4 years ago Eddie took me under his wing and showed me a new world, the Upper East Side. More accurately the affluent section from Park Avenue west to 5Th Avenue and Central Park, or as Eddie puts it, "Park to Park." I wasn't new to New York but I was new to an area with a clear class system. Doormen, Chefs, Trainers, Nannies and Dogwalkers are all referred to as the help. A modern day phrase for servant.
Eddie says there is no shame in the term because in the late 1800s the Upper East Side was founded by the middle class. The wealthy lived below 59Th street on 5Th. As the city grew the wealthy started showing off by putting huge mansions on Park Ave and so it started. But it wasn't until 1913 and the introduction of income tax, and the scarcity and resulting high price of servants, rendered the Upper East Side too expensive except for the country's wealthiest.
Eddie is proud of his place in the world and it shows. He's a well respected and does his job with great dignity. I'm grateful to him for showing me how the thrive in a strange environment and I'll never forget his greatest piece of advice, "Doormen know everything."
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