b"What did you like best about your job as a caretaker?Well, when I started as a caretaker, I used to do the buildings. I had to clean the buildings and I had to keep it up todate. I wanted to make sure that the tenants were being serviced, keep the buildings clean and make sure that they gottheir service. I was proud because I was helpingpeople. In some areas, conditions were really bad and I wanted to makesure the work was being done. People used to go to work in the morning, 8 o'clock. When they came home in the after-noon from work, they wanted to make sure the area was clean, the buildings were mopped and the elevators weremopped. That was part of my job. I was very happy to do it because I was helping the people out, with the conditions.What kinds of problems did you encounter?There were more problems when the children were home from school especially in the summer. They dirty it more;they do their business in the elevator and it was a constant problem that I had to take care of. They go to work in themorning, maybe 8 o'clock in the morning, they come home about five. They really don't know what's going on. So I wasalmost like, let's say, babysitting the building and making sure that the children were not running up and down thebuildings. I used to talk to them to make sure, make sure that they don't fall down the stair. I used to sweep and mop.It could be dangerous, especially with the elevators in the Housing Authority. There were many, many accidents and I hadto make sure that the elevators were running, that the doors were properly opening and closing, so we didn't have anaccident. I really took care of the buildings and made sure there was no problems. It was a big responsibility. Major.Can you tell us how you got to work for the union? I happened to be in the right place at the right time. In 1972, we had our Local 237 softball league with project teamsfrom all five boroughs. In 1972, I registered my team, Queensbridge Houses, to play in the league. We used to have meet-ings on Fridays with all the managers, we used to discuss the rules, regulations and how everything should be done duringthe tournament that year. The Commissioner was Norris Jackson, he used to run the league. Queensbridge Houses playedin the American League in Manhattan. Then you had the National League in Brooklyn. So that year, we won our division.And when we won our division, we had to play the other team from Brooklyn. There was a rule that all managers agreed tothat you play three games. If you win two, you're champs. But, if one team wins and the other team wins, there's a split. You have to flip a coin to see which location you would play which we agreed to in our managers meetings.Barry Feinstein,the President of the union, would attend these games. So, we lost the first game, but we won the second game, so thatmeans that we have to flip a coin to see where to play the third game. But when the game was over, the Commissioner toldme that I would have to play in the other park, which was not part of the rules. He tried to convince me to play in the otherpark and I said: No. I says: This is the rule that all managers agree to, that if a third game was played, we flip the coin andthen whoever wins the flip of the coin, that they have the park. And he disagreed with me and I said: But these are therules, you know, right now you can't just change the rules overnight and I don't agree with it. I'm not happy with your rul-ing. Well, he says to me. Well you know, I'm the Commissioner, the Commissioner; whatever I tell you to do, you haveto do. And I say: No. You might be the Commissioner, but rules are rules and if you want to break the rules, I'm not gonnaagree to it. So what happened was that for hours, could have been two, three or four hours, almost we argued; and it wasalready getting dark. Barry didn't go home. He was still there. He called the Commissioner over and he asked him what'sgoing on? So Norristold tells him, Manny disagrees, he says theyre not gonna play according to what I tell them and 47 "