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

By Tessa Abrahams

NAME: Spiro Kati

AGE: 52

HOMETOWN: Tirana, Albania

​I want to begin by saying that never, in the brief (yet eventful) history of me ambushing doormen, have I ever heard of a doorman whose legacy is spoken of in so many different places, by so many different people. It is seriously starting to seem like Spiro is celebrity-level famous (for all the right reasons). There is the tale of the former tenant, sitting on an airplane thousands of miles away from NYC, months after he had moved out of the building. At some point mid-air, he overheard the people sitting in the row in front of him having a passionate discussion about Spiro, the often-imitated, never-duplicated, legendary UWS doorman. There is also the woman who was overheard at a Christmas party telling her friends about the nasty break up she had just went through, claiming that the only thing she missed about her ex-boyfriend was going to his apartment because she missed his doorman, Spiro.

Recommendation #1

​I first heard about Spiro through an email written by an adoring tenant, who was more than eager to share her wonderful experiences of having Spiro as her doorman with me. This may be all well and good, but it is certainly nothing out of the ordinary in terms of how I usually select my next victim for a surprise interview. Little did I know, that this was just one of many instances I would hear about regarding Spiro, the man, the legend.

Recommendation #2

​I was attending a family gathering in Virginia. At some point during lunch, I was catching up with my cousin Amy. Although she resides in Pennsylvania with her family, Amy told me that they also have a weekend apartment in the UWS. Naturally, the only reasonable thing for me to do at this point was ask her if there was a doorman in the building. In hindsight, I realize that this strange question would have seemed a lot less random if I have preceded it with a little bit of context, oops. Luckily Amy was too excited to tell me about her favorite doorman, Spiro, to notice anything peculiar. She talked about how genuine and caring he is; how helpful he is; how he always greets her and her family with an enormous smile and a hand over his heart (a gesture, which studies have proven shows honest behavior).

The Interview

​Spiro moved to the U.S. in 1994 from his home country, Albania, in order to acquire a better life for himself and his family. Today, Spiro has assumed a role that is best described by a phrase stolen from Game of Thrones, “Protector of the Realm.”

Some descriptions of Spiro by his loving tenants were of a serious nature: “God forbid if anything were to happen, I’d call Spiro with no hesitation. He is someone I know I can always count on no matter what and I feel safe knowing he’s here,” and, “The days I know Spiro is downstairs are the days I feel most safe.” Other descriptions were about his not-so-serious side: “Spiro always takes care of me, he always forces me to take my dry-cleaning even though he knows I don’t want to,” and “One time an entire pizza was just left at the front desk for a tenant, so he ate it… you know, just to make sure it wasn’t poisoned or anything.”

​When I asked Spiro what he would say if he had to give one piece of advice to a large audience, his response was “no matter how much or how little you have, you must always help and respect others.” This selfless mentality is something Spiro learned from his mother, who raised him ”differently,” making sure he “grew up helping people.” Today, Spiro shares his house with his (now) 90-year-old mother, so that he can provide her with the best possible care, just like she always did for him.

​In order to demonstrate the extent of his mother’s altruistic nature, Spiro told me a story from when he was a young boy living in Albania. His mother had a sewing machine. At the time, she was the only person in the entire building fortunate enough to have one. Upon this realization, she decided to teach all of the women in the entire building how to sew “for not a single penny.” Like his mother, Spiro is motivated by an entirely selfless concern for the well being of others, asserting,  “I am not a business man, I am a helper.” A helper, an exceptional human being, a pure joy to be around, and an individual who absolutely deserves all the recognition he has received, from all corners of the world.

Photos by Tessa Abrahams.