DivaMomsNYC

bitching about Door Man strikes in their building 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/nyregion/19strike.html
The title of the article says “New Yorkers Brace for Doorman Strike”. I am a New Yorker and to be frank I am not bracing for shit. This part of the New York Lifestyle affects me in no way whatsoever. I have lived in New York my entire life and like most I think it’s a great city, I think it’s a great place to vacation. To live here is another story. You have average rents for studio apartments starting at $1,000 a month in a semi decent neighborhood,crime is ridiculous, jobs are scarce and there are just too many people here. As a single mom its hard enough trying to pay rent my last apartment in the ass of the Bronx was $1,200 a month not including utilities, food etc. I now live in Brooklyn in a not so normal living situation which may be changing in the next few weeks. I work for the Dept of Education and my salary is about $37,000 a year. After deductions I take home about $1,500 a month. That is barely enough to support myself as a single person yet to also have a teenager. But I do it. Thats the one thing NY has taught me and that is how to survive and always have a backup plan. I am on the fence now about leaving the state because I can’t afford to live here. Depending on some information that should come in the next few weeks I will have to decide where to move to next in NY or leave the state completely. Here was my response to the NY article “As a Native New Yorker who works in Education and makes only $37,000 a year and sending a kid to Private School. I have been more than creative in trying to find a decent place to live in NY. $40,000 is nothing in NYC to live on. The opening paragraph states how much these people are needed. If you have the money to pay for convenience than Pay IT! Some of us don’t have the luxury, means or to be frank the desire. Only in NY could you make $40,000 a year and be poor!. I long for the days when I see my son through HS/College and I can take myself around the world and open up doors for those less fortunate!” I mean every word of this statement I would love nothing more to drop everything fit what I could in a backpack and travel the world helping children, and people who will never know such privileges of having a doorman, a place to sleep that is their own, or even a book or pair of shoes. So call me bitter, jealous, envious I could care less what I am is a human being who has spent my life sacrificing for others because that’s what makes me feel good and instilling those same values in my son. With all of the natural disasters going on in this world, and people having no respect for life, nature, the planet we need to pick our battles and choose wisely. So these doormen deserve a living wage and if that means they have to strike to get it I hope they do it! In New York it’s an everyday occurence of people struggling for basic necessities. The fact that people are actually shrieking at the thought of opening their own doors, maybe having to go to the post office to pick up their packages, or greeting their own children after school doesn’t stir up one bit of empathy from me. I pick up my own packages, I take my kid to school, I raise my own child and have done it for the last 15 years, I do my laundry, I grocery shop, I bathe myself, I open my own doors, I swipe my own Metrocard, I feed myself, I cook for myself, I dress myself, I think you get the point. I think the part that bothers me the most is people who have never been to NY will get the impression this is all our story and it’s not. NY is a hard place to live, love and earn a living. Don’t believe the hype!

DivaMomNYC