C RY D E R
P O I N T
OCTOBER 6
Jimmy Bay Retires
BY JILL DAVIS
To quote Mark Twain, “Denial ain’t just a river in
Egypt.”
Yes it’s true, we were in denial. I don’t think any of us
thought it would actually happen, but Jimmy Bay, our
daytime concierge in the 21 Building, retired on September
25. Many of you may remember he was planning to
retire in 2016 but changed his mind at the last minute.
We breathed a collective sigh of relief and were confident
that our many charms would convince him to stay here
forever. But after 37 years on the job, Jimmy decided to
call it a day and say “So long” to Cryder Point.
Back in 2016, a number of residents had big plans for
a surprise goodbye party for Jimmy, but he would have
none of that. I had heard he hates being the center of attention,
but I figured I’d ask him to be interviewed for
the paper anyway to give him a nice sendoff. He politely
declined. I think his exact words were, “No, thank you,
no, no, no, uh uh, no, no, not gonna happen, no, no, and
no.” I knew he meant what he said when he got up from
the lobby desk and started eyeing the nearest exit.
Fast forward to 2020 and I had learned my lesson. I
thought okay, maybe I could collect some comments
from residents, but that posed a problem too; we all know
that Jimmy is universally loved in the 21 Building (and
beyond). I couldn’t possibly talk to everyone, and inevitably
someone would feel bad if they weren’t quoted.
Then it occurred to me, what about his co-workers? If
Jimmy wouldn’t talk about himself, maybe his colleagues
would. So Jimmy, whether you like it or not—and you
might be mad at me—I spoke to as many of our staff as I
could (my apologies to those I missed). Here’s what some
of those who worked with you day-in and day-out over
the past years had to say:
BILL NEWELL
My chat with Bill gave me some insight into Jimmy’s
self-effacing personality. “Jimmy likes to say, ‘Jimmy
who?’ He thinks he’ll be forgotten quickly,” Bill said,
shaking his head. “Actually, he’s very shy,” Bill continued,
“and he doesn’t like attention.” (No kidding.)
Those who have seen Bill and Jimmy interact might
think they’re watching a comedy routine with their
good-natured jabs flying back and forth. I asked Bill
what he thinks of Jimmy and he chuckled, “I hate to be
kind, but I guess I have to be.” Bill stopped laughing. “Seriously,”
he said, “Jimmy’s conscientiousness goes above
and beyond. He’s set a standard that’s very high and very
difficult to live up to.”
ARNOLD GUZMAN,
HANDYMAN
Arnold worked a lot with Jimmy ever since he started at
Cryder Point over 10 years ago. “Jimmy’s been great since
I got here from Day 1,” Arnold said. “He’s very funny, and
he’s always in good spirits, always smiling.” He paused
for a second and became very thoughtful. “Jimmy’s like
a father figure to me. No one will ever be like him, ever.”
DIEGO MOLINA, CONCIERGE,
41 BUILDING
Diego and Jimmy often work in tandem to keep things
running smoothly with mail, package deliveries, etc.
“Jimmy is the #1 person here,” Diego said. “We the staff
trust in him a lot. When we need advice, we go to him.”
Diego shared that Jimmy urged Diego to become a concierge
6 CRYDER POINT COURIER | OCTOBER 2020 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
here at Cryder Point, and he is grateful. “I’m here
because of him,” he said. Then he said sadly, “I can’t believe
he’s leaving.”
JOE GYMBECKI, FORMER
POSTMAN/FILL-IN CONCIERGE
Many of you will remember Joe, who retired from the
post office a few years ago. We now see him fill in for our
concierges from time to time. I wanted to talk to him because
I often saw him and Jimmy working together on the
mail. “He’s an exceptionally nice guy,” Joe said, “always
helpful.” There was one thing that Joe wanted to be sure
that I included. Joe said, “Jimmy will understand what I’m
about to say. One word describes him: ‘service.’”
CRAIG COONS, CONCIERGE, 01
BUILDING
“If it wasn’t for Jimmy, I don’t know if I would be here,”
Craig said. “I was miserable at my old job and decided
to leave even though I didn’t have another one lined up.
I was hired to work on an estate sale here at Cryder and
that’s how I met Jimmy. He said Cryder Point was always
looking for people to fill in and here I am, almost 10 years
later. I really have a lot of gratitude to him for being here
today. Thank you, Jimmy!”
STACEY PANKAVICH
Coincidentally, one of the doormen in Stacey’s building
retired just a couple of years ago. “I was born in my
building, and he was there before I was even born,” she
said. “So I knew my doorman my whole life, but I will
miss Jimmy more.”
She continued, “I call Jimmy my ‘lifeline.’ He’s my go-to
person.” She smiled and said, “One of my favorite things
is hearing Jimmy say, ‘Good morning on this glorious day
in beautiful downtown Beechhurst.’ I will miss that.” She
paused and said, “Jimmy is irreplaceable. Yes, that is definitely
the appropriate word: irreplaceable.”
Bill Newell and Jimmy Bay: A dynamic duo
Jimmy, aren’t you supposed to be behind the desk?
Jimmy waves “So long!”
/WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
