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Manhattan Feather Dusters helps actors pay the bills

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNew York

April 14, 2008

Owner Everet Goldberg keeps a collection of antique cleaning implements in his Manhattan Feather Dusters, Inc. office located at 1 beekman Street in Lower Manhattan. (amNew York/ Dennis W. Ho)

Climbing one's way up the artists' ranks in New York City takes perseverance, practice and, in some cases, an eye for cleanliness.

For the past seven years, 59-year-old Nancy Adzima, a costume designer for theater, TV and film, has worked part-time for Manhattan Feather Dusters. The company hires dancers, actors, designers and other artists to clean Manhattan offices and homes in their spare time.

The arts industry, Adzima says, can be volatile, with unexpected strikes and production cancellations.

"Plus, you never make a great deal of money unless you're a superstar," she says.

Feather Dusters' owner, Everet Goldberg, opened the cleaning service about 20 years ago. He has worked for decades as a real estate broker, and the cleaning idea came when he needed extra money during a housing slump in the late 1980s.

"I thought it was a good idea. It was allied to real estate," he says.

After hiring one artist, Goldberg realized the value of recruiting more of the city's "creative core." "A person in fine arts and performing arts may not like a sedentary desk job. They like to be active. A desk job just doesn't fit their bent," he says. "These people [make] good cleaners. They are people who are creative and approach everything with enthusiasm," he says.

Working for Manhattan Feather Dusters offers workers the ability to manage their hours, a benefit for those in a world in which auditions and deadlines pop up unexpectedly.

"One of the things made clear working for Everet is the fact that when I go out of town -- he always understands the situation," says Adzima. "It's allowed me to pursue what I really want to do which is to design costumes." Adzima says she has worked on more than 120 stage productions and won an Emmy for her costume designs on the soap opera "Guiding Light." She¹s also worked on films like "Ocean¹s Eleven" and "Two Weeks Notice."

Manhattan Feather Dusters is headquartered at 1 Beekman St. They charge $20 to $25 an hour, on average, depending on the size of the job.

As for hiring qualified cleaners, Goldberg says they must be cleared by six references, but they don't need professional cleaning experience and don't need to be in the arts.

"The most important thing is someone who likes to do the work," says Goldberg.