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if you live in a building without a doorman, and are a WOHM , how do you do it? I mean- if you order something from UPS, what do THEY do with it during the day? We are thinking about moving, and looked at a gigantic apartment, newly renovated, absolutely gorgeous. but building has no amenities, and no doorman. grew up outside of NYC in a house, and ever since I have been living here (single after college ---> married a NYer ---> moved when we had our first), ive lived in doorman bldgs. thanks....
24 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreYou can take vacation days to wait for furniture deliveries, or your nanny/baby-sitter can do it, or you can hire a personal assistant to do it for you. There are services that provide them "as needed" so you don't have to sign up for more hours than you need. As for the plumber, electric, etc. make sure the building has an excellent, trustworthy super -- he should be handling those types of visits.
[ Reply | More ]we have a f/t nanny, so she would be home for any of these types of things. I dont have a WAH type of job (I am a PA), that does not work. I am more worried about them GETTING IN I guess. like if you have a package- the UPS guy rings a bell in a lobby of a building, how long does she have til he walks away? I dont know, guess I am just looking for ppl to say we do it and it is so not a big deal. the apt is gorgeous and 2x the size of our current one. I dont use the pool/gym in our bldg, so the amenities are a waste for us.
[ Reply | More ]UPS won't just leave package in the rain if no one comes. You'll get a post-it note to schedule pick-up for later. If the apt is really fabulous you should go for it. My condo was like that, and it was rarely an issue. Instruct your nanny to respond to buzzers (assume there is an intercom in apt?) promptly and sign for all packages, same as you would do if you were home.
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cool! so then the super acts as somewhat of a "doorman" in that respect? meaning UPS or Fedex guy knows if someone isnt home, to bring packages to his apt? This could work. I will ask about this.
[ Reply | More ]eh, don't count on it. Is super full time, living in building, or does he come by a few hours a day to sweep, remove snow, deal with garbage etc. That would make a difference.
[ Reply | More ]I actually have no idea. I will email the agent who showed us the apt and ask. We just looked at the apartment (reluctantly at first because of no doorman issue) and were so pleasantly surprised. like kitchen has viking appliances, master bath is jacuzzi, its really luxurious and gorgeous, but this little thing has me biting my nails lol
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If it's a bigger non-doorman bldg, a lot of time the super accepts packages during the day, often dry cleaning and other deliveries too. if you have a nanny, this is less of a problem. if it's a small package, you could have it delivered to the office. once you live there, you may discover that you have a neighbor whose frequently home - a retiree or similar that wouldn't mind acceptigng packages for you. you can use mailboxes, etc. often the bodega or other small business on the block will accept them. the hardest IMO is that if you order freshdirect, you have to schedule deliveries for when you KNOW you'll be home.
[ Reply | More ]which you have to do even if you have a doorman. If I were to ask our doormen to unpack our groceries, I can promise you the ice cream will be in the fridge and the milk will be in the freezer.
[ Reply | More ]or: no to unpack them! but if you have them delivered 6-8pm and they arrive right at 6pm, and you normally get home at 6:!5pm, the doorman wil sign for them and FD will elave them for you. in my bldg, the doorman will put the frozen things in the doorman's lounge freezer. and if i get an early AM delivery and the baby is sleeping, he will ask FD to leave it outside my door and not ring so as not to wake up the baby, etc.
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There is a doorman building on our block that accepts packages for us. We ship them directly to the building and pick it up when it is convenient for us. You will figure it out - its not a big deal. We have a large gorgeous apartment with no doorman/amenities and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
[ Reply | More ]You should find out about the super in the building. My super collects the packages or they seem to leave them outside my door unless it's something that has to be signed for so it's not a big deal. In my old building there was no live-in super and it was a nightmare. If you weren't around you had to go to the far west side in midtown to Fed Ex and there was always a saga. If it's small you send it to work. Other people work things out with laundry places.
[ Reply | More ]I live in a non-doorman bldg and it's never been a problem. I schedule my FD deliveries for when I know someone will be home. Neighbors in the bldg take packages for people in the bldg all the time, or they are put in the lobby (there is always someone in the bldg to buzz the UPS guy in).
[ Reply | More ]so like- how does that work ? does he just ring other people doorbells til someone lets him in? I am the OP, and w hile this might benefit me, Id probably be annoyed if my baby was sleeping, and s/o rang my doorbell to deliver a package to someone in apartment 12B, sorry but it just would!
[ Reply | More ]Yeah, I have little kids too and when they were younger, I talked to the UPS and Fed Ex guys about this. It's usually the same guy on the route, so they get to know their bldgs, they know who is home during the day etc. I find that they don't really randomly ring, but if they are delivering packages to 4 apartments, one of the 4 will be home, or they will have one or two apts that they know someone is generally home during the day etc. Also, in my bldg., there is a tailor next door and he takes packages for everyone in our bldg.
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