We all remember Christina Ambers (real name Christine Akman), the foot model who fell in love with the doorman, Angel Rotger, of her UES co-op in 2007. The two got hitched in 2009, and then filed a $10 million lawsuit against the building for allegedly ostracizing her and unfairly firing Rotger once they discovered the relationship. But the whirlwind romance may have been short lived; according to papers filed on February 25th, Ambers has petitioned for divorce. more ›

This art caper is turning out to be better than the criminally underrated 1991 classic Hudson Hawk—okay, nothing is better than that, but it's pretty captivating none-the-less. To recap, six weeks ago a $1MM+ painting went missing after an art courier—James Haggerty—claimed to have lost it after having too many drinks following a failed sale of the masterpiece. Nearly two hours were unaccounted for between his leaving the hotel bar and getting back to his apartment, so one of the co-owners of the painting, Kristyn Trudgeon, decided to file a lawsuit. more ›

Have you ever wanted to know what it takes to be a real New York City doorman? Well, it seems harder than it looks. That's why the staffs of eight Manhattan buildings are attending all-day seminars at the Waldorf-Astoria in the hopes of learning things like how to pick up a phone before it rings three times, how to properly tell tenants to get to the gym, and how to maintain eye contact when you're being chewed out for not walking that old woman's dog properly while she was at her country house. Here are some tips from Michael Romei, a 16-year Waldorf veteran: more ›

Rafat Ali, founder and publisher of Paidcontent, recently moved into his Murray Hill rental, so he held a housewarming party. When he told his doorman he would be expecting guests, things got a little crazy. According to Brick Underground, the doorman eventually told him, “You think you’re better than us. I Googled you and because you sold your company for however many millions of dollars, you think you are a bigshot.” more ›

After reaching a deal just minutes after the contract deadline, members of the Local 32 BJ union are thankful they didn't have to strike. "I'm happy the deal was reached. I'm very happy because no one wants to go on strike during these economic times," one doorman told the Post. The deal includes 10% wage increases over four years and and agreements to continue discussions on lowering health care costs. more ›

Police are planning to arrest Rod Covlin for the death of his estranged wife, Shele Danishefsky Covlin. They lived across from each other in an UWS building and a law-enforcement source told the Post that hours after Danishefsky Covlin died, Covlin left the building and his actions "were inconsistent" with his usual behavior: "He stopped and talked to the doorman and offered him coffee. And the doorman said he never did that before." Another source said Covlin was "arrogant" to the doorman while a third person said, "He was roaming the lobby at 4 in the morning, he hadn’t changed his clothes in days, and he looked whacked." It was initially believed Danishefsky Covlin died from an accidental bathtub slip but recently the ME's office found she was strangled. Danishefsky Covlin was allegedly planning on removing Covlin from her will as a beneficiary. more ›

Ugh, doormen. Always with their hands out for tips and holiday bonuses, always romancing the residents, or winning the lottery and lording it over everyone. Of course they have a union, and the average doorman in New York City can make about $40,000 per year. But their days may be numbered, because voice and face recognition technology is poised to render them obsolete. 30,000 doormen will see their contract expire next month, and today The Post, ever on the side of the working man, gives some free advertising to a company that wants to replace these burdensome humans with "biometric doors" costing $15,000. more ›

More proof that NY is just as seen on Seinfeld: Residents of an Upper West Side co-op fought to get a chair for their trusted but tired doorman, and after three months they finally won! The saga began last year when members of the board at 650 West End Avenue got rid of the building’s desk and chair while it was remodeling. It reasoned that the doorman would be quicker and more alert from a standing post, but after months watching him suffer upright, residents protested. "We believe that it is inhumane to require that our doormen must stand during an eight-hour shift without a break," they wrote in a petition. "We do not feel that they would slack off or do their jobs less efficiently." The board acted quickly, saying the doorman didn’t have to stand—however it was too stingy to actually offer him a seat. Funds have yet to be allocated for the purchase of a new stool, reported the NY Post. more ›

A resident of a "luxurious small building" facing Central Park got some lip over a holiday tip, and turned to the UrbanBaby message board for advice: "So, I gave my doormen/ porters and handyman 60 dollars bonus each (times 11) and to the super, 100 dollars. One of the doormen complained about his bonus, saying, 'I love the card, not so much the contents.' I couldn't believe it. I wonder how much everyone else gave this year." And so the agonizing debate over whom to tip and how much rages on! One proposed solution for this particular contretemps? Re-tipping and apologizing to the doorman. more ›

Carlos Pellecier has been a doorman for three decades, and his confessional to the Daily News makes it seems like a pretty sweet gig, especially this time of year. Besides the cash and sweaters and leather jackets he's received, this one time a guy asked him to move his car, and when Pellecier came back with the keys, the guy gave him the car. But things have changed a bit since he started at age 21. "I would talk to some tenants about what club was hot and where we would be hanging out later," says Pellecier. "But now that I'm almost 50 years old, it's all about the best deal at CVS and trading coupons for Bengay." more ›

The hand and foot model suing her UES co-op for $10 million for allegedly ostracizing her because she married a former doorman has been all too happy to tell her story to the tabloids this week—until yesterday, when she suddenly fled the building with a coat over her head. But since Christina Ambers is a famous hand model, the local tabloid photographers immediately recognized her distinctive digits, and some truly hilarious images ensued. "You ruined our lives!" husband Angel Rotger shouted at the shutterbugs as he led his hooded wife along the sidewalk. more ›

The hand and foot model who's suing her co-op for treating her like a pariah for marrying the doorman has a history of romancing the help. Before she fell for bareheaded former doorman Angel Rotger, Christina Ambers had previously cavorted with another doorman at the Upper East Side building, a married Romanian immigrant named John Bradatan. But is it so crazy for a woman whose hands are her livelihood to fall for men who professionally open doors? more ›

After losing his job as a doorman when he started dating Christina Ambers, the so-called "Heidi Klum of foot models," the couple married and Rotgers moved from his apartment in the Bronx to his wife's posh, 700-square foot apartment. But since he moved into the building where he used to work, Rotgers claims his former coworkers have become like "captors" who discriminate against the couple, making them feel "trapped" in their apartment, according to the Daily News. "After working amongst them, them having to work under me is a big culture shock," said the 32-year-old, who also tells the Post his neighbors are jealous and refuse to treat him fairly because of his race. "They no longer have to treat me as a Hispanic porter, telling me what to do, where to go. Now they have to treat me as an equal [and] that made them very, very upset." more ›

Hand and foot model Christina Ambers fell in love with the doorman at her Upper East Side co-op in 2007, but the superintendent forbade Angel Rotger to see her romantically. And yet the romance between doorman and foot lady could not be so easily snuffed out, and the two continued their affair in secret. When they were found out, Rotger was fired—but not before the super's wife allegedly swung her handbag into his groin so hard he suffered a contusion of the testicle. Naturally, their story is on the cover of the Daily News and the Post today. more ›

An Upper East Side man is suing the owners of his building for $10 million after his doorman allegedly left him with severe injuries following "a seriously misguided effort to be social." 55-year-old Glenn Reit had just gotten back from a ski vacation when he crossed paths with doorman Fred Rosario, who excitedly told him to sit down and "close his eyes and pretend he was skiing," an always ominous request. Rosario's ski fantasy for Reit turned out to be less Bode Miller and more Sonny Bono when the doorman began laughing and yelled, "You've hit a tree!" and according to the suit, "planted a forceful karate chop on the back of the plaintiff's neck," that has left Reit "substantially disabled." Reit claims the chop cost him $7,000 in medical bills from "a herniated disc, vertigo, neck pain, blurry vision and a concussion." Rosario denies any karate chop and describes his interaction with Reit as being more like an Atomic Sit-Up, where the tree was simply played by a slap to Reit's forehead. more ›

Yesterday was cabbie Joseph Horvath's first day on the job, and he learned an important lesson: Never walk away with the keys in the ignition. Horvath had gotten out of his taxi around 12:45 p.m. to help his elderly passenger into a building at Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, across from St. Patrick's Cathedral. But seeing that Horvath was double parked, an unidentified doorman decided to "help" by jumping behind the wheel and moving the vehicle. That's when he clipped an oncoming Mercedes-Benz and careened onto the crowded sidewalk, where tourists were thronged because of Holy Thursday services. Luckily, he only grazed one pedestrian, a woman from Arkansas, who suffered a minor leg injury and refused medical treatment. Police are investigating the incident but have not charged the doorman yet. As for Horvath, he tells the Daily News, "It's embarrassing [and] I have to explain it to my garage. It's a good thing it wasn't my fault. I hope they don't give me the boot." more ›

In the 1970s the New York Dolls took on another member, their roadie Peter Jordan, who often filled in on bass for Arthur Kane (allegedly when Kane's drinking became bad or, you know, when his girlfriend tried to cut off his thumb with a kitchen knife). While Jordan hasn't been taking part in their "comeback" shows over the past few years, he is still very much a part of New York. The former rockstar is now a doorman at a non-residential building in Midtown, near Grand Central. If you see him, show some respect...and ask him if he's working on a memoir (during his years with the Dolls he kept a diary, which was used as a reference for one book on the band). And did you know guitarist Sylvain Sylvain used to drive a cab? more ›

As mentioned earlier, holiday tipping is taking a hit these days. But some building staffs still have expectations. One shop steward tells Page Six Magazine, "Anything under $50 is considered a bad tip. Some tenants give $20, a few give $400 and some don't give at all—and I can tell you the staff treats [the nongivers] differently. If a bad-tipping tenant calls down for help, the doormen make them wait a little longer. The biggest tippers get the best service." Other doormen put it this way: If you're a good tipper, they'll help you with "moving parked cars to abide by the city's alternate side parking rules, fixing TVs and computers, taking dogs for walks and conveniently 'forgetting' comely visitors to the apartments of adulterers." [Via Curbed] more ›

A jury decided that real estate developer (and father of the former gov) Bernard Spitzer discriminated against employees and must pay them $1.3 million in back wages and damage. Four employees had sued Spitzer and the building management at 150 East 57th Street after they were fired by the super and replaced by white or light-skinned Hispanics. The building management company settled with them, but Spitzer did not and the suit headed to court. The ailing 84-year-old, who had denied racism ("If I see a doorman, I see a doorman - I do not see a white doorman or a black doorman... I don't see the blackness or whiteness or pinkness or yellowness of a doorman"), was not in court; his lawyer said they will appeal. more ›

In a Bronx courtroom yesterday, 84-year-old real estate developer Bernard Spitzer insisted four black employees at one of his apartment buildings were not fired due to their race. The father of the former governor said, "If I see a doorman, I see a doorman - I do not see a white doorman or a black doorman... I don't see the blackness or whiteness or pinkness or yellowness of a doorman. I have a mind that focuses on the fact that a doorman operates as a doorman." more ›

Millionaire Richie Randazzo, the lotto-winning Park Avenue doorman who wanted to keep it real by keeping his job at the luxury condo, has been fired at last, the Post reports. Last week Randazzo told the tabloids that the management had been threatening to terminate him because he was "spending too much time outside the building." It continues to be a rough week for the blue collar playboy; on Monday news broke that his new bombshell girlfriend is charged with “promoting prostitution” at a Jersey strip club. But despite rumors that the strippers/hookers hated her, one dancer at the club defends Randazzo’s special lady friend: “They're just mad because she got the $5 million doorman. That's what they all dream about.” more ›

Despite winning $5 million with the "Set for Life" scratch-off game last May, Park Avenue doorman Richie Randazzo is determined to keep his job, where he earns $40,000 a year plus tips. But his attempt to move into the building was stymied, and now he says the management is trying to fire him “for spending too much time outside the building and wearing short-sleeve shirts.” Randazzo tells the Post, "They are jealous. They're running [the apartment building] like the Gestapo. You're required to stand all the time. They want you to look like a soldier." Other unreasonable demands include opening doors and signing for deliveries. more ›

A 26-year-old woman was found murdered in her Chelsea apartment by her sister last night, and the murder victim's boyfriend--and the murder suspect, according to police-- killed himself a few hours after the discovery. more ›

Bad breath will usually cost one a second date, but who knew that it could cost one a job? Doorman Jonah Seeman was told that he shouldn't show up for work today because he was being suspended for having stinky breath. The 61-year-old worked as a doorman at a four-building complex on East 89th St. in Manhattan for 40 years, supporting his 81-year-old mother. Seeman was suspended twice before for his breath, the first time... more ›