on the waterfront

Brooklyn
I worked once (7 years ago) for a commercial real estate broker in Brooklyn, because I was fascinated by the potential that down-town Brooklyn had, with the unused waterfront, the drama and the history of the industrial areas, and (obvious to me at the time) the extraordinary economic benefit that could come to depressed areas in Brooklyn, many of which still exist.

So, the first day, I was given a desk, and a list of properties, and a list of customers. These lists were the bottom of the barrel, part of the “I don’t want this one, give it to to the new guy/gal” batch. Since I was new, and did not have my own contacts yet, I didn’t mind, it was OK…I could work with this list, and maybe it would take a month or two for me to get my feet wet. I was psyched. I love old factories, and what can be done with them.

Partnered with one of the senior salespersons (been there a while, not old), I was allowed to go on calls with her, and observe the skills she applied in selling commercial real estate in Brooklyn. She was a retired Police Officer, she was tough, she had hutzpah (guts). She also liked to go drinking after work, and took me along as a sidekick in her man-hunts in the Brooklyn bars. She was a real live wire, and she liked my clean corporate style, and I was an attractive accessory for her.

My 3rd or 4th day, I sat down, and received my first call of the day. I had a hard time hearing the person on the other end, so while speaking with them, I was fiddling with the volume control on the handset, trying to intuit the missing words. I got the information I needed, and finished the call. I went to the office manager, and asked for a new phone – the one I had had something wrong, I couldn’t hear the caller. I got a new phone.

The next day, same thing. Any call that came in, I could not hear the caller. It was even worse this time. Now, I was new, so I couldn’t exactly rant in the office, but I asked if anyone else was having this problem. Smirks all around.

Now, I am thinking – I am selectively loosing my hearing, I have the luck of a rotten lemon, I have another broken phone?.

In the afternoon, after fuming, trying to use other phones, I took the phone apart. I unscrewed the speaker at the earpiece, and found – guess – SCOTCH TAPE COVERING THE SPEAKER.!

Now, the entire office broke out laughing…it was a joke. A mean, juvenile joke. My partner (the live wire) thought it was hilarious. Now, I can take a joke as well as the next guy, I have a brother who taught me the joy in pranks, but this was just too stupid, and mean. A good prank catches you un-awares, startles you, or even embarrasses you, but to mess with your business? That was below the belt, and I lost all trust in my partner. After that, I was screwed out of a shared commission, and left after 2 months, having worked hard, showing lots of little storefronts to under-financed buyers, and made nothing.

I still think the Brooklyn Industrial landscape has a real potential, even with the cherry picking and god-awful MetroTech. It is a political scene, and I’m not in politics. I should have stayed in Architecture, building geodesic domes for third world countries, like ours.