Morales Loves ‘Basically Everything’ About 66-15 Wetherole St.

Guillermo Pineda Morales has been a porter in Rego Park, Queens for around a decade, and says he loves basically “everything” about his job at 66-15 Wetherole St.

“Sometimes, when it’s winter, I have to shovel snow,” Morales said. He doesn’t find this particularly ideal, but understands that “it’s part of the job.”

The one highlight of Morales’ workday that stands out above the rest is interacting with the building’s tenants. “They’re very nice people,” he said. He enjoys bonding with them when they head off to work in the morning, right when he’s beginning his own shift.

Morales works nine hours workdays Sunday to Thursday, and gets Fridays and Saturdays off. His day-to-day responsibilities involve making sure that the building’s tenants live in a comfortable space. For example, he’ll “take the garbage outside to the compactors,” and clean the lobby “every morning.” Later, he’ll mop the stairs and vacuum the building’s halls. “There’s always something to do,” as he puts it, especially given that he’s responsible for 13 apartments.

Morales got the job on Wetherole St. after a friend recommended him. He grew up in a small and tight-knit village in Mexico, where he picked up his most enduring passion: running. He fell in love with doing so at around age seven. “Every morning, you go between the fields, your village, and school,” he said. Running helped people get places on time, he clarifies, especially because “we didn’t use cars.”

“Every morning before work, I do my training,” he said. “I come to work already full of energy.” He doesn’t stop there, as he starts training again as soon as he can after work stops. He says running creates a nice sense of rhythm in his life.

“It’s part of my commute,” Morales joked. He’s run marathons in NYC since 1995, and has managed to participate in a total of 15. A knee injury was the only thing that prevented him from participating in more.

When he’s not running, Morales enjoys spending time with his girlfriend. “We like to get dinner, or sometimes we’ll go for a bike ride outside of the city. In the summer we’ll go to the beach, or go hiking,” he said. “We don’t like to stay indoors.”

The two of them avoid the indoors year-round. The best cure for bad weather making your workday a bit more unpleasant, Morales believes, is enjoying the winter recreationally when you get off. “All you gotta do is put on some extra clothes, and you can go outdoors,” he said.