Meet the Man Who Keeps the Boiler at Skyview Running Like a Well-Oiled Machine
June 17, 2015 — This week we meet the third and final baron of the boiler room, Avdi Rexhepi. He's the superintendent of Skyview-on-the-Hudson, a co-op in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. "If you keep the boiler room clean, you won't have any problems," predicts Rexhepi. "The boiler is like a car. The way you maintain it is the way it is going to run." Makes perfect sense, especially once you take a look at the pristine boiler room.
Rexhepi's regular ritual includes checking the boilers daily for any potential problems, cleaning the strainers every week and the tubes twice a year, as well as painting the boiler room annually and sweeping the floor continuously. It's at least five hours' worth of attention every week. And then a company comes in to clean and insulate the doors, usually at the start of the heating season.
Each morning, when he arrives at work, he goes to the boiler room, which contains two silver boilers to heat 333 units. His goal is to make sure the red light that says "safety" isn't on because that means something needs attention. At day's end, before he leaves the building, he checks the safety light again.
"The worst thing is for a super to get a call that there is no heat. It's personal for me because if I don't have problems with the boilers, I don't get calls. I don't recall a day without heat and hot water unless there was a blackout," he says.
Rexhepi, an immigrant from Kosovo, has been Skyview's super for the past 37 years. He raised three children in the building where he currently lives with his wife. His youngest son and two grandchildren also have an apartment in the building.
"I know these boilers well," he said, fondly recalling when they were installed in 1986 to replace three old ones that he remembers as "a lot of headaches, a lot of cleaning."
Rexhepi thinks it's important to take pride in what you do: "If your super doesn't care, why have him there?"
As for potential buyers, Rexhepi offers this advice: "Anyone who wants to buy into a building should look at the boiler room."