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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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The moral injury of having your work enshittified

This Monday (November 27), I'm appearing at the Toronto Metro Reference Library with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

On November 29, I'm at NYC's Strand Books with my novel The Lost Cause, a solarpunk tale of hope and danger that Rebecca Solnit called "completely delightful."

This week, I wrote about how the Great Enshittening – in which all the digital services we rely on become unusable, extractive piles of shit – did not result from the decay of the morals of tech company leadership, but rather, from the collapse of the forces that discipline corporate wrongdoing:

https://locusmag.com/2023/11/commentary-by-cory-doctorow-dont-be-evil/

The failure to enforce competition law allowed a few companies to buy out their rivals, or sell goods below cost until their rivals collapsed, or bribe key parts of their supply chain not to allow rivals to participate:

https://www.engadget.com/google-reportedly-pays-apple-36-percent-of-ad-search-revenues-from-safari-191730783.html

The resulting concentration of the tech sector meant that the surviving firms were stupendously wealthy, and cozy enough that they could agree on a common legislative agenda. That regulatory capture has allowed tech companies to violate labor, privacy and consumer protection laws by arguing that the law doesn't apply when you use an app to violate it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

But the regulatory capture isn't just about preventing regulation: it's also about creating regulation – laws that make it illegal to reverse-engineer, scrape, and otherwise mod, hack or reconfigure existing services to claw back value that has been taken away from users and business customers. This gives rise to Jay Freeman's perfectly named doctrine of "felony contempt of business-model," in which it is illegal to use your own property in ways that anger the shareholders of the company that sold it to you:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

Undisciplined by the threat of competition, regulation, or unilateral modification by users, companies are free to enshittify their products. But what does that actually look like? I say that enshittification is always precipitated by a lost argument.

It starts when someone around a board-room table proposes doing something that's bad for users but good for the company. If the company faces the discipline of competition, regulation or self-help measures, then the workers who are disgusted by this course of action can say, "I think doing this would be gross, and what's more, it's going to make the company poorer," and so they win the argument.

But when you take away that discipline, the argument gets reduced to, "Don't do this because it would make me ashamed to work here, even though it will make the company richer." Money talks, bullshit walks. Let the enshittification begin!

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/22/who-wins-the-argument/#corporations-are-people-my-friend

But why do workers care at all? That's where phrases like "don't be evil" come into the picture. Until very recently, tech workers participated in one of history's tightest labor markets, in which multiple companies with gigantic war-chests bid on their labor. Even low-level employees routinely fielded calls from recruiters who dangled offers of higher salaries and larger stock grants if they would jump ship for a company's rival.

Employers built "campuses" filled with lavish perks: massages, sports facilities, daycare, gourmet cafeterias. They offered workers generous benefit packages, including exotic health benefits like having your eggs frozen so you could delay fertility while offsetting the risks normally associated with conceiving at a later age.

But all of this was a transparent ruse: the business-case for free meals, gyms, dry-cleaning, catering and massages was to keep workers at their laptops for 10, 12, or even 16 hours per day. That egg-freezing perk wasn't about helping workers plan their families: it was about thumbing the scales in favor of working through your entire twenties and thirties without taking any parental leave.

In other words, tech employers valued their employees as a means to an end: they wanted to get the best geeks on the payroll and then work them like government mules. The perks and pay weren't the result of comradeship between management and labor: they were the result of the discipline of competition for labor.

This wasn't really a secret, of course. Big Tech workers are split into two camps: blue badges (salaried employees) and green badges (contractors). Whenever there is a slack labor market for a specific job or skill, it is converted from a blue badge job to a green badge job. Green badges don't get the food or the massages or the kombucha. They don't get stock or daycare. They don't get to freeze their eggs. They also work long hours, but they are incentivized by the fear of poverty.

Tech giants went to great lengths to shield blue badges from green badges – at some Google campuses, these workforces actually used different entrances and worked in different facilities or on different floors. Sometimes, green badge working hours would be staggered so that the armies of ragged clickworkers would not be lined up to badge in when their social betters swanned off the luxury bus and into their airy adult kindergartens.

But Big Tech worked hard to convince those blue badges that they were truly valued. Companies hosted regular town halls where employees could ask impertinent questions of their CEOs. They maintained freewheeling internal social media sites where techies could rail against corporate foolishness and make Dilbert references.

And they came up with mottoes.

Apple told its employees it was a sound environmental steward that cared about privacy. Apple also deliberately turned old devices into e-waste by shredding them to ensure that they wouldn't be repaired and compete with new devices:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

And even as they were blocking Facebook's surveillance tools, they quietly built their own nonconsensual mass surveillance program and lied to customers about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Facebook told employees they were on a "mission to connect every person in the world," but instead deliberately sowed discontent among its users and trapped them in silos that meant that anyone who left Facebook lost all their friends:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

And Google promised its employees that they would not "be evil" if they worked at Google. For many googlers, that mattered. They wanted to do something good with their lives, and they had a choice about who they would work for. What's more, they did make things that were good. At their high points, Google Maps, Google Mail, and of course, Google Search were incredible.

My own life was totally transformed by Maps: I have very poor spatial sense, need to actually stop and think to tell my right from my left, and I spent more of my life at least a little lost and often very lost. Google Maps is the cognitive prosthesis I needed to become someone who can go anywhere. I'm profoundly grateful to the people who built that service.

There's a name for phenomenon in which you care so much about your job that you endure poor conditions and abuse: it's called "vocational awe," as coined by Fobazi Ettarh:

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Ettarh uses the term to apply to traditionally low-waged workers like librarians, teachers and nurses. In our book Chokepoint Capitalism, Rebecca Giblin and I talked about how it applies to artists and other creative workers, too:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

But vocational awe is also omnipresent in tech. The grandiose claims to be on a mission to make the world a better place are not just puffery – they're a vital means of motivating workers who can easily quit their jobs and find a new one to put in 16-hour days. The massages and kombucha and egg-freezing are not framed as perks, but as logistical supports, provided so that techies on an important mission can pursue a shared social goal without being distracted by their balky, inconvenient meatsuits.

Steve Jobs was a master of instilling vocational awe. He was full of aphorisms like "we're here to make a dent in the universe, otherwise why even be here?" Or his infamous line to John Sculley, whom he lured away from Pepsi: "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?"

Vocational awe cuts both ways. If your workforce actually believes in all that high-minded stuff, if they actually sacrifice their health, family lives and self-care to further the mission, they will defend it. That brings me back to enshittification, and the argument: "If we do this bad thing to the product I work on, it will make me hate myself."

The decline in market discipline for large tech companies has been accompanied by a decline in labor discipline, as the market for technical work grew less and less competitive. Since the dotcom collapse, the ability of tech giants to starve new entrants of market oxygen has shrunk techies' dreams.

Tech workers once dreamed of working for a big, unwieldy firm for a few years before setting out on their own to topple it with a startup. Then, the dream shrank: work for that big, clumsy firm for a few years, then do a fake startup that makes a fake product that is acquihired by your old employer, as an incredibly inefficient and roundabout way to get a raise and a bonus.

Then the dream shrank again: work for a big, ugly firm for life, but get those perks, the massages and the kombucha and the stock options and the gourmet cafeteria and the egg-freezing. Then it shrank again: work for Google for a while, but then get laid off along with 12,000 co-workers, just months after the company does a stock buyback that would cover all those salaries for the next 27 years:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/

Tech workers' power was fundamentally individual. In a tight labor market, tech workers could personally stand up to their bosses. They got "workplace democracy" by mouthing off at town hall meetings. They didn't have a union, and they thought they didn't need one. Of course, they did need one, because there were limits to individual power, even for the most in-demand workers, especially when it came to ghastly, long-running sexual abuse from high-ranking executives:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html

Today, atomized tech workers who are ordered to enshittify the products they take pride in are losing the argument. Workers who put in long hours, missed funerals and school plays and little league games and anniversaries and family vacations are being ordered to flush that sacrifice down the toilet to grind out a few basis points towards a KPI.

It's a form of moral injury, and it's palpable in the first-person accounts of former workers who've exited these large firms or the entire field. The viral "Reflecting on 18 years at Google," written by Ian Hixie, vibrates with it:

https://ln.hixie.ch/?start=1700627373

Hixie describes the sense of mission he brought to his job, the workplace democracy he experienced as employees' views were both solicited and heeded. He describes the positive contributions he was able to make to a commons of technical standards that rippled out beyond Google – and then, he says, "Google's culture eroded":

Decisions went from being made for the benefit of users, to the benefit of Google, to the benefit of whoever was making the decision.

In other words, techies started losing the argument. Layoffs weakened worker power – not just to defend their own interest, but to defend the users interests. Worker power is always about more than workers – think of how the 2019 LA teachers' strike won greenspace for every school, a ban on immigration sweeps of students' parents at the school gates and other community benefits:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/23/a-collective-bargain/

Hixie attributes the changes to a change in leadership, but I respectfully disagree. Hixie points to the original shareholder letter from the Google founders, in which they informed investors contemplating their IPO that they were retaining a controlling interest in the company's governance so that they could ignore their shareholders' priorities in favor of a vision of Google as a positive force in the world:

https://abc.xyz/investor/founders-letters/ipo-letter/

Hixie says that the leadership that succeeded the founders lost sight of this vision – but the whole point of that letter is that the founders never fully ceded control to subsequent executive teams. Yes, those executive teams were accountable to the shareholders, but the largest block of voting shares were retained by the founders.

I don't think the enshittification of Google was due to a change in leadership – I think it was due to a change in discipline, the discipline imposed by competition, regulation and the threat of self-help measures. Take ads: when Google had to contend with one-click adblocker installation, it had to constantly balance the risk of making users so fed up that they googled "how do I block ads?" and then never saw another ad ever again.

But once Google seized the majority of the mobile market, it was able to funnel users into apps, and reverse-engineering an app is a felony (felony contempt of business-model) under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a crime to install an ad-blocker.

And as Google acquired control over the browser market, it was likewise able to reduce the self-help measures available to browser users who found ads sufficiently obnoxious to trigger googling "how do I block ads?" The apotheosis of this is the yearslong campaign to block adblockers in Chrome, which the company has sworn it will finally do this coming June:

https://www.tumblr.com/tevruden/734352367416410112/you-have-until-june-to-dump-chrome

My contention here is not that Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in personnel via the promotion of managers who have shitty ideas. Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in discipline, as the negative consequences of heeding those shitty ideas were abolished thanks to monopoly.

This is bad news for people like me, who rely on services like Google Maps as cognitive prostheses. Elizabeth Laraki, one of the original Google Maps designers, has published a scorching critique of the latest GMaps design:

https://twitter.com/elizlaraki/status/1727351922254852182

Laraki calls out numerous enshittificatory design-choices that have left Maps screens covered in "crud" – multiple revenue-maximizing elements that come at the expense of usability, shifting value from users to Google.

What Laraki doesn't say is that these UI elements are auctioned off to merchants, which means that the business that gives Google the most money gets the greatest prominence in Maps, even if it's not the best merchant. That's a recurring motif in enshittified tech platforms, most notoriously Amazon, which makes $31b/year auctioning off top search placement to companies whose products aren't relevant enough to your query to command that position on their own:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Enshittification begets enshittification. To succeed on Amazon, you must divert funds from product quality to auction placement, which means that the top results are the worst products:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

The exception is searches for Apple products: Apple and Amazon have a cozy arrangement that means that searches for Apple products are a timewarp back to the pre-enshittification Amazon, when the company worried enough about losing your business to heed the employees who objected to sacrificing search quality as part of a merchant extortion racket:

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-gives-apple-special-treatment-while-others-suffer-junk-ads-2023-11

Not every tech worker is a tech bro, in other words. Many workers care deeply about making your life better. But the microeconomics of the boardroom in a monopolized tech sector rewards the worst people and continuously promotes them. Forget the Peter Principle: tech is ruled by the Sam Principle.

As OpenAI went through four CEOs in a single week, lots of commentators remarked on Sam Altman's rise and fall and rise, but I only found one commentator who really had Altman's number. Writing in Today in Tabs, Rusty Foster nailed Altman to the wall:

https://www.todayintabs.com/p/defective-accelerationism

Altman's history goes like this: first, he founded a useless startup that raised $30m, only to be acquired and shuttered. Then Altman got a job running Y Combinator, where he somehow failed at taking huge tranches of equity from "every Stanford dropout with an idea for software to replace something Mommy used to do." After that, he founded OpenAI, a company that he claims to believe presents an existential risk to the entire human risk – which he structured so incompetently that he was then forced out of it.

His reward for this string of farcical, mounting failures? He was put back in charge of the company he mis-structured despite his claimed belief that it will destroy the human race if not properly managed.

Altman's been around for a long time. He founded his startup in 2005. There've always been Sams – of both the Bankman-Fried varietal and the Altman genus – in tech. But they didn't get to run amok. They were disciplined by their competitors, regulators, users and workers. The collapse of competition led to an across-the-board collapse in all of those forms of discipline, revealing the executives for the mediocre sociopaths they always were, and exposing tech workers' vocational awe for the shabby trick it was from the start.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/25/moral-injury/#enshittification

#pluralistic #moral injury #enshittification #worker power #google #dont be evil #monopoly #sam altman #openai #vocational awe #making a dent in the universe

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mariacallous · 23 days ago

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I literally see this building every day I go in to the office because I work a short distance away and walk to the waterfront whenever possible. I think it's the perfect allegory for NYC at this point.

Structural engineers have determined repeatedly over the years that the structure at 161 Maiden Lane is unlikely to topple over. But the project known as 1 Seaport collapsed long ago. No broker in the world can sell a leaning tower at twenty-four hundred dollars per square foot, even if the lean is imperceptible to the naked eye, and even though the flaw is not so anomalous. Ronald Hamburger, the structural engineer who devised the nine-figure repair job for the Millennium Tower, told me that he and his colleagues canvassed the Bay Area and discovered that tilted buildings were quite common. “But because they weren’t high-end residential condominiums, no one cared,” he said.

Representatives for the Fortis Property Group, Pizzarotti, SSC High Rise, and more than a dozen other firms and individuals involved in 1 Seaport declined to comment for this story. Several of the Fortis Property Group’s lawyers have quit working for the company, and one firm has sued for unpaid bills. Buyers, including the Mius, have sued to recover their deposits. (The Mius, too, declined to comment.) At least a quarter of a billion dollars has been collectively spent on 1 Seaport, and yet everyone claims to be out of pocket.

...

Hoping to get a closer look at 1 Seaport, I sent e-mails to some of the companies with offices in 180 Maiden Lane, a forty-one-story skyscraper right across the street. An executive with a direct view of the busted tower invited me to take a peek. “I was excited when I got this office, because I like having construction outside my window—something to look at while I daydream,” he told me. “But then I started to notice that nothing was happening.”

When the sun sets, the tower takes on a menacing quality, with its concrete terraces jutting out like spikes on a club. Later at night, when the construction lights are on, it’s possible to imagine that the building is inhabited—that people are up there drinking wine, slipping into the infinity pool, looking down on the city at their feet. Before it started leaning, 1 Seaport was designed to withstand hundreds of years of wind off the harbor. Until someone figures out what to do with it, it’ll hang there, the tallest eyesore on the skyline.

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mischievousspooks · 27 days ago

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A Brief History of Transit in New York City

In the late 19th century, many enterprising entrepreneurs had their eyes on a lucrative sector - public transit. Many of the nation’s railway companies were undergoing restructuring, new technologies meant that infrastructure was in need of updating, and cities like NYC were willing to pay.

One such entrepreneur was engineer William Barclay Parsons. He and his team were tasked with creating the designs for the city’s first subway system when the Rapid Transit Act was passed. In 1900, after two years of legal negotiations surrounding route alignment, their plans were finalized and a contract signed. Heins & LaFarge Architectural Firm was hired to design 28 subway stations and one multimodal hub, featuring two shining crown jewels at either end - City Hall Station to the south and Highbridge Park to the North.

Ground was first broken at City Hall on March 24th, 1900, in a ceremony officiated by Mayor Robert Van Wyck. They repeated the ceremony for its sister station at Highbridge Park and 170th St. exactly one year later. There were plans to build a grand new bridge across the Hudson River just a few blocks north, which would finally connect mainland railroads to the island of Manhattan. At the time, all passengers had to transfer to ferryboats to get to their destinations.

Highbridge Park was by far the more extravagant of the two. No expense had been spared in its design. Like its sister station at City Hall, it featured glass ceilings, mosaic tilework, and brilliant Romanesque arches. Unlike its sister, it was intended as the ultimate multimodal transit hub for all incoming visitors, and so possessed ample space to connect the country’s railways to the city’s brand new subway system, as well as terminals for the above-ground trolley system and connections to the new bike routes that were being built. It also possessed far greater luxuries than its sister. It was fully integrated into the city’s sewage system, which was nearing the end of its 50-year-long city-wide installation. There was a fine dining establishment on sight, a mezzanine level with shops selling every good a traveler could want, and even a women’s restroom with flush toilets and mahogany seats! Throughout the century prior, it had been widely considered indecent for women to relieve themselves in public, but that particular public attitude was rapidly changing as shopping became a more prominent leisure activity for affluent ladies. This feature would prove to be extremely popular in years to come.

Remarkably, construction only took four years, and nearly stayed within its original budget (for anyone that follows these sorts of megaprojects today you know how rare that is). The first subway train in New York City departed from the City Hall Station at 2:34 pm on October 27th, 1904. The line carried 152,000 passengers on its first day, most of whom rode the entire length of the line, then disembarked at Highbridge to explore the amenities and take a walk along the scenic Harlem River Drive. By all accounts, it was a major success.

The subway system saw increases in ridership year after year. By 1910 the demand was so high that most stations needed to be extended to accommodate 10-car trains. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for City Hall Loop. It was built on such a tight curve that the 10-car trains could not use it as a stop, and it was such a unique shape and location that it could not be extended without completely rebuilding it. As a result, many lines were forced to bypass the station, favoring the Brooklyn Bridge station a mere 600 feet away. In spite of this, the station managed to hold on for several decades. Its use was very limited in that time, and in the end it was closed as much as it was open. Its final day of service was December 31st, 1945. In the 60s it was considered as a possible location for the New York Transit Museum, but the abandoned Court Street station won out. Nowadays you can catch glimpses of it if you ride the 6 past its final stop, and once in a while NYTM members can go on official tours.

The fate of the Highbridge station was not quite so slow a tragedy. In 1905, a mere 5 months after opening and before the bridge had more than the first two piers in the water, a sinkhole opened under the dining room and main lobby, compromising the integrity of the entire building. Luckily there were warning signs and everyone was able to evacuate with minimal injury. Several teams of engineers and contractors were hired to assess the situation, but all of them came back with the same answer - it might technically be possible to fill in the sinkhole and repair the damage, but it would be extremely expensive, time consuming, and the weight of the structure was such that more settling and more sinkholes were possible, especially once steam trains were introduced. The entire project went down in history as a prime example of why geologists should always be consulted during the planning of any large structure. They halted construction on the bridge and shifted their focus to a new location. Railroad magnate and business expert Cornelius Vanderbilt had been acquiring and merging railroads all over New York for a few decades now, and had built himself a railyard and depot in midtown Manhattan. It was in the midst of reconstruction after a devastating steam train crash in 1902, so it was the perfect place to redirect resources and build a new station. They updated the name from Grand Central Depot to Grand Central Station, constructed the North River Tunnels to connect trains from the mainland, and the rest is history. It opened for business in 1913 and is still open to this day, with only routine maintenance having been done on the building in the intervening century.

The piers later became part of the George Washington Bridge, abandoning the train tracks in favor of six additional lanes for automobile traffic on the lower level. The Highbridge station, intended to be the shining crown jewel of NYC’s state-of-the-art transit system, was condemned, abandoned, and forgotten.

And here's a bunch of cool info about the real world parts of this:

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt movie #guys i swear its related #for real #have fun sorting out what's actual factual and what i fully made up #some dreams aren't just dreams #rottmnt fanfiction #just don't ask how long this took me #or how many tabs i had open #as i was researching transit in NYC #surprisingly fascinating subject #infrastructure is awesome

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clementine-kesh · 1 year ago

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concocting a modern voyager au based on don’t trust the b where harry’s the good midwestern boy who moved to nyc for his first post-grad job as a software engineer when the firm he’s supposed to be working at goes under and he has to totally rethink his life. he meets tom while apartment hunting and tom tries the whole roommate scam on him (presenting himself as a great roommate at first then turning into a total nightmare to drive them to break the lease so he can keep the deposit) but harry toughs it out and they become besties + tom develops a huge fat crush on him. janeway is the broadway diva tom is somewhat inexplicably best friends with. b’elanna is the person who was supposed to train harry at his software engineer job/manager of the coffee shop he eventually works at (she got the coffee shop job like ten minutes after getting laid off). idk who everyone else would be but they’d be there too

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moonchildreads · 2 years ago

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small town

Chapter 7 - The Search Is Over

IN THIS CHAPTER: A planned birthday party, nerdy father figures, and The Present Ritual [4.1k]

WARNINGS: brief mentions of deceased parents

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

Now I look into your eyes, I can see forever The search is over, you were with me all the while

Saturday, April 26th - 1986

“Honey, there’s someone here to see you,” James knocked on the wooden frame of his daughter’s bedroom door.

“Huh?” she lifted her head from her pillow and looked at the clock next to her bed: 11:02.

Without saying anything else, Dottie’s dad disappeared down the hall, his footsteps heavy on the stairs. Who on Earth was dropping by to see her on a Saturday before noon? Rushing to the bathroom to brush her teeth, she heard her dad yelling from down the stairs again.

“Dorothy, did you hear me?”

“Yes, yes! I’m coming, hold up!” she screamed back at him, grabbing the railing so she wouldn’t trip on her slippers on her way down the stairs.

Dottie opened the front door with a hurried yank and was surprised to find no one at the other side. Worried that whoever had been waiting for her to show up had gotten tired and walked back to their vehicle, she peered around, craning to see down the street. Again, nothing. Not even a soul. There wasn’t even a car parked nearby, only an elderly neighbor spraying his bushes with a slinky hose. Extremely confused, and frankly still rather sleepy, she closed the door and stared blankly at the handle. She turned around and began making her way to the kitchen, questions burning the tip of her tongue. Unsolved mysteries were terrible on her anxious little heart.

Her words died in her throat as she heard familiar voices coming from behind the closed shutters of the passthrough kitchen window. Her eyes widening, she tripped over the rug, throwing herself to the shutters and pulling them open. They hit the walls with a loud bang and the three men on the other side turned to look at her.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?!”

“Jesus, kid, we can leave if you want.”

A loud chortle made its way out of her throat as she leaped through the door to hug one of the two men, the one who wasn’t currently holding a mug of coffee. Joseph looked up from the teenager between his arms, smiling at James and Robert who were watching the very dramatic act unfolding at the kitchen island.

“Did you really think we were gonna miss your 18th birthday, kiddo?” Robert said, stealing the girl from his friend’s arms and squeezing tightly.

“I just never thought- why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“And ruin the surprise? Natalie is sorry she couldn’t come, but she got this for you. She said you should wear it for the party,” Joseph slid a large gift bag across the island.

Uncles Joseph and Robert were two of James Burke’s best friends from college. The three of them met as classmates while pursuing an Engineering degree but Joe and Rob had switched to a more social sciences oriented program during junior year before heading off to Law school after graduation. They had a small but successful firm together in NYC; Joe’s strength was litigation and Rob’s was transactions so it felt natural for them to partner up and navigate the post-graduate world together. As they often said, life was so much easier with the right people around you to raise you up when you stumbled.

It only made sense then that when Dottie’s mom passed away, they took it upon themselves to raise both James and Dorothy up as much as they possibly could. As such, the young girl had spent countless hours at their budding law firm, her short legs swinging from the tall chairs as she doodled or worked on her homework, waiting for her Dad to pick her up after a meeting that ran particularly late. Uncle Joe was the eternal bachelor; born and raised in New York, he always knew the most obscure and fascinating places to take her to. One of her favorite memories was from the time he’d taught her to ride a bike in an old abandoned parking lot that had a fantastic Italian-owned pasta place right around the corner. She’d scraped one of her shins until it bled but they had wonderful gnocchi afterwards so overall it had been a great day. On the other hand, Uncle Rob was married to Natalie and had two kids: six-year old Nate, whom Dottie had babysat numerous times, and newborn Lily, whom the teenager hadn’t been able to meet yet due to moving to Indiana. When they sat down to have a late breakfast, Dottie’s first question before she had even opened Natalie’s gift was to ask for pictures of Lily, which prompted Rob to pull out a stack of recently developed memories from his coat pocket like he had been waiting for her to request them all along.

Aunt Natalie had sent her a precious pair of black ruched booties with the tiniest hint of heel; as she was admiring them, Uncle Joseph appeared behind her with a stack of presents from the rest of the gaggle of aunts and uncles she missed so dearly. There was a small selection of leather-bound Shakespeare books from Aunt Mary Elizabeth and Uncle Johnny, a black skirt with suspenders from Auntie Rachel (You should wear that with the boots tonight, honey!), a gorgeous dainty set of silver earrings with a matching necklace from Uncle Joseph himself, a handmade wooden jewelry box from Uncle Robert, a few rare vinyls from Uncky Paul, and a pair of comfy pajamas from always practical Aunt Barbara. Dottie glanced at the wrapping paper and bows lying around her on the kitchen floor and realized she would never have anything to fear as long as she had these people in her corner.

“Well, now that presents are out of the way,” Uncle Joe began, a dangerous glint in his eye. “Tell me about these D&D nerds who are coming to your birthday party.”

“It’s me, I am the D&D nerd in case you forgot,” she said as nonchalantly as she could, feeling a burst of anxious energy at the thought of her dear uncles meeting her new friends. Thank God Uncle Johnny wasn’t here or he’d offer to DM a campaign out of his ass for everyone.

“To be fair, there was no way on Earth you wouldn’t be a nerd with the dad you have,” Rob said.

“And with the Uncles she has,” James quipped.

“And also the Aunties,” Joe finished, remembering how Rachel used to be their de facto leader during their adventures. “But don’t change the topic, I wanna know about your new friends.”

“You’ll meet them soon enough,” Dottie said with an innocent smile. “You’re gonna love Erica.”

Eddie glanced at his wristwatch again after parking his van outside the address Dottie had scribbled for him on a piece of paper. The watch said 7:53, and he took a deep breath knowing he was more late than he had wanted to be. Henderson probably got here fifteen minutes before the party even started, he thought bitterly. He grabbed the terribly wrapped gift - the reason he was way past fashionably late - from his passenger seat and walked up to the front door, taking a few deep breaths to calm his nerves.

Dottie’s house was a typical suburban two-story house. The front lawn looked a little bare aside from the mailbox but seemed to be well taken care of, and there was a big tree to the side of the concrete path that led to the front door. The only indication a party was going on inside the house was a colorful banner hanging from the door frame. He rang the doorbell and waited in silence, straining to hear footsteps approaching.

“Hi there,” a man’s voice said. He was tall, had graying hair and light blue eyes. He looked nothing like he had imagined Dottie’s dad would look like. “You one of Dottie’s friends?”

“Y-yeah,” Eddie said nervously and cleared his throat. “Yes, sir, I’m Eddie.”

“Come on in, kid, you’re just in time for the pizza. You can leave your gift on that table, we open them at candle time. Dorothy! You’ve got one more!”

The man hurried down the hallway leaving Eddie to his devices. The teen looked around curiously, taking the opportunity to get into his usual confident persona in private. He noticed a stack of gifts on the entrance table next to the door and felt incredibly shy putting his on top of them; he’d used at least three times more tape than everyone else had used. Hanging his winter coat amongst the myriad of other jackets already on the rack, he rolled his shoulders and walked down the entryway towards the direction the man had disappeared into. Eddie found himself standing in a cozy and modern-looking living room, the rest of the Hellfire Club lounging around on the couch, the floor or on a few beanbags. Jeff, Mike, and Donny were playing cards at the coffee table with another man, dark haired with a short but carefully kept beard. Dustin had thrown himself on a beanbag and was listening to Erica argue about the Supreme Court with the man that had opened the door, and he spotted Gareth coming in from the kitchen with two bottles of soda on his hands, one of them Dr. Pepper.

“Hey, man!” Mike said, noticing him. “We thought you weren’t coming.”

“Nah, just couldn’t find the right house,” Eddie lied, but it was innocent enough for them to buy it.

“Hey, I’m Robert, Dottie’s uncle,” said the dark haired man, putting his hand out to shake Eddie’s without getting up from his spot on the floor.

“Dude, her uncles play D&D too!” Jeff exclaimed excitedly.

“You’re the DM, right?” Robert asked, things starting to click into place for him.

“Yeah, I’m-”

“Eddie!” Dottie’s gleeful scream interrupted his introduction.

Eddie’s hello got stuck in his throat when he turned to see her setting down two plates full of homemade pizza on the dining table and rush to greet him with a tight hug. A mass of curly hair collided against him and he had to thank his quick reflexes for instantly putting his arms around her or else he would have looked like an idiot in front of everyone. She was wearing a white button up shirt with a big collar, a black high-waisted suspender skirt, see-through black tights with silver sparkles that glinted when she walked, and black boots. He noticed she had done her makeup and her hair was a little bit curlier than normal; if Eddie had to be pressed for a theory he would have said she had obviously tried to style herself like Molly Ringwald, one of her favorite teen actresses. She looked up at him from her spot against his chest and smiled. He nearly forgot how to breathe.

“Hey,” he forced himself to say, aware that people were watching. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you! You got just in time for pizza,” she said, leaving his warmth to catch one of the plates a third man was carrying from the kitchen and safely putting it down on the dining table. “Are you guys gonna eat here or are we moving?” she leaned over her Uncle Robert’s shoulders, taking a peek at his cards.

“We can eat and play at the same time,” the man answered, patting a spot next to him on the floor. “Sit down, kiddo, you haven’t stopped moving since noon.”

“Where were you?” Gareth asked, putting a plastic cup in Eddie’s hand.

“Got lost on the way, ended up at your house,” he lied again.

“You’re Eddie?” the third man asked, setting a plate and napkins on the coffee table; Mike and Jeff hurried to grab the cheesiest pieces. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Really? About lil ol’ me?” Eddie joked, putting a hand on his chest.

“You’re quite the talented storyteller, Dottie says,” Pizza Man affirmed, Dottie instantly making an exasperated face at him. “I’m James, the Dad.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” he put on his best winning smile and put his hand out to shake his. “You have a beautiful house.”

“Thanks, kid,” James said, amused, shaking the teen’s hand. “Now what’s this I’ve heard about a pack of gnolls getting distracted by two pregnant mules?”

Eddie felt as if he had stepped into an alternate reality of sorts, a place where parents weren’t afraid of him corrupting their children and he was treated with respect and kindness regardless of how he looked like. James was clearly the coolest dad figure he’d ever met, and Uncles Joseph and Robert were very close behind. The three of them had entertained the teens all night with stories about their college times, their own D&D adventures, and assorted misbehaving. It was clear to all of them, however, that their favorite topic aside from “the good old times” was Dottie.

At some point during the party, a box of photos had come out, and much to Dottie’s shame, the three men had proceeded to tell everyone the most terrible and embarrassing tales from her childhood: from her throwing up on her dad’s car after eating too much at a ren fair at age four to her kicking a boy during her middle school prom after he made fun of the flowers in her hair (Oh, he deserved it, said Erica and everyone agreed with her), not forgetting to take a quick detour on her crush on Silver Spoons’ Jason Bateman.

“Oh my god, it wasn’t that big of a deal!” she hid her face in shame behind Donny’s shoulder, who couldn’t stop laughing.

“Honey, you were in love with the kid.”

“I was 13, that wasn’t love! It was at most a little innocent crush!”

“How in love are we talking about here?” Dustin inquired, rocking back and forth on his knees.

“Oh, we’re talking the whole deal, posters on the walls, love letters-”

“I never sent them!” she tried to defend herself, but Erica already had tears in her eyes. The amount of blackmail that girl was storing away for future use was nearing dangerous levels. “It was just… creative writing!”

“You always did love the bad boys,” Uncle Joe said, much to Eddie’s enjoyment.

“Did?” James commented, getting up to get the cake. “You saw her last year when Better Off Dead came out.”

“No! No, no, no, we’re not talking about this anymore! That movie was terrible!”

“If it was so bad then why did you ask Mary Elizabeth to take you to see it twice?” Uncle Robert said, with an air of finality, making Gareth laugh so hard he lost balance on the couch armrest and had to catch himself on Mike’s shoulder before his ass hit the floor.

As the laughter died down and cake and coffee was being set up at the table, everyone started drifting into different parts of the living room to stretch their legs and break off into little conversations leaving Dottie to collect the photos on the coffee table with incredibly red cheeks. Eddie took pity on her and kneeled down to help, curiously looking at the pictures he hadn’t gotten to see with much interest. Dottie was a puzzle he just couldn’t begin putting together, she was full of contradictions and hidden secrets that pulled him in more and more every time he learned something new about her.

His eyes stopped at a photo that seemed to be stuck to the back of another one; the image on top was a snap of little Dorothy dressed for a school play as an 1800s maiden. Taking a glance at Gareth and Dustin peering through the vinyl collection under the TV, he carefully pulled the two pictures apart and discovered a tender picture of a very young woman holding a sleeping baby against her chest. It didn’t have a date on it but if he had to guess, he was willing to bet his best guitar on the tiny baby being Dottie.

“That’s my Mom,” a soft voice coming from his side said. He looked up to see Dottie leaning close to him, her gaze wistful on the photographic paper in his hand. “That’s the last picture we have of her.”

“How old were you?”

“In this photo? Around six months, maybe? She died before my first Christmas so this is around October.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Eddie said, his own heart raw. “I, uh… I know what that’s like.”

“I know,” he looked up at her admission. “Donny mentioned it once when I told him about my Mom, I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t wanna ask in case you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” he smiled and moved his eyes again to the photo. “What was her name?”

“Margaret,” Dottie said, love dripping from every syllable. “Maggie, if she really liked you.”

“She was really pretty.”

“She was. I look nothing like her,” she chuckled.

It wasn’t a lie; Dorothy Burke was practically a carbon copy of her Dad. Her hair was a much lighter shade of brown than his, and while his was straight, hers was naturally wavy, but every other distinctive feature was from James, not Margaret. Her long thin fingers, her straight nose, her full eyebrows, they were all James, James, James. Margaret had a button nose, short stubby fingers and blonde hair. Dorothy often thought that life had been rather unfair to her; she couldn’t look at her Mom in the mirror as she aged and feel like she was growing up with her nearby. She didn’t resent looking like her Dad, she loved him, but there was always a part of her that shone brighter right after someone told her that she resembled her mother in any way.

“You’re right, you don’t,” Eddie admitted, slipping the picture into the box on her lap. “Doesn’t mean you aren’t beautiful too.”

Dottie watched him get up and go stand next to her Uncle Joseph who was trying to convince Erica she’d be a great lawyer one day, and from the looks of it, had her on board with it. He thinks you’re beautiful, her brain chimed in. Eddie Munson thinks you are beautiful. She put the lid back on the box and went into the kitchen to help with cake preparations, her heart feeling both heavier and lighter at the same time.

“Open ours first!” Dustin said while he thrust a big box wrapped in glossy gift paper into Dottie’s arms.

“We asked my Mom for ideas, hope it’s okay,” Mike said, a little bit embarrassed he had to ask for backup for something as simple as a birthday present for a friend.

“I’m sure I’ll love it,” Dottie reassured him, tearing into the paper. “Aw, guys! This is so cute!”

They were sitting around the coffee table again after blowing the candles, James and Robert passing out pieces of cake on paper plates as they completed The Presents Ritual as directed by Uncle Joe. Inside Dustin and Mike’s box, there was a stationery set complete with a yellow folder covered with a daisy pattern and a matching pencil case.

“We know you love yellow and daisies,” Dustin said. “And now you can use this for Hellfire instead of your old ass binder.”

The old ass binder in question had fallen apart last Friday during a particularly intense fight that involved a horde of pixies and a bunch of terrible rolls. Next presents were equally thoughtful and Hellfire Club related; Jeff had gotten her a set of glittery dice (“So you don’t gotta use your Dad’s anymore”) and Erica’s little box had contained a set of mini figurines and paint. Donny’s bag, however, was full with a bunch of oversized colorful earrings and jelly bracelets (“My sisters said you might like these”). Gareth and Eddie looked at each other, silently deciding who was gonna go last.

“Alright, who’s next?” Uncle Joseph asked, looking at the two boys.

“You can go first,” Eddie hurried to say, acting like he was giving up his spot out of the kindness of his heart. A Beatles Greatest Hits vinyl was playing in the background.

“Mine’s a little bit… weird,” Gareth said, looking shy all of a sudden. “And it isn’t in the color I wanted but-”

“Dude,” she put her hand on top of his. “Shut up.”

“Okay,” he laughed, watching her rip the soft tissue paper and unfold a gray fuzzy blanket.

“A blankie?” Jeff looked at him, a joke ready on his tongue.

“Michigan gets really cold so…. I thought you might like this since I’m not gonna be around for you to steal my flannels anymore.”

“That’s… shit, you can’t do this to me, I’ve been crying all week!” she grinned at him. “You’re so sweet, G, thank you,” Dottie pulled him into a hug, the blanket bunched up between them.

“I wanted yellow, blue or white but they only had red or gray in this size.”

“Gray is perfect, I love it. I’m gonna take it to class with me when it snows.”

“Hold on, why did you say Michigan?” it was Mike’s turn to be confused.

“She got into UMich,” Donny told him.

“Wait, what?” Erica did a double take.

“You’re the full ride Michigan kid?” Jeff said, putting two and two together.

“You didn’t know?” Gareth asked.

“I only told you and Donny,” Dottie admitted, looking at the floor.

Eddie felt something akin to an arrow to the chest. She hadn’t told them. She only told Gareth and Donny. She didn’t tell me.

“Why didn’t you tell us? A full ride is awesome, you should talk about that more,” Dustin said.

“I don’t know, I… I haven’t really thought about college yet. We still have to finish the campaign, and there’s prom and finals first. It’s not a big deal.”

“Dottie, a full ride absolutely is a big deal,” Uncle Robert reminded her, aware of her tendency to minimize her achievements. “You should be proud of it, you earned that on your own.”

“I know but like… I don’t leave until September. Other things feel more important to me right now, I don’t wanna think about it yet.”

“Sorry I spilled the beans,” Gareth looked sheepish.

“No, it’s okay, I should have told you guys. I’m glad everyone knows, though, I promise I wasn’t hiding it. It just really never came up.”

“Well, with a 3.74 GPA we should have guessed it was you,” Eddie smiled, infinitely proud of her and yet terrified that she was pulling away before he even had a chance to make himself at home in her life. “Don’t be a stranger when you’re gone, alright? Don’t join another party without us.”

“You think you can get rid of me that easily, Munson?” she joked back, slipping into their usual banter for comfort.

“Alright, why don’t we open the last present before James starts moping about his baby leaving for college?” Uncle Joseph said, looking at his dear friend’s face.

“I’m not moping!” he defended himself, but it was clear to everyone that he was.

Eddie cleared his throat dramatically, walked towards her, dropped to one knee with his head bent, and presented the gift like one would present a sword to a king. She laughed and grabbed the soft package; he sprung instantly to his feet and put his arms behind his back, waiting. Dottie narrowed her eyes at him as she undid the ribbon and teared into the crinkly paper. She unfolded a very familiar looking shirt and stared at it with an unfocused gaze.

“It’s been almost a month and you still didn’t have one, so I printed one for you,” Eddie explained. “I hope it’s the right size.”

She looked up at him like he’d just given her his firstborn and threw herself at him with teary eyes. Welcome to Hellfire, Eddie had said during her first session, but this, this was different. This wasn’t a “Welcome to Hellfire” or an acceptance to his club. This was Eddie saying you belong with us in the form of a shirt. In the background, they could hear the boys making a scene, teasing him and complaining that they had had to make their own shirts when they had joined.

“Thank you,” she muttered against his chest. It seemed to Eddie that she did that more and more often every day: hiding her face into his body. He wasn’t complaining. “This means more than you know.”

“Means a lot to me too, darling,” he lowered his face into her hair and whispered back. “Happy birthday.”

Dottie was only vaguely aware that Oh! Darling was playing through the speakers as he squeezed her like he never wanted to let go.

taglist (let me know if you want me to add you!): @munsonology

#bunny writes #small town fic #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #hellfire club #stranger things 4 #gareth stranger things #jeff stranger things #dustin henderson #mike wheeler #erica sinclair #joseph quinn #baby's first fic

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rabbitcruiser · 2 years ago

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National Skyscraper Day

Skyscrapers have become pretty commonplace in modern times, and National Skyscraper Day is our golden opportunity to appreciate these architectural marvels and feats of engineering. Skyscrapers grace our big cities with their bold presence and define our skylines with mighty buildings that literally seem to scrape the sky. But skyscrapers have only been around for about 130 years. The world’s first skyscraper was completed in 1885 in Chicago and it stood only 138 feet tall, a mere 10 stories that would not even count as a skyscraper today. But the name stuck, and initially any building that towered high over the surrounding structures was dubbed a skyscraper. Over time, our ability to engineer and construct skyscrapers improved drastically, and now a building must have at least 40 floors to be classified as a skyscraper at all. In crowded urban areas where land space is at a premium, skyscrapers allow us to build upwards rather than outwards, converting a single allotment of land area into 40 or more floors of potential living space. For National Skyscraper Day on September 3, we invite you to join us in taking a long look up.

National Skyscraper Day timeline

1870 Elevators Rise in Popularity

According to one of the top NYC PR Firms, the Equitable Life Building in NYC was the first tall office building with an elevator.

1884 The First Skyscraper

Chicago's Home Insurance Building is built; at 138 feet, it is considered the world's first skyscraper

2010 Burj Khalifa Opens

Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world at 2,722 feet, including the antennae

National Skyscraper Day Activities

Visit the top of your local skyscraper

Explore your local architecture or engineering

Build your own skyscraper

Chances are, you live within visiting distance of a skyscraper, and National Skyscraper Day is the perfect excuse to see your local skyscraper up close. Take a trip to your skyscraper and get a sense of the building from the inside. Ride the elevator (or dare to climb the stairs) to the top of the building and look out the window at the city around you. The top floors of many skyscrapers have restaurants, tours, or other ways to engage visitors, so poke around the offerings at your local skyscraper and have some fun!

Most of us weren't cut out to be architects or engineers, but that doesn't mean you can't appreciate these two crucial professions and what they bring to many aspects of modern life. National Skyscraper Day is a great opportunity to learn about the styles of architecture in your area. Or if you prefer something a little less artsy, you can read up on the engineering challenges that were overcome to construct the skyscrapers near you. Every area is different, and regional construction challenges had an impact on how your local skyscrapers were built.

Most skyscrapers have a steel framework that works to support various curtain walls, but you can make a miniature version at home with building blocks, dry pasta and glue, or even toothpicks and tongue depressors. Decide on your materials ahead of time, and challenge your friends to a skyscraper contest! Give everyone the same amount of building time, and see who can make the tallest skyscraper of all. You could even hold a skyscraper party with a number of teams all competing for that top spot.

Why We Love National Skyscraper Day

Their lofty top-down perspective

They bring the prestige

They combine science and art

No matter how you slice it, there's one thing all skyscrapers have in common — they're tall. A modern-day skyscraper boasts at least 40 floors from bottom to top, and it can offer you some really unparalleled views of the surrounding cityscape. The higher you go, the smaller the bustle on the ground looks, and the tallest skyscrapers around the world can make the people and even the cars seem like tiny little ants. Whether you're struggling with some mundane problems or seeking a more big-picture outlook on life, there's nothing quite like looking down from the top of a skyscraper.

Whenever a new skyscraper makes the list of the world's tallest buildings, it creates a considerable amount of prestige for the city, state, and country it calls home. Skyscrapers really define the skyline from which a city derives a lot of its identity and unique personality. Hosting a skyscraper is really a mark of your city's economic prowess, and cities with more skyscrapers tend to see more business activity than cities with lower rooftops. If you've ever opted for a hotel's penthouse suite or felt impressed by a top-floor corner office, you've experienced the allure of skyscraper prestige firsthand.

Though the official origins of National Skyscraper Day are unknown, it remains clear that skyscrapers are a true testament to the awesomeness of humanity. They are gargantuan projects that rely on heavy-duty science and the artistry of design in equal measure. Skyscrapers require brilliant architects who can design beautiful buildings that will proudly feature in the city skyline for generations to come. But skyscrapers also rely on ingenious engineers to turn architectural designs into a real-world plan of action founded on modern scientific principles.

Source

#travel #original photography #vacation #tourist attraction #landmark #architecture #cityscape #summer 2023 #reflection #Vancouver #British Columbia #Canada #downtown #National Skyscraper Day #NationalSkyscraperDay #3 September #Marine Building

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kicksaddictny · 2 years ago

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PUMA All-Pro NITRO Lime Squeeze

PUMA Hoops has launched its latest basketball silhouette, the All-Pro NITRO.

Available in a lime-squeeze colorway, the All-Pro NITRO is a direct descendent of the original Clyde All-Pro NITRO which was previously released in 2021.

The All-Pro NITRO is the first PUMA Hoops shoe to feature NITRO™ SQD foam, a soft inner layer of NITRO™ foam for cushioning combined with a firm outer layer of NITRO™ foam for multi-directional movements. This silhouette includes a specially engineered knit upper made with multi-zoned materials for targeted support, a supportive but breathable fit, as well as cord lock-down lacing system in the forefoot for lateral stability that extends down through the shoe.

Retailing for $130, the All-Pro NITRO is available now on PUMA.com, the PUMA mobile app, the PUMA NYC Flagship store and at Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker and Champs Sports

#puma #kicksaddict #hoops

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versaiconcepts · 2 months ago

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Richmond Plaza, Bronx (NYCHA)

We are delighted to collaborate and serve our clients across various industries and scales. Regardless of the sector, businesses depend on well-maintained facilities to support their operations, productivity, and growth. Over the last few years, we have proudly grown from assisting individual private clients to working with billion-dollar companies such as Verizon and the Moinian Group. Irrespective of the occupants and owners of the structures, the challenges and approach to addressing them is very similar. For this reason, we treat each project with the same care, dedication and attention to detail.

#Engeenering #Architecture #Full Service Architecture #Engineering Firm #Medium #versai project portfolio #architecture and engineering firm nyc #full-service architecture and engineering firm #artists on tumblr #engineering firm nyc #writers on tumblr #batman #cats of tumblr #photographers on tumblr #tumblr milestone

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nycerny · 2 years ago

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Protecting Your Building's Exterior: The Importance of Facade Repair and Maintenance Services in NYC

The exterior of your building is the first thing people see when they approach it. A well-maintained and visually appealing facade can make a great first impression and increase your property value. However, over time, wear and tear can take a toll on your building's exterior. That's where facade repair and restoration services in NYC come in.

Facade repair and maintenance services in NYC specialize in repairing and maintaining building exteriors. They can help protect your building from the elements and ensure it looks its best for years to come. Here's what you need to know about facade restoration services in NYC and how they can benefit your building.

What is Facade Restoration?

Facade restoration is the process of repairing and restoring a building's exterior to its original condition. This can involve repairing cracks, replacing damaged materials, and repainting or refinishing the exterior. The goal of facade restoration is to improve the building's appearance and protect it from further damage.

Why is Facade Restoration Important?

There are several reasons why facade restoration is important. First and foremost, it can help protect your building from the elements. A well-maintained exterior can help prevent moisture from seeping into the building, which can cause mold and other damage.

Secondly, facade restoration can improve your building's energy efficiency. When your building's exterior is properly insulated and sealed, it can help regulate the temperature inside and reduce your energy costs.

Finally, facade restoration can increase your property value. A well-maintained and visually appealing exterior can make your building more attractive to potential tenants or buyers, which can increase its value.

Facade Repair and Restoration Services in NYC

If you're looking for exterior facade repair and restoration services in NYC, you have several options to choose from. Many companies specialize in facade repair and maintenance services, and they can provide a range of services to meet your needs.

Facade repair services can include repairing cracks, replacing damaged materials, and cleaning the exterior. They can also provide preventative maintenance services, such as sealing and waterproofing the exterior to prevent future damage.

Contact us at 212-279-0000 today or Use our quote form to submit all details of your project. Get your Free Estimate - https://nycerny.com/quote/

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tempwork247 · 13 days ago

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Staffing Agency A Guide to Finding the Best Talent with Tempwork247 in NYC

In today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving job market, businesses are facing an increasing challenge in sourcing and hiring the right talent for their open positions. Whether you're a small business or a large corporation, the need for top-tier talent has never been greater. One of the best solutions to this problem is working with a staffing agency. A staffing agency is a firm that connects businesses with qualified candidates for temporary, permanent, or contract positions. In this article, we will explore the benefits of using a staffing agency, and how Tempwork247 stands out as the Best Staffing Agency NYC for both employers and job seekers.

The Role of Staffing Agencies

Staffing agencies play a vital role in helping companies find the talent they need. Rather than spending weeks or months sorting through resumes, conducting interviews, and sifting through job applications, businesses can outsource the process to a staffing agency. Agencies handle the recruiting, interviewing, and initial vetting of candidates to ensure that only the best and most qualified individuals are presented to their clients.

For job seekers, staffing agencies provide an excellent opportunity to connect with employers in industries ranging from healthcare to finance and technology. They often have access to job openings that are not publicly advertised, giving candidates a competitive edge in their job search. The best staffing agencies in NYC, such as Tempwork247, have a solid reputation for understanding both the job market and their clients' needs.

Benefits of Using a Staffing Agency

Faster Hiring Process One of the most significant advantages of partnering with a staffing agency is the speed at which they can help you find qualified candidates. Staffing agencies, especially the Best Staffing Agencies NYC like Tempwork247, have access to an extensive pool of candidates, both active and passive job seekers. Their expertise allows them to quickly identify the right individuals for your company, saving you valuable time in the hiring process.

Access to a Larger Talent Pool The Best Employment Agency NYC will have an extensive network of candidates that includes highly skilled professionals who are actively seeking jobs. This network allows staffing agencies to provide businesses with a much larger talent pool than they could find on their own. Tempwork247, for example, has built a reputation for sourcing hard-to-find candidates who possess niche skills and expertise, particularly in industries such as IT, healthcare, and engineering.

Specialization Many staffing agencies specialize in particular industries or sectors. This means they understand the unique skills and qualifications required for each job. Tempwork247 is known for its expertise in various industries, offering specialized recruitment services for healthcare, technology, finance, marketing, and more. By working with a specialized staffing agency, businesses can ensure they’re working with professionals who understand the nuances of their industry.

Cost-Effective Hiring Using a staffing agency can be a cost-effective solution for businesses. By outsourcing the hiring process, companies can reduce internal HR costs, including advertising job openings, reviewing resumes, and conducting initial interviews. Additionally, staffing agencies often have a pool of pre-vetted candidates, which reduces the time and resources spent on recruiting. Tempwork247 also offers flexible staffing options, including temporary and contract workers, which helps businesses save money on full-time salaries and benefits when not needed.

Flexibility Staffing agencies offer businesses the flexibility to hire on a temporary, contract, or permanent basis, depending on their needs. This is particularly helpful for businesses facing fluctuating demand or seasonal spikes in workload. Tempwork247 provides a range of staffing solutions, from short-term contract workers to long-term hires, ensuring businesses have the flexibility to scale their workforce up or down as needed.

Why Tempwork247 is the Best Staffing Agency NYC

If you're looking for the Best Staffing Agency NYC, look no further than Tempwork247. Tempwork247 has earned a stellar reputation as one of the leading staffing agencies in the area due to its unmatched commitment to both employers and job seekers.

Personalized Approach Unlike some other staffing agencies that take a one-size-fits-all approach, Tempwork247 prides itself on understanding the unique needs of each client. They take the time to get to know their clients' company culture, industry requirements, and specific job needs. This personalized approach ensures that the candidates they recommend are a great fit both professionally and culturally.

Comprehensive Services Tempwork247 offers a wide range of staffing services, including temporary staffing, permanent placement, contract staffing, and temp-to-perm solutions. Their versatile offerings mean that no matter your company’s needs, Tempwork247 can provide you with the right staffing solution. Whether you need a temporary worker for a short-term project or a full-time employee for a critical position, Tempwork247 can help.

Expert Recruitment Process Tempwork247 utilizes a comprehensive recruitment process to ensure they only present the most qualified candidates. Their team conducts thorough interviews, skills assessments, and background checks to verify that each candidate has the required qualifications for the role. This rigorous vetting process ensures that businesses can rely on Tempwork247 to deliver high-quality candidates who are ready to contribute to their organization immediately.

Industry Expertise Tempwork247 specializes in several industries, including healthcare, IT, finance, engineering, and marketing, making them an ideal partner for companies in these fields. Their deep understanding of these industries allows them to find candidates with the specific skills and experience needed to thrive in each role.

Support for Job Seekers Tempwork247 doesn’t just focus on serving businesses; they also offer significant value to job seekers. They work closely with individuals to match them with positions that align with their skills, career goals, and personal preferences. Whether someone is looking for a temporary position, a contract role, or a permanent job, Tempwork247 ensures they are connected with the best opportunities in the market.

Conclusion

Staffing agencies like Tempwork247 play an essential role in the success of businesses and job seekers alike. They offer a fast, effective, and cost-efficient solution for companies looking to hire top-tier talent, while also providing job seekers with access to exclusive opportunities that may not be advertised elsewhere. When searching for the Best Staffing Agencies NYC, Tempwork247 stands out for its personalized approach, industry expertise, and commitment to matching businesses with the best talent available.

If you're looking to streamline your hiring process, access a larger pool of candidates, and find the perfect fit for your company, Tempwork247 is undoubtedly one of the Best Staffing Agencies NYC to consider. Whether you're a business looking for the right employee or a job seeker eager to find your next opportunity, Tempwork247 has the experience, resources, and dedication to help you succeed.

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