EXCERPTS:
"By 11 a.m. on a recent sweltering Sunday, Harrison Anastasio had already collected the cellphone numbers of five bikini-clad women on the rooftop pool at the James New York Hotel.
"Don't forget to text me," one of the women whispered to the tousle-haired 17-year-old, flashing him a coy smile. Mr. Anastasio colored slightly beneath his Wayfarer sunglasses. But he wouldn't forget. Although it sounds like the setup for a 1980s sex comedy, it's actually his job.
Mr. Anastasio, a rising senior at Edward R. Murrow High School, is one of two attendants at the James's rooftop deck, where he's paid $15 an hour to supervise the four-foot-deep pool, serve water to guests and ready lounge chairs for optimal sun or shade. A certified lifeguard, he's also the pool's tanning concierge—a job the hotel created this summer in partnership with a sunscreen maker.
As concierge, Mr. Anastasio must ensure that pool patrons remember to turn over at designated intervals to evenly brown their front and back sides.
He politely introduces himself to guests when they arrive on the pool deck 18 stories above SoHo. They decide whether they'd prefer the teenager to gently tap them on the shoulder or send a text when it's time to turn over.
"Most people like to be texted. It's less invasive," Mr. Anastasio said. The text comes every 20 to 30 minutes and simply says, "Turn Over."
