On to the Next One.
As my current tv pilot “Land Lord” moves into the “out of my hands” phase it’s time to sharpen pilot number two. Oh and out of my hands-refers to a moment as an artist the art you created isn’t solely yours. Especially for tv and film writers. There is no other art as collaborative as these two.
As the title suggest Land Lord is about real estate. The initial idea came to me via a typical New York Daily News headline. Dead landlord-kidnapped in Brooklyn, body left out in the sticks. The ending was very non dramatic but it got me thinking. What really pushed the story out was at the time I just started working in security.
I started in a residential in Cobble Hill(itself a made up name by 70’s realtors-it was always called South Brooklyn) over on Sackett street and Union Ave. Like all security in multi million (or billion) dollar residential or commercial properties prior to mandated state minimum wage, they paid dirt wages. This building had the best dirt.
However, I had no clue what a 421 tax abatement was. It was plastered on a sign on the side of the building overlooking Sackett street. So of course I googled it and here’s what it is; The 421-a tax exemption is a property tax exemption in the U.S. state of New York that is given to real-estate developers for building new multi-family residential housing buildings in New York City. As currently written, the program also focuses on promoting affordable housing in the most densely populated areas of New York City. The exemption is granted for any buildings that add multiple new residential units, and typically lasts for 15 to 25 years after the building is completed. Longer exemption periods apply in less densely populated areas of the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan.
The long and short of it is, if you buy a regular house you don’t get this hook up. You buy a condo or maisonette going for between $2 million to $10 — you don’t pay taxes for twenty years. As I continued working in security I found out most of the companies are started by ex cops or law enforcement of some kind. Most of the supervisors/managers are also ex LEO’s.
I doubt they had any clue about this meanwhile they bitch and moan to you about Long Island and New Jersey’s high property taxes.
I bring that up because cops have some bizarre reason become the voice of the blue collar. If that’s so then they why were so mad at a politicians over dumb shit like emails?
Some of them are probably perplexed at gentrification, in that young white women like their daughters want to live in Brooklyn-even if it means walking alone, down Ralph Ave inside of Albany projects on a cold February night.
I kept wondering why are so many cops working after their time in the police department? What happened to “20&out”?
The economy stupid. Truth is some of them caped for Gordon Gekko, look how they feel about Trump.
However they always had a fallback when those property taxes, the college money, that second mortgage…alimony…came along with them as they handed in their shield.
And the security industry is a Chris Rock punchline. When you have the Milton Friedman acolytes on one end and luddites of business on the other this is the fuck shit you get;
Truth is I’m not shocked by anything in this article. In the seven years I’ve been in security I can tell you one thing for sure, security isn’t there to protect you.
The prevailing philosophy is make the profits regardless of who dies or gets hurt. We see that with Boeing, didn’t a big international bank admit to getting their Marty Byrde on? And what happened? They got “fined” and cut the check before they were asked how would they pay for it.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs
Wachovia paid federal authorities $110m in forfeiture, for allowing transactions later proved to be connected to drug smuggling, and incurred a $50m fine for failing to monitor cash used to ship 22 tons of cocaine, this is ashtray change for these banks.
The idiocy, the Peter Principle schooled bosses, half wit managers, is all factored in-its supposed to happen. It’s laughable to watch ex cops who probably never managed a payroll have to do so in that odd nexus of HR and how the donuts get made.
Remember all civil servants are never directly involved in how the money works. People pay taxes and they get a check from those taxes. That’s it. And when cities cut budgets they never touch the police budget even if it’s bloated with all kinds of useless shit.
When they get into private security all of sudden they become Carl Icahn. I actually had security account manager tell me he didn’t want to “incur” an overtime bill on a firm that manages over 10 million square feet of prime Manhattan office properties(at $85.56 per square foot). We are talking billions per year. But two hours of OT was just too much.
And of course like every other firm does to make money it does so by taking the workers money.
I’ve never confirmed this but the prevailing rumor in security is the account managers hoard the OT because if they do so they get a bigger bonus.
If true I get it but one has to be logical in the application. In a building when you find yourself short on coverage logic suggest plug the holes with those already familiar with the building. Nope that’s not what some of these account managers do. Instead they get cute.
I’ve seen a post go unfulfilled for almost a year because of well I don’t really know.
First, it was just the weekends that needed coverage. Simple enough. But this was during the onset of Covid. Guards were weary of hoping around to get their forty hours. So every last one they bought in quit. I lost count at 12. Then the overnight guy quit. So what’s the solution? Give one of the weekend guards who at this time had the post for six months the weeknight overnight slot. Nope. Instead the account manager wanted to give the five days to two different guards. Why? Has to be for money. Each guard is individually slotted in the payroll account. In other words they are siloed, if John calls out sick it doesn’t affect Michelle’s pay.
So what happens to John’s money if he isn’t there two days a week because the account manager scheduled him “two here-three there”? It just sits there.
The buildings have to give the security companies the money up front because that’s how vendors (the security company) gets paid. This is why the security companies are under pressure to “fill the post” because their money is in the bank.
Security companies don’t have much overhead. They pay rent at their offices, their administrative staff, health insurance for the office workers and then basic communication cost. In this business there are no junkets or industry events held in Vegas. Their biggest expense is the guards they hire. Which is why prior to the New York State mandated minimum wage one place paid a guard nine bucks while across the street another guard got eleven.
Don’t forget the devil in these details, a $15/hr guard is leased by the building at a cost. Usually say $35 dollars an hour. The security company keeps 20 and the guard gets 15. This is how temp agencies work. Well the security company does the same thing.
This shuffling around irks a lot of guards. For one even with the mandated $15/hr minimum there is still some bullshit to be found. So each time a guard doesn’t work at the same post that salary they would’ve got paid is frozen. If all of this money was lumped together there’s no way the company could hire over a dozen guards who quit then, turn around and have that same post split amongst another half dozen guards who also wind up quitting.
Like all low paying industries, the workers in security are shopping around. Most security companies still pay the minimum but whether it’s Covid or the Great Resignation some are offering more. Not much but $16.50 is more than 15 last I checked. One security company blew me way with this;
But by and large most security companies are still living in the world circa February 2020.
Amazon pays 18/hr. Whole Foods 17. I heard Trader Joe’s benefits are all that and a bag of crack. All three companies here have their issues no doubt but they pay better than security.
Of course all the Account Manager can do is bitch about “people don’t want to work anymore”. Yet one young guard who quit, when he came back to get his check, told me he was already working for a Jewish school at 18/hr.
As you can see I have a lot to say about this industry. I feel most people have no idea how this industry works. This to me is what a good tv show should explore. Because if no one hasn’t told you I will, security isn’t there to protect you.
