From nightclubs to boiler rooms

Between his two roles as pres­i­dent of his co-op and the owner of four of the most popular gay bars and clubs in Manhattan, Eric Einstein rarely has time to slow down and catch his breath. 

When he isn’t crunching numbers, paying bills, dealing with land­lords, and navi­gating the red tape of New York City govern­ment, he’s the in-house handyman for his busi­nesses. Wherever there’s a building problem, he’s not far behind. 

“Instead of calling a plumber or an elec­tri­cian to do little repairs, I’ve taught myself,” said Einstein. 

That’s why in 2017, when he found out his co-op’s heating and cooling system was on its last leg, Einstein was the first to raise his hand to help. With nearly 20 years of busi­ness manage­ment expe­ri­ence under his belt and 15 years living in the International Tailoring Company Building, he was the perfect candi­date to shep­herd the project. 

A metic­u­lous thinker and problem-solver by nature, Einstein approached the project the way he would a major capital invest­ment for one of his bars: He went through a detailed research process to famil­iarize himself with pricing options, vendors, and system mechanics.

“I always say to myself, there is nothing compli­cated about any of this,” he said. ​“It’s really just learning it. And once you under­stand how some­thing works, then you can fix it, or rebuild it.”

His months-long inves­ti­ga­tion led him to Ecosystem, an engi­neering and construc­tion company that he liked for the fact that it special­ized in energy solu­tions. But even after he found the company, he continued sizing it up.

“Eric was really smart when he vetted us very care­fully to make sure that we were the right company and that it was the right plan,” said Stephanie Schwartz, the director of marketing commu­ni­ca­tions at Ecosystem.

The price tag for the plan they devised was not insignif­i­cant: It would cost more than $9 million to wean off the oil- and gas-powered system. Luckily, Einstein had had the fore­sight to think ahead, thanks to his busi­ness acumen. Back in 2013, he started plan­ning for an unex­pected expense such as this by asking resi­dents to save ahead, instead of having to pay out of pocket for a big expense all at once in an emergency. 

“I was like, this is crazy. That’s not how I run my busi­ness,” Einstein said. ​“We have a huge asset. We need to take care of it.”

Planning ahead also gave Einstein a head­start on complying with Local Law 97 (LL97), New York’s City direc­tive to lower carbon emis­sions in the building sector. The new law wasn’t on the books in 2018 when Einstein started drawing up plans with Ecosystem, but when it was passed the following year, Ecosystem and Einstein were prepared to readjust.

“[Ecosystem] basi­cally said if we move the heating away from fossil fuels, then you can be in compli­ance with this law,” said Einstein.

A year on since the hybrid system was installed, Einstein feels affirmed in his deci­sion. Now, he can finally enjoy the sunset from his 10-foot by 6‑foot loft windows without having to pull out an orchestra of fans to stay cool. His apart­ment has offi­cially crossed the Rubicon into the 21st century.