Building Service Workers Award Honoree Christina Cintron: In Charge at the Front Desk

At just 30 years old, Christina Cintron has been working at her building longer than it has been around. The apartments at 2 River Terrace were built about 10 years ago, and Cintron came on as a concierge just before it opened. She was 20 at the time and working at Target, and heard about the gig from her godfather, who was a doorman there. He was friends with the boss and referred her to him. Her mother also works with her at 2 River Terrace as a concierge.

“Since I've been here for 10 years, I've seen the kids go from babies to, you know, growing up and going to school and everything else. So that's pretty exciting," she says. "And the residents here are very cool. They make you feel comfortable. It’s like our job is to make them feel comfortable, but they do the same as well. Some of them will come in and they're like, ‘look what my child did today.’ And ‘oh, guess what I did this weekend?’”

She says there isn’t really a hard part of her job since the building is like a second home to her, though she doesn’t know many other women who have her same job. And with 300 units, managing all her residents’ needs can be challenging. She’s been a member of the union since the beginning and is grateful for the support they’ve provided over the years.

Cintron has had to balance her work with classes at Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she is studying business administration. She expects to get her degree in May, and is looking forward to all the possibilities that will be available to her. She’s not sure yet what her future holds. In the meantime, she’ll continue to be at the front desk at 2 River Terrace, and hanging out with her family and her dog in Brooklyn.