Ronald M. works for UNICEF, 47, and is married with two children, 21 and 15. Lives at Waterside with his family. Robert moved to Waterside in 2000 from an apartment in midtown on 46th Street because his children attended UNIS. Robert has lived in New York for 15 years, since 1994. Before coming to NY he worked for UNICEF in Copenhagen for five years.
"My colleagues originally told me about Waterside. At Waterside you feel like you don't live in the city because it is like a community of its own -- yet it is convenient to everything in the city. It is easy to get to the city using buses and the free shuttles. I also walk on the east side up to 34th Street; I mostly do that in the summer. My office is at the UN so I take the shuttle to work.
Most UN employees contact our HR department when they learn they are moving to New York City to inquire about housing. If they are transferring from another UN office they usually ask colleagues for referrals. I have a number of colleagues here at Waterside, not all from the same department. We have a cosmopolitan international feel here at Waterside. New York is an international city, and many people who live here work at the UN or at embassies, consulates or missions.
Most of my children's friends from UNIS live in the complex. The basic advantage to raising children in Waterside is that they don't commute so far, so they don?t get stressed and they get more quality time with you. The complex is very safe, you need security cards for access and parts of the complex are closed at certain times. I think that security is a big factor for living in the complex. Not anybody can come in. In the past few years they have improved the access card, and I like that. They have a Waterside tenant association and a gym, and we have made friends that way.
My job requires me to travel every month. This location is perfect for that. Being in an apartment I don?t have to worry about things like maintenance while I am away. It is particularly important for my family because when I go away, I am usually away for a month or so, so I don?t worry about them. A large number of UN employees live in Manhattan, but more are renting outside of Manhattan. Some go to Westchester or Queens, but mostly Manhattan. There are still quite a number of people from the UN who want to come to NY because they know that education is good here.
When I travel and talk to people on my trips they are often trying to apply to work in NY. The number of UN employees is status quo, not expanding but not down-sizing. There is no other apartment complex as close to the UN School.
The UN subsidizes the tuition for their employees. I am an ?international professional? level employee which means the UN pays for 75 percent of my childrens? education, at any private school and for the first undergraduate degree at a college. They have a limit of $20,000 per year per child. They subsidize rent for the first seven years. I don?t have a car. My wife works at the UN, we both can walk to work. I don't think Waterside has a structured network of reaching out to people at the embassies and the UN, they need that. Right now they only have word-of-mouth. I've referred two or three people who have come and liked it, but they need to have more of a marketing effort."
Posted at 10:25PM May 27, 2009 by geriksen in People |
This area is going to be dedicated to profiles of Waterside residents and workers in the Bristol Cove area.
Posted at 10:24PM May 27, 2009 by geriksen in People |