UWSers Were Ready To Man The Door If Strike Had Happened: UPDATED

UPDATE, Tuesday 4:15 p.m.: A tentative agreement was reached between the 32BJSEIU Buildings Workers Union and the Realty Advisory Board on a new contract that includes the largest pay raises in the history of the union.

The strike is no longer expected to happen.

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Upper West Siders are answering the call for their doormen.

With an impending strike looming, Upper West Siders are preparing to cover shifts in support of their doormen.

Volunteer sign-up sheets are going up in lobbies across the neighborhood, including at The Cornwall at 255 W. 90th St., residents told Patch.

"We're all pitching in together to cover the door, that's pretty much the spirit of it," resident Kathleen Vanden Heuvel told Patch. "I'm hoping that the doormen get what they are after and get the best they can get."

Patch asked Vanden Heuvel if it was worth losing some of the amenities while the doormen strike for a better deal and her answer was simple.

"Absolutely," the Upper West Sider, who has already signed up for a shift. "Let's all pitch and hope for the best."

The Cornwall is not the only neighborhood building preparing itself to step up to the front door.

Another neighborhood building at 375 Riverside Drive near West 110th Street recently sent out an update to residents asking for volunteers to sit in the lobby.

The update provided an emergency contact for a Strike Team on call and also offered information on the services that would be continued to be provided if the strike did take place.

Both Vanden Heuvel and the building management at 375 Riverside Drive acknowledged that they understand the same level of service won't be provided by the volunteer shifts.

The strike happening depends on whether Services Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which represents about 30,000 workers in 3,000 city buildings, can reach a deal with the Realty Advisory Board over its proposal to cut sick days, vacation time, and make employees contribute to their own healthcare.

The contract expires Wednesday at 11:59 p.m., which means the strike would begin as soon as Thursday morning.

That would mean no more help with catching cabs, carrying groceries, greetings at the door, and the cloak of their security while walking home at night.

But if tensions are mounting between the union and the Realty Advisory Board, Park 10 doorman Ardist Brown said he's uplifted by the response he's received from residents in "overwhelming amounts."

"Wholeheartedly, I'm overwhelmed by the support," Brown said. "[They're] speaking to me, and letting me know that my co-workers and I deserve everything we're asking for."

Brown, who has worked 34 years at the West 66th Street and Central Park West building, believes he and fellow doormen deserve the benefits they're fighting to protect, but worries about not being on call to protect Park 10 residents, he said.

"They pay a lot of money to live in these buildings, and I think they deserve to have a quality staff, and they shouldn't have to be inconvenienced," Brown said.

"I'm also fighting for them, I want to return to work, I don't want to see them in a position where they have to fend for themselves."