Shit...I need to get paid for my matching making abilities...my connections have resulted in 2 marriages, 1 engagement and 5 kids
Source
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/meet_ny_hidden_rich_people_OJXkugcOZYjOP49cIJxkNN/0
SEE THE FACES BEHIND THE PAYCHECKS
PERSONAL TRAINER
Alex Reznik, 41
Complete Body, Manhattan
Salary: $300 an hour, between $200,000 and $250,000 a year
Reznik, a former commander in the Russian Army, has worked with fashion designer Valentino, the Bulgari family, Deepak Chopra and bunches of Russian billionaires, who fly him over in private jets once a year to recharge their batteries. He charges $1,500 a day for week-long fitness sessions, during which he also teaches nutrition to the client’s chefs.
“I go with them to black-tie events and help them choose what to eat, what to drink,” he said. “I love it,” he said. “You don’t have much of a personal life, but you meet fascinating people.”
CHAUFFEUR
Joseph Diorio, 56
Matchbox Limo Inc., Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Salary: $250,000 a year/up to $20,000 a day
Diorio has been driving A-listers like Al Pacino, Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger, Beyoncé and the billionaire Maloof brothers since 1971.
The city’s most discriminating celebs ride in style in his Escalade SUV or in his cornucopia of classic cars, including a 1963 lowrider, 1960 Corvette and 1936 Lincoln V12.
He charges $85 an hour, plus 20 percent gratuity, but usually rakes in much more than that. He doesn’t just drive his clients, he books restaurants, secures show tickets and gives them an insider tour around New York.
He even has his superstar customers on speed dial.
“Joe never shuts up,” Larry King told The Post over Diorio’s cellphone. “He’s the world’s most talkative limo driver, and he knows the city back and forth and inside and out.”
How does this Brooklyn-born character do it? “I don’t kiss ass,” Diorio explains. “I treat people with respect, but I don’t yes them to death.”
DOORMAN
Edgar Pachon, 50
817 Fifth Ave.,
Jackson Heights, Queens
Salary: About $70,000 a year.
Meet the city’s most beloved doorman. Though he makes less than $20 an hour, he rakes in over $30,000 in tips during the Christmas and New Year’s season to make his overall earnings around $70,000.
Edgar Pachon, who has worked at 817 Fifth Ave. for a decade, is known for his gregarious personality, dance moves and uncanny ability to anticipate the posh residents’ needs.
“What can I say? I feel good serving these people. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to make a living,” Pachon said.
His advice to other fledgling doormen: “You have to know how to treat each tenant, and you have to know each of their needs. Some like it when you take their luggage, others do not. You have to make sure that you treat each of them special.”
HAIRSTYLIST
Orlando Pita, 46
Salary: $800 a cut
It’s enough to make your hair stand on end. But Pita has no qualms about charging his clients a hair-raising $800 for an 80-minute snip and clip, and that’s not including tip. Of course, that’s pocket
change for such stars as Jennifer Connelly, Kirsten Dunst and supermodel Naomi
Campbell. There’s a two-month wait for an appointment at the Orlo Salon in the
Meatpacking District.
YOGA TEACHER
Sadie Nardini, 37
The Fierce Club, Manhattan
Salary: $150 an hour for private classes;
up to $100,000 a year
The limber Nardini is a master teacher whose been downward dogging for the last 15 years. Why is she worth the money? “I can get people to the crow position in one session, and I can get them into handstands fast. Some teachers hold things back, hoping to keep their clients on the hook for more sessions. I tell them to get out a notebook and give them a ton of information for each pose.”
“I can’t charge a bunch of money and not give the value,” she said. “It’s good karma, and it’s made me really abundant.”
Nardini created her own yoga program, called Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, which she teaches to other teachers. She also sells a DVD, and will soon be coming out with a yoga iPhone application. She’s also a partner in the Fierce Club studio in SoHo.
Says the yoga mogul: “You don’t want to exist on what you can do in the present moment with your physical body. You want to proliferate your teachings beyond the physical classroom.”
CABDRIVER
Joslin Fenelus, 54
Valley Stream, Long Island
Salary: Grosses about $80,000 a year, about $250 to $300 per shift
Fenelus has been a hack since 1986, when he needed cash to put himself through college. He put a down payment on a medallion a few years later and realized he’d make more money as a cabby than a teacher. “I have five kids from two wives, so I needed something in which I could make money quickly,” he said.
He used to put in longer hours but now calls it a day after a 12-hour shift. Being a successful cabby means being an armchair psychologist, he said. “As a driver, you have to get a sense of listening to a person’s story about their children, about their wife, about their job. You don’t tell them your problems, you listen to their problems. You have to make good conversation about politics, too; be able to talk to Democrats and Republicans.”
The biggest tipper he ever had was a rich Zimbabwean who asked Fenelus to be his personal driver for three days. “I was very good to him. And when I took him to JFK, he gave me $500,” said Fenelus. “But this happens only once in a lifetime.”
REAL ESTATE AGENT
Dolly Lenz, 52
Salary: Averages between $6 million and $7 million a year
She’s on top of the world, and it usually comes with a penthouse view. The managing director of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate and senior vice president of Sotheby’s realty is the A-list deal maker. The uber-broker has clinched prime real-estate deals — including the $37 million, penthouse sale at the No. 1 address, 15 Central Park West. “I do not take a single vacation day. I’m a psycho. There’s no question. Every friend I have comes from business. It all kind of blends together, social life and work life. I cannot wait to go to work,” she said.
BARTENDER
Dushan Zaric, 39
Bartender/owner of Employees Only and Macao Trading Co., Manhattan
Salary: Between $150,000 and $200,000 a year, up to $800 a night.
The dashing Dushan began bartending in the ’90s at the club of the moment, Pravda, on the Lower East Side. There, master mixologist Dale DeGroff taught him the how to shake and stir drinks that went beyond the vodka tonic. “Before I met Dale, I didn’t understand that bartending was a profession. You don’t have to be an actor or a musician waiting for your career to start.”
His secret to success? “You have to be the rock star who flirts with the girls, keeping them there as bait. But then you have to be a sage: engaging your wisdom to handle complaining Upper East Side women, aggressive men and Black American Express Card owners who are full of attitude.”
DOG WALKER
Eddie Bimonte, 48
Eddie’s Pet Service, Manhattan, New York
Salary: About $4,000 a month, $230 a day
Bimonte makes a pretty penny as a private dog walker and the go-to guy for the SoHo and Tribeca Grand hotels, which both call him when their guests need a dog sitter while they catch a show. “If I’m with the dogs from 7 p.m. to midnight, I can walk away with a few hundred.”
Bimonte himself comes with a fancy pedigree: He’s walked supermodel Heidi Klum’s dog, Shelia, actor Kyle MacLachlan’s dog, Mookie, and Helen Hunt’s pup, Johnny.
Bimonte’s no-no: Cellphones or headphones. “You’re not connected with the animal if you have headphones in all day.”
Another no-no: dog runs. “They can catch kennel cough and germs.”
“My job is to make sure they pee and poop,” he said. “I love it when they poop!”
MATCHMAKER
Christie Nightingale, 45
Salary: Up to $1.25 million a year
What price true love? If Nightingale is your matchmaker, it could be up to $25,000.
“My typical client is a man in his mid-40s with an advanced degree. He works as a director at a bank, he’s busy and well-traveled, seeking marriage and a family,” she said. Nightingale says she works with “high-profile individuals in New York City, big-time financiers, well-known celebrity types. It’s all confidential.”
PLASTIC SURGEON
Mark R. Sultan, 53
Surgeon Beth Israel Medical Center
Salary: $5 million a year
“The income we generate is a function of the quality and volume of the surgery we perform,” Sultan explained. “Since we do a great deal of sophisticated cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, we do tend to collect significant monies. Of course, our overhead is huge, also.”
SURGEON
Enrico Ascher, 59
Vascular surgeon at Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn
Salary: $3.9 million a year
When does he have time to spend it? Ascher says he’s so dedicated to his patients he works six days a week and rarely takes a vacation. “It’s a lot of hard work, but I love it. I cannot see myself doing anything else. It’s my profession and hobby at the same time.” As a vascular surgeon, he evaluates and treats diseases of the blood vessels. As chairman of the American Board of Vascular Surgery, he travels around the world and is credited with many surgical innovations in aneurysm repair, limb salvage and stroke prevention.
STRIPPER
Kristen Colapinto, 29
Rick’s Cabaret, White Plains
Salary: $150,000 a year — and that’s in about eight months. The other four are vacation and side projects.
Private time with Colapinto will cost you $600 an hour, of which she takes $400 (she also gets a cut of every bottle of alcohol sold). Her best day? $3,000.
What’s her trick? “I’m really friendly,” said the bodacious brunette. “Some guys want the girlfriend experience, and some want the fantasy. I try to give them both. I’ll talk about my personal life with them, but I’ll also listen. I’m interested. A lot of guys need that.” She said nothing too extreme goes on behind the closed curtains – except the occasional client who wants to massage her toes. And they’ll pay a hefty price for the pleasure. “I try to keep it classy,” she said. “I stay away from the ones who want to be spanked.”
RETAIL
Lew Frankfort, CEO of Coach, $9.65 million in 2008.
INSURANCE
MetLife’s Bob Henrickson, $42 million in 2008.
WALL STREET
* Hedge funder: John Paulson, Paulson & Co., $2 billion in earnings in 2008.
* CEO/Private Equity: Steve Schwarzman, $700 million in 2008. Schwarzman, the founder and chief executive of investment firm Blackstone Group, had $702 million compensation in 2008, making him the highest-paid executive in the US last year.
EDUCATION
John Sexton, NYU president,
$1.4 million in 2008 — among top 10 highest-paid university presidents in the country.
ATHLETES
* Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, $33 million average annual salary
* Giants: Eli Manning is the NFL’s highest paid player with an average salary of roughly $15.3 million
* Jets: Mark Sanchez makes $10.1 million a year
* Rangers: Chris Drury, $7.1 million annually
* Islanders: Rick DiPietro, $4.5 million
* Mets: Carlos Beltran, $19.2 million
* Knicks: Larry Hughes, $13.7 million
* Nets: Bobby Simmons, $11.2 million
* Devils: Patrik Elias, $6 million
ACTORS
* Broadway: Hugh Jackman, 41, and Daniel Craig, 41, in
“A Steady Rain.” Salary: $100,000 weekly. Jackman and Craig each will pocket a cool $1 million by the time the final curtain comes down Dec. 6.
* TV: Alec Baldwin, 50, gets a nice $300,000 nugget per episode in the NBC hit “30 Rock”
Mariska Hargitay, 45, beats him, earning $400,000 an episode for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
CITY EMPLOYEES
* Firefighter: José Prosper, $135,258 in 2008. Base salary $66,683, plus overtime.
* Board of Elections IT analyst: Pablo Martinez, a senior systems programmer, earned $235,978 last year after racking up $144,768 in OT.
* Buildings inspector: John Murphy earned $204,600 last year with an astonishing $135,892 in overtime.
Additional reporting by Susannah Cahalan and Cynthia Fagan
Source
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/meet_ny_hidden_rich_people_OJXkugcOZYjOP49cIJxkNN/0
SEE THE FACES BEHIND THE PAYCHECKS
PERSONAL TRAINER
Alex Reznik, 41
Complete Body, Manhattan
Salary: $300 an hour, between $200,000 and $250,000 a year
Reznik, a former commander in the Russian Army, has worked with fashion designer Valentino, the Bulgari family, Deepak Chopra and bunches of Russian billionaires, who fly him over in private jets once a year to recharge their batteries. He charges $1,500 a day for week-long fitness sessions, during which he also teaches nutrition to the client’s chefs.
“I go with them to black-tie events and help them choose what to eat, what to drink,” he said. “I love it,” he said. “You don’t have much of a personal life, but you meet fascinating people.”
CHAUFFEUR
Joseph Diorio, 56
Matchbox Limo Inc., Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Salary: $250,000 a year/up to $20,000 a day
Diorio has been driving A-listers like Al Pacino, Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger, Beyoncé and the billionaire Maloof brothers since 1971.
The city’s most discriminating celebs ride in style in his Escalade SUV or in his cornucopia of classic cars, including a 1963 lowrider, 1960 Corvette and 1936 Lincoln V12.
He charges $85 an hour, plus 20 percent gratuity, but usually rakes in much more than that. He doesn’t just drive his clients, he books restaurants, secures show tickets and gives them an insider tour around New York.
He even has his superstar customers on speed dial.
“Joe never shuts up,” Larry King told The Post over Diorio’s cellphone. “He’s the world’s most talkative limo driver, and he knows the city back and forth and inside and out.”
How does this Brooklyn-born character do it? “I don’t kiss ass,” Diorio explains. “I treat people with respect, but I don’t yes them to death.”
DOORMAN
Edgar Pachon, 50
817 Fifth Ave.,
Jackson Heights, Queens
Salary: About $70,000 a year.
Meet the city’s most beloved doorman. Though he makes less than $20 an hour, he rakes in over $30,000 in tips during the Christmas and New Year’s season to make his overall earnings around $70,000.
Edgar Pachon, who has worked at 817 Fifth Ave. for a decade, is known for his gregarious personality, dance moves and uncanny ability to anticipate the posh residents’ needs.
“What can I say? I feel good serving these people. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to make a living,” Pachon said.
His advice to other fledgling doormen: “You have to know how to treat each tenant, and you have to know each of their needs. Some like it when you take their luggage, others do not. You have to make sure that you treat each of them special.”
HAIRSTYLIST
Orlando Pita, 46
Salary: $800 a cut
It’s enough to make your hair stand on end. But Pita has no qualms about charging his clients a hair-raising $800 for an 80-minute snip and clip, and that’s not including tip. Of course, that’s pocket
change for such stars as Jennifer Connelly, Kirsten Dunst and supermodel Naomi
Campbell. There’s a two-month wait for an appointment at the Orlo Salon in the
Meatpacking District.
YOGA TEACHER
Sadie Nardini, 37
The Fierce Club, Manhattan
Salary: $150 an hour for private classes;
up to $100,000 a year
The limber Nardini is a master teacher whose been downward dogging for the last 15 years. Why is she worth the money? “I can get people to the crow position in one session, and I can get them into handstands fast. Some teachers hold things back, hoping to keep their clients on the hook for more sessions. I tell them to get out a notebook and give them a ton of information for each pose.”
“I can’t charge a bunch of money and not give the value,” she said. “It’s good karma, and it’s made me really abundant.”
Nardini created her own yoga program, called Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, which she teaches to other teachers. She also sells a DVD, and will soon be coming out with a yoga iPhone application. She’s also a partner in the Fierce Club studio in SoHo.
Says the yoga mogul: “You don’t want to exist on what you can do in the present moment with your physical body. You want to proliferate your teachings beyond the physical classroom.”
CABDRIVER
Joslin Fenelus, 54
Valley Stream, Long Island
Salary: Grosses about $80,000 a year, about $250 to $300 per shift
Fenelus has been a hack since 1986, when he needed cash to put himself through college. He put a down payment on a medallion a few years later and realized he’d make more money as a cabby than a teacher. “I have five kids from two wives, so I needed something in which I could make money quickly,” he said.
He used to put in longer hours but now calls it a day after a 12-hour shift. Being a successful cabby means being an armchair psychologist, he said. “As a driver, you have to get a sense of listening to a person’s story about their children, about their wife, about their job. You don’t tell them your problems, you listen to their problems. You have to make good conversation about politics, too; be able to talk to Democrats and Republicans.”
The biggest tipper he ever had was a rich Zimbabwean who asked Fenelus to be his personal driver for three days. “I was very good to him. And when I took him to JFK, he gave me $500,” said Fenelus. “But this happens only once in a lifetime.”
REAL ESTATE AGENT
Dolly Lenz, 52
Salary: Averages between $6 million and $7 million a year
She’s on top of the world, and it usually comes with a penthouse view. The managing director of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate and senior vice president of Sotheby’s realty is the A-list deal maker. The uber-broker has clinched prime real-estate deals — including the $37 million, penthouse sale at the No. 1 address, 15 Central Park West. “I do not take a single vacation day. I’m a psycho. There’s no question. Every friend I have comes from business. It all kind of blends together, social life and work life. I cannot wait to go to work,” she said.
BARTENDER
Dushan Zaric, 39
Bartender/owner of Employees Only and Macao Trading Co., Manhattan
Salary: Between $150,000 and $200,000 a year, up to $800 a night.
The dashing Dushan began bartending in the ’90s at the club of the moment, Pravda, on the Lower East Side. There, master mixologist Dale DeGroff taught him the how to shake and stir drinks that went beyond the vodka tonic. “Before I met Dale, I didn’t understand that bartending was a profession. You don’t have to be an actor or a musician waiting for your career to start.”
His secret to success? “You have to be the rock star who flirts with the girls, keeping them there as bait. But then you have to be a sage: engaging your wisdom to handle complaining Upper East Side women, aggressive men and Black American Express Card owners who are full of attitude.”
DOG WALKER
Eddie Bimonte, 48
Eddie’s Pet Service, Manhattan, New York
Salary: About $4,000 a month, $230 a day
Bimonte makes a pretty penny as a private dog walker and the go-to guy for the SoHo and Tribeca Grand hotels, which both call him when their guests need a dog sitter while they catch a show. “If I’m with the dogs from 7 p.m. to midnight, I can walk away with a few hundred.”
Bimonte himself comes with a fancy pedigree: He’s walked supermodel Heidi Klum’s dog, Shelia, actor Kyle MacLachlan’s dog, Mookie, and Helen Hunt’s pup, Johnny.
Bimonte’s no-no: Cellphones or headphones. “You’re not connected with the animal if you have headphones in all day.”
Another no-no: dog runs. “They can catch kennel cough and germs.”
“My job is to make sure they pee and poop,” he said. “I love it when they poop!”
MATCHMAKER
Christie Nightingale, 45
Salary: Up to $1.25 million a year
What price true love? If Nightingale is your matchmaker, it could be up to $25,000.
“My typical client is a man in his mid-40s with an advanced degree. He works as a director at a bank, he’s busy and well-traveled, seeking marriage and a family,” she said. Nightingale says she works with “high-profile individuals in New York City, big-time financiers, well-known celebrity types. It’s all confidential.”
PLASTIC SURGEON
Mark R. Sultan, 53
Surgeon Beth Israel Medical Center
Salary: $5 million a year
“The income we generate is a function of the quality and volume of the surgery we perform,” Sultan explained. “Since we do a great deal of sophisticated cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, we do tend to collect significant monies. Of course, our overhead is huge, also.”
SURGEON
Enrico Ascher, 59
Vascular surgeon at Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn
Salary: $3.9 million a year
When does he have time to spend it? Ascher says he’s so dedicated to his patients he works six days a week and rarely takes a vacation. “It’s a lot of hard work, but I love it. I cannot see myself doing anything else. It’s my profession and hobby at the same time.” As a vascular surgeon, he evaluates and treats diseases of the blood vessels. As chairman of the American Board of Vascular Surgery, he travels around the world and is credited with many surgical innovations in aneurysm repair, limb salvage and stroke prevention.
STRIPPER
Kristen Colapinto, 29
Rick’s Cabaret, White Plains
Salary: $150,000 a year — and that’s in about eight months. The other four are vacation and side projects.
Private time with Colapinto will cost you $600 an hour, of which she takes $400 (she also gets a cut of every bottle of alcohol sold). Her best day? $3,000.
What’s her trick? “I’m really friendly,” said the bodacious brunette. “Some guys want the girlfriend experience, and some want the fantasy. I try to give them both. I’ll talk about my personal life with them, but I’ll also listen. I’m interested. A lot of guys need that.” She said nothing too extreme goes on behind the closed curtains – except the occasional client who wants to massage her toes. And they’ll pay a hefty price for the pleasure. “I try to keep it classy,” she said. “I stay away from the ones who want to be spanked.”
RETAIL
Lew Frankfort, CEO of Coach, $9.65 million in 2008.
INSURANCE
MetLife’s Bob Henrickson, $42 million in 2008.
WALL STREET
* Hedge funder: John Paulson, Paulson & Co., $2 billion in earnings in 2008.
* CEO/Private Equity: Steve Schwarzman, $700 million in 2008. Schwarzman, the founder and chief executive of investment firm Blackstone Group, had $702 million compensation in 2008, making him the highest-paid executive in the US last year.
EDUCATION
John Sexton, NYU president,
$1.4 million in 2008 — among top 10 highest-paid university presidents in the country.
ATHLETES
* Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, $33 million average annual salary
* Giants: Eli Manning is the NFL’s highest paid player with an average salary of roughly $15.3 million
* Jets: Mark Sanchez makes $10.1 million a year
* Rangers: Chris Drury, $7.1 million annually
* Islanders: Rick DiPietro, $4.5 million
* Mets: Carlos Beltran, $19.2 million
* Knicks: Larry Hughes, $13.7 million
* Nets: Bobby Simmons, $11.2 million
* Devils: Patrik Elias, $6 million
ACTORS
* Broadway: Hugh Jackman, 41, and Daniel Craig, 41, in
“A Steady Rain.” Salary: $100,000 weekly. Jackman and Craig each will pocket a cool $1 million by the time the final curtain comes down Dec. 6.
* TV: Alec Baldwin, 50, gets a nice $300,000 nugget per episode in the NBC hit “30 Rock”
Mariska Hargitay, 45, beats him, earning $400,000 an episode for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
CITY EMPLOYEES
* Firefighter: José Prosper, $135,258 in 2008. Base salary $66,683, plus overtime.
* Board of Elections IT analyst: Pablo Martinez, a senior systems programmer, earned $235,978 last year after racking up $144,768 in OT.
* Buildings inspector: John Murphy earned $204,600 last year with an astonishing $135,892 in overtime.
Additional reporting by Susannah Cahalan and Cynthia Fagan
hating on larry