A doorman (or doorwoman/doorperson), also called a porter in

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadl ...

, is a person hired to provide

courtesy Courtesy (from the word ''courteis'', from the 12th century) is Gentleness, gentle politeness and Royal court, courtly Etiquette, manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the nobility was compiled in courtesy books. Hist ...

and

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

services at a residential building or

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

. They are particularly common in urban luxury highrises. At a residential building, a doorperson is responsible for opening doors and screening visitors and deliveries. They will often provide other courtesy services such as signing for packages, carrying luggage between the

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ...

and the street, or hailing taxis for residents and guests.

History

The occupation dates back at least to the time of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the g ...

under the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

where its name was '' iānitor'' (from ''iānua'', 'door', the root of both "January" and "

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

").

Modern era

The

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

had an official doorkeeper until the post was abolished in 1995. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, doorpeople and elevator operators are

unionized A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

and typically represented by

SEIU 32BJ Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ (often shortened to SEIU 32BJ, 32BJ SEIU or just 32BJ), is a branch of Service Employees International Union headquartered in New York City which mainly represents building workers (maintenance, cu ...

. They last went on strike in 1991 and other strikes were narrowly averted in 2006, 2010, and 2022. New York City doorpeople tend to be immigrant men. Historically they were Irish; in more recent times they are often Hispanic or Eastern European (Polish, Albanian, Montenegrin, and Macedonian). In

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, doormen are called bawab, and in modern times they have been described by the BBC as a security guard, porter, enforcer of social mores and general snoop, all rolled into one.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doorman (Profession) Protective service occupations

History

Modern era

See also

References