b'ent. I would go downstairs to make sure that the assistant super is doing the right thing or to see if he needs any assistance. I worked at Lafayette Gardens and the next building over was Brooklyn West District office with the big shots.If they don\'t get out and go to work at a certain time, then you have something to answer for.Was this one of the District offices of the New York City Housing Authority?Yes, one of the districts. I had to be really out there, because I had to watch my janitorial staff.My assistant super wasan elderly man, he could hardly walk. I had to jump because I would cover his back.So, as you drive into work, you startthinking: "Oh, what were we doing yesterday, what are we going to do when we get there. As you come into the parkinglot, chances are you got an employee or a tenant who\'d approach you: "Oh, Mr. Cottone this" and "Mr. Cottone that" andthe first thing you do is, you take a deep breath and compose and try to be open-minded, because you\'re there to solveproblems. You can\'t say, "Hey, leave me alone, I\'ve haven\'t even got here yet," And so you go to the office and then yougot to make sure you\'re dealing with the staff downstairs, checking the storeroom. Theres a caretaker and you\'re trying tomotivate him to stay in the storeroom, maybe it\'s not as bad as mopping floors, but he\'s tied down under the nose of thesupervisor, the assistant super. You try to talk him into doing a good job, to motivate him. He doesn\'t get paid much. Justas a caretaker, the same pay as mopping the floors. At the meetings, one of the things that I\'m always sticking my neckout for is to get them a title and some training. This person keeps track of all the material, all the parts for everything thatyou need inside of the apartments and everything else. You can\'t put just anybody in this position. A lot of the peopledon\'t want to be in there under the nose of the supervisor. They want to be out there, pushing the mop around, withoutthe responsibility. There are certain things in a stockroom that you also have to check on. You have to do very, very carefulbecause you want to motivate him, you don\'t want to discourage him. They have close item kits, an inventory of howmany toilet seats, how many flush valves, how many bolt cocks, stuff like that.What was a typical day for you on the job when you began as a maintenance worker?I used to come in and normally we had a locker. But if you didn\'t, it\'s a problem. I always liked to change. I didn\'twant to go home in the uniform. Some people did that, but I used to change in the lockers. That would be in LangstonHughes, Borinquen Plaza, I was a maintenance man at Borinquen Plaza, Farragut Houses and we usually would have acoffee klatch. I was a little bit of a Felix Unger. I like things neat and all, I would collect and buy the coffee. So, for the firsthalf hour while they were looking to get their work tickets, we would have a coffee. I used to be after the fellows. "Comeon man, I\'m nobody\'s wife here, you know, you got a glass and everything, get the cups out of here.I didn\'t mind mak-ing the coffee and all and I think on payday, maybe I was able to get a dollar or whatever it was to buy the coffee and themilk and stuff. Once they got the work tickets, we went to the task. Hopefully, the receptionist was able to interpret thecomplaint properly, and write it down. If it says there is a bathtub stoppage, you know what kind of tools you need tocarry, if it\'s a toilet stoppage, it\'s different tools; if it\'s a kitchen drawer, whatever the complaint is. So, you get your cartand you get all your stuff and you\'re trying to get out of there by 8:30, because, if you like your supervisor, you don\'t wanthim to get in trouble. If the District Director comes by and sees us all having coffee, wellOr we used to go right into the management office to see the receptionist. It depends on what project you work,what kind of a system they had and how you got these tickets. The receptionist would advise us if the tenant gave permis-sion to enter. They would sign the ticket that says that it\'s okay, because they know pretty much who\'s going to go inside86 '