Almost every morning, about 6 a.m, I have a “rendezvous” with Maria. It’s often just as I’m leaving my house to take Stubby, my dog, for a walk; or it might be over on Elmwood Street, by Playland Market, or along Oakland Beach Avenue. But our meeting is just a quick, cheerful “hello” – she’s got many customers to go.
By Bill Lawyer
Almost every morning, about 6 a.m, I have a “rendezvous” with Maria. It’s often just as I’m leaving my house to take Stubby, my dog, for a walk; or it might be over on Elmwood Street, by Playland Market, or along Oakland Beach Avenue. But our meeting is just a quick, cheerful “hello” – she’s got many customers to go.
That’s because every morning Maria Japay drives all the way from White Plains, where she lives, to Elmsford to Rye to deliver the The New York Times and Journal News right to my driveway.
Recently I interviewed Maria at the appropriately named On The Way Café for a light breakfast (lunch, in Maria’s case) about what it’s like to be the bearer of the news for ten years in Rye.
“I get up at 2:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday; earlier on Fridays and weekends, because there are more papers, they’re bigger, and it takes longer for me to get and bag them,” Maria explained. “I to the PCF depot on Executive Boulevard in Elmsford to pick up five different newspapers: the NY Times, Daily News, Journal News, Wall Street Journal, and the NY Post. When I arrive at the depot, I get a cart and collect as many of each paper as I need. I get there early, because otherwise I might have to wait to get a cart.”
One might assume, in this technological age, that the newspapers are already bagged; but they aren’t. Maria has to bag them herself – double bag them in bad weather. The whole process takes two hours before she can hit the road to deliver to her 300 customers, not all of whom get their paper or papers every day. Maria has to keep track of all the variations in deliveries.
Her route starts at Citibank and runs from Milton and Forest all the way to Oakland Beach Avenue. Blind Brook Lodge has a lot of customers in their different buildings. It takes about one and a half hours on lighter days and two to two and a half hours on the heavier days.
What does she like best about this work?
“I like being up early in the morning,” says Maria. “I like Rye – it’s a beautiful community. I like seeing all the wildlife – deer, raccoons, etc. And, I like that there is very little traffic.”
And the worst? “Getting and bagging the papers involves hard physical work – particularly on the weekends when the papers are very heavy and I have to lift and throw them out to a good spot in the driveway or porch. I have to wear gloves to protect from paper cuts, ink, etc. Just the other day the NY Times didn’t get to the depot until 5 a.m., but I’d rather wait than have to make two delivery runs.
“Sometimes I am short a paper and have to buy one at a local store because it’s too much trouble to drive back to Elmsford. In the snowstorm last October I got stuck while I was driving on 287 – it was cold, but I had to use my jacket to get traction. My car gets a lot of wear and tear.”
Maria also holds down other jobs. “I do house cleaning for three clients (one in Irvington, another in Thornwood, and a third in White Plains) each week.
Originally from Peru, Maria Japay was an elementary school teacher before emigrating to the U.S. with her husband, who works in maintenance at the Beeline Bus Depot in Elmsford. They have two children: a son who is a student at Westchester Community College, and a daughter who goes to elementary school in White Plains.
“I like delivering papers, as I’m my own boss,” Maria concluded. “I have a sense of satisfaction from doing a good job. I would like to improve my English.”