In addition to the luxury living, many amenities, first-rate security, and year-round fun activities that North Shore Towers and Country Club offers its residents and members, one more major advantage that it offers is a first-rate maintenance staff that helps make sure everything is working just right 24 hours a day, seven days a week at this enormous private gated community.
What helps make that possible is the maintenance staff supervisor, Steve Cairo, who serves as North Shore Towers and Country Club’s general superintendent. He’s been working there for more than 17 years in the same role, he told the Press.
Cairo joined the North Shore Towers and Country Club staff in March 2002. As is the case with several key people there, it’s been a second career for him. Cairo, like several of his co-workers, served in the New York City Police Department. He retired from the NYPD after 22 years, the last seven of them as Lieutenant and Operations Coordinator of the 105th Precinct in Queens Village, the precinct which serves North Shore Towers, he noted.
For Cairo, a lot of the skills he acquired as a supervisor with the NYPD came in handy with his second career, he noted, adding there were many similarities between what he does now and what he did as a supervisor at the NYPD, including scheduling and training.
“It’s a big place,” he says. “There’s a lot going on. I’m always looking for ways to improve efficiency and make the place better. I continue to strive to do a better job every day.”
He supervises about 75 employees, including the handyman, the concierges, the doormen, and three superintendents, one for each of the three buildings; each of them has 22 employees in their assigned building. Those three superintendents “set a good example” and make sure there’s “not a speck of dust or dirt on the carpets” of those 99 floors, which he says they check every day and vacuum as needed.
“They are very dedicated,” he says, terming them “the backbone of North Shore Towers” and noting that they live onsite.
They are around to respond to any emergencies that may arise because there’s always staff on duty, regardless of what time it is. And it’s a massive property that they have to respond within. He pointed out that it includes 110 acres, 1844 apartments, 33 floors in each of the three buildings and “a lot of common areas that we have to maintain.”
One of the things he said he’s most proud of is “the great job that the staff does each day, maintaining the buildings, keeping them clean, keeping them well maintained — providing a professional service to all our residents on a daily basis.”
“Whether it’s the lobby staff helping out with the residents and their packages or assisting unloading their cars, a handyman addressing concerns in residents’ apartments — leaky faucets, snaking drains, et cetera — that is what they do on a daily basis,” he says.
Selecting the right people to hire for the North Shore Towers staff is no easy task either.
“I always tell them: You have to be special to work at North Shore Towers,” he says. “You have to know how to smile. You have to know how to deal with people. You have to be a good person and care about people. We have a diverse population living here who must be treated with patience and respect. You have to know how to talk to people. You have to be mature. You have to act professional.”
And he tends to pick the right people.
“I’m confident our staff could handle any situation that may arise here,” he says. “And we have.”
What feels especially great is when people outside North Shore Towers visit and complement their work. For example, he pointed to building inspectors who have called the place “immaculate” in comparison to the many buildings they visit.
“Our maintenance department is a vital component to the exceptional quality of life we enjoy here,” according to Linda Rappaport, On-Site Real Estate Broker at North Shore Towers.
Of course, in addition to its first-rate maintenance, engineering and security staff, North Shore Towers and Country Club offers an 18-hole golf course, five Har-Tru tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, steam rooms, a hot tub, a state-of-the-art gym offering classes including Pilates, and many other activities. The Club offers classes that include boxing and Pilates Reformer, a special exercise machine that’s “good for stretching your body,” says Mary Anne Langone, Country Club Manager. “A lot of our golfers take the Reformer class because it helps with their flexibility,” she adds.
Pool activities include outdoor water classes, volleyball and several outdoor pool parties. There are basketball courts, boxing and billiards rooms, ping-pong and shuffleboard also. In addition, there’s shopping, a movie theater, barbecues, a garden club and many entertainment events.
For more Country Club details and to book a tour, call Mary Anne Langone at 718-428-5030 ext. 0.
