PROFILE OF A DOORMAN: GAVIN SURJNARINE OF 2250 BROADWAY

Gavin Surjnarine at 2250 Broadway.

Editor’s note: Tessa Abrahams profiles the Upper West Side’s doormen for the West Side Rag. This is the fourth in her series.

By Tessa Abrahams

Name: Gavin Surjnarine

Age: 32

Hometown: Georgetown, Guyana

Gavin moved to NYC when he was 5 1/2 years old from Guyuana, a tiny country sandwiched in-between Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname on the Eastern coast of South America. His parents decided to move to the U.S. seeking a better life with more opportunities.

Upon his arrival in NYC, Gavin’s dad immediately began working “sometimes two jobs at once so he could support us and also finally have the chance to go to school.” Following in his father’s hardworking footsteps, Gavin himself began working as a part time doorman/ porter at just 19 years old for a building in the Upper East Side so that he could enroll in school. However, studying liberal arts was only the beginning of many academic and professional adventures that followed, all of which have contributed to who Gavin is today.

So who is Gavin? Well for starters, he casually mentioned to me that he “builds computers for fun, along with many other technological hobbies such as troubleshooting, gadgets, and repairs.” Totally normal, right? Right. Another interesting fact about Gavin is that his building, 2250 Broadway (81st street), originally opened as a Vaudeville theater in 1915, and later, was used by PBS while Sesame Street was first created, before it began being occupied by tenants in 1992. Gavin is happily married to his wife, Saleena, and they have a 19-month-old son, Ellias, also known as “hurricane baby.” The reason for this nickname is because Ellias decided to enter the world with a grand entrance by conveniently being born during Hurricane Sandy.

When I asked Gavin about Guyana, his response was, “The cool thing about Guyana is that all of our own fast food places are all-natural and grown by local farmers. The biggest change I saw when I visited back in 2008 after not going home for 20 years was that there was McDonald’s, KFC, and other fast food chains all over the place. It is totally different now.”

During my conversation with Gavin, I spotted a tenant walking by with her son, Daniel, and her daughter, Maya, and promptly decided to ask her if she had anything to say about him. Her immediate response was, “What? Besides being totally amazing and fabulous?” She then went on to tell me how Gavin and Daniel both share an obsession with cars, and how one time Gavin “took the time to make him [Daniel] a bunch of Top Gear CDs… where in the world can you find a doorman who does that? Seriously, he is just the best.” (Photo of the kids with Gavin below)

I was also lucky enough to meet the building manager, Kenny, who willingly shared his opinion about Gavin with me, which was “he is very supportive of everything we do here. For instance, today we had one of our annual meetings and Gavin was kind enough to suggest that we have it outside.” Although at first glance you may think this sounds like a splendid idea, to provide some context to Gavin’s thoughtful statement, at the time it just so happened to be pouring outside.

Another interesting fact about Gavin’s story, which I think really stands out as unique, is that my decision to ambush Gavin with my camera and notebook was neither by random selection nor was based a recommendation by an adoring tenant: but rather, he was recommended to me by one of his former tenants, Erica, whose diehard appreciation for her favorite doorman still lives on despite her moving 7 blocks uptown. In her email to me she even said how she has friends who still live in the building and that she will “time visiting them when I know Gavin will be there so we can hang out and catch up re: his family and life. I’d never experienced this in a building previously.” Erica even made sure schedule a time where she could accompany me on my visit to surprise Gavin.

During my interview, Erica discussed her experience in her new building and how “It’s really amazing how different it feels even though it’s run by the same management company, all because of who is there to greet you at the door.” On that note Gavin chimed in by saying “its all about the personality of the people in the building itself that make this job so great. Everyone here [2250 Broadway] gets along; it is very low key and relaxed. I really feel like I am free to be myself here. Just by communicating with different people, I have learned traits from each of them and how to interact with all types of people. I talk sports with sports people. I can talk about technology stuff with tech people. I have so many different hobbies that I can discuss with whoever stops by, it is really a rewarding experience.”

If all of this hasn’t convinced you that Gavin has been a truly valuable addition to 2250 since he began working for his building 8 1⁄2 years ago, when I asked him what the hardest part about being a doorman was, before he could answer, one of the tenants who we had accumulated in the lobby responded in for him by responding, “It’s really hard being everyone’s favorite doorman! Can’t you tell?

Photos by Tessa Abrahams. To read all of the profiles in this series, click here.

A note from Tessa Abrahams: “Recommendations of doormen are highly encouraged! However, I ask that you keep your recommendations a secret. I want all interviews to be candid, as I believe it keeps the magic alive. Also if possible, please include the times/days in which this individual is typically working. If you know a doorman who you believe should be featured, please feel free to reach out to me directly at tabrahams90 at gmail.com or via the West Side Rag at westsiderag at gmail.com. P.S. – I will be out of town starting mid July thru the end of August, so I plan on doing a lot of doormen in the next few weeks. I promise I will get to everyone but the interview itself may be posted at a later date due to my absence. ”