The secret life of a Manhattan doorman

A college student is stoked to land a summer gig as a union-wage doorman — until he learns the job description includes everything from hauling out hoarders to discovering dead bodies

Doorman
(Image credit: (Thinkstock))

The smells are the thing I don't forget. Harsh cleaners, dead bodies, the results of 4 a.m. bodega runs, cluttered apartments filled with rotting paper. I can recall each smell distinctively; they are unique to that time and place. It also works in reverse: If I stumble upon one of the smells, it takes me back to being a naive 17-year-old, working in the hot New York City summer — the buzz of air conditioners working in the night, straining power grids. The city was asleep and I was awake. I was a doorman.

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