One of the busiest members of the Conti building team is Pete Malec, the building’s general maintenance manager. When something goes mechanically wrong, Pete’s the first to be called.
Pete originally began his tenure with 415 Howe assisting Margo with her business in Nicky’s Attic, helping her with her estate work and antiques business. As time progressed and Dominick took on a more active role in the building’s operations, Pete’s 15 to 20 year experience as a machinist was called on to help with some of the maintenance tasks around the building. In particular, the very old and very fidgety boiler we have all come to love/hate.
It came as a surprise to me to learn that Pete has only been in this official capacity for less than a year. Prior to that he helped Joe Foti, the previous maintenance manager, with the boiler, getting to know it’s workings and what it takes to maintain it running during the cold months. Joe has since retired and Pete has taken over full time. Although he does a lot of work in the building, Pete considers himself retired and does his work here simply to supplement his income.
Talking with Pete it is obvious that he has a fondness for the 415 Howe community. While he can be seen quickly shuffling from place to place, he always has a ready welcome to those he crosses paths with. As he tells me, “it’s a nice place to work, bottom line.”
For an interesting look into just how involved Pete is with the maintenance of the building he shared this little bit of information with me. He has a health meter that keeps track of his walking mileage. On average he does anywhere between 5 and 9 miles a day through these halls.
Next time you see Pete, please take a few minutes to recognize his hard work and dedication to keeping the building in working order. It’s often easy to minimize situations when things go wrong, but when you think that most of the work is done by one person… makes you think twice.
Pete down in the ‘bowels’ of the building.