in NYC for more then 15 years. I have never heard of anyone one shaking down any resident. Everyone form the super to the porters help me in my daily living, weather it be dry cleaning deliveries, food deliveries or anything else. I have no problem tipping the guys in my building throughout the year as well as the holidays. Same for my garage guys who have my car ready for me every morning. These guys provide a great service to me and i show them my appreciation with a tip. How anyone can rationalize why they shouldn't tip is beyond me

Happy holidays

My rule of thumb is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 month's common charge for a condo. The point is that the majority of that money goes to payroll, and by doing a month you're doing your share in a ~10% bump to annual income. If you think 10% is too much, scale accordingly. But the point is that you are already paying for a fraction of their salary, so you can quickly back out what to tip depending on how much you think their tip-to-salary ratio should be.

A different way to get to what 300_mercer said.

NYCMatt>>A good rule of thumb in my building (and from what I'm hearing from other board members) is $1000 for the super, $200 per doorman, $100 per porter.

I don't get it, what's the point? You're saying that a doorman making, say, $50K a year is given a $200 bonus in lieu of tips? Is the $200 automatic or performance-based? If the former, why not just roll it into salary? If the latter, how is a 0.0% increment vs 0.4% vs 0.8% meaningful recognition / incentive on performance?

I ask because I saw this once, but could not figure out the reasoning. My wife had an employer long ago that did profit-sharing. When profits were in the general range of expected, it amounted to the same-ish fraction of salary as what you are saying. It seemed like the point of the exercise was so that the employer could say "everyone employee shares in the profit, not just the executives". However, the effect was negative on those whose morale it was supposed to bolster. An extra $200 is nice, but why the charade -- just tack it onto my salary.

I don't see where size of apartment has anything to do with how much you tip staff. Some 2 bedrooms has 5 occupants others has one. Number of occupants seems like a better indicator.

Kylewest, how do you cover the door 24/7 with 4 doormen and 2 part time porters? We have the same number of doormen but 3 full time porters. You must be in a very small co-op, ours has about 150 apartments. By the way your tipping numbers seem very reasonable although we tend to tip the daytime doormen more than the graveyard shift since we interact much more frequently with them and they handle all of the deliveries, it seems like a more difficult position.

RENY>> I don't see where size of apartment has anything to do with how much you tip staff.

Their salary is paid according to apt size regardless of number of occupants. So why shouldn't it be the same for the incremental 5-10% tip?

Suppose there's a $50 bottle of wine shared by 4 people vs a $100 bottle shared by 2 people. The first group tips $10. The second group should therefore tip $5???

RealEstate: the handyman serves as a third porter I guess. I don't know how they staff things exactly in terms of which hours and who does what when.

Both size of apartment and # of occupants are relevant.
2 people in a small apartment should pay less than 2 people in a large apartment.
A couple with 3 kids in a large apartment should tip more than two empty nesters.
Also if you are a pain in the ass or receive extre service, tip more.
Oh, and if you live in a smaller co-op building in one of the best most-expensive areas of town, you are well enough off with either income or assets, don't come here telling us how great your building is and then stiff the staff by paying the same amount that a mature renter in a large building would reasonably pay.

Seems here as if once you get past NYCMatt's extreme miserly position, that everyone here is thinking about how little they can reasonably get away with (seriously - the tip to salary ratio?). And you shouldn't be asking for $5 change from the porter who deals with your trash and cleans your hallway, or use year-end tipping to get you out of a very typical obligation to tip a couple dollars to the $10-15/hour garage staff when you take out your car.

Primer05,

I have been living in NYC for more then 17 years. I am sick and tired of this mob-style "shakedown" culture in NYC apartment buildings. You've never heard of it? You must be both blind and deaf. EVERYONE bitches about it at this time of year. They feel compelled to "tip" or else in the coming new year their desperate calls to the super to stop their overflowing toilet from flooding will go unanswered. That is a classic "shakedown". "Everyone form the super to the porters help me in my daily living, weather it be dry cleaning deliveries, food deliveries or anything else." Good for you. You PAY for that service already. "How anyone can rationalize why they shouldn't tip is beyond me." BECAUSE THEY'RE ALREADY BEING PAID.

Happy holidays

"Suppose there's a $50 bottle of wine shared by 4 people vs a $100 bottle shared by 2 people. The first group tips $10. The second group should therefore tip $5???"

Not that I'm condoning tips, but ...

You're looking at this wrong.

Both groups tip $10.

It's just that the $10 is spread out as $2.50 per person in the first group, and $5/person in the second.

Welcome back nada.

Matt, do you tip at the restaurants? If so, read on. For selected jobs, there is an expectation of tips on top of your base salary. This is the norm based on which base comp is agreed upon.

"For selected jobs, there is an expectation of tips on top of your base salary."

Only for jobs that pay below minimum wage.

What about cabs?

Few hotel employees in NYC or other big liberal cities get anything close to minimum wage. But you still have to tip them. Same for hair salons and barber shops. Even in right to work states, bartenders get above minimum. I could go on but you get the point. LOTS of non minimum workers get tips. I for one think we should do Spain-style and make them explicit commissions, since there are Scrooge McDucks like Matt.

"Few hotel employees in NYC or other big liberal cities get anything close to minimum wage. But you still have to tip them. Same for hair salons and barber shops."

You don't "have" to tip anyone.

NYCMatt>> Both groups tip $10.

I think the convention is to tip double on the double-priced wine. At some point this stops -- I imagine a $100 tip on a $2000 wine is sufficient -- but I've never gone there myself.

What say you on the $200 bonus for doormen. What's the point?