Tech-Savvy MiMA Tower! (Courtesy of Streeteasy)

At the same time that some apartment buildings are emphasizing those weird pre-technological places called libraries, others are boosting up their tech teams to plug you in when you move in.

Related, the real estate developers behind MiMA and One MiMA Tower, has implemented a technology concierge service that will handle tasks from hanging televisions to troubleshooting a home office network, The New York Times reports.

"We’re always looking for what’s on the horizon," Daria Salusbury, senior vice president of Related, told The Times. "What feedback are we getting from residents? It took a little while to figure out that this was a trend, and that’s when we said, ‘We understand technology is really important in everybody’s lifestyle, and we need to embrace that.'"

New residents will receive one free hour of consultation and one free hour of installation. Mrs. Salusbury further noted that large projects will be charged in a lump sum and that "most smaller jobs will be billed by the hour, at a rate to be determined, but competitive with what a chain store like Best Buy would charge."

Related plans to expand it to their portfolio of over 5,000 units within the next month. It remains to be seen whether the concierges will be inundated with calls from the technologically challenged, but at least someone is finally tackling the daunting waits for internet services in this city.

mewing@observer.com

Don't trip on the trap (NY Times)

Although The Observer has only been privileged of seeing the kind of trap door found on the bottom of an infant’s onesie, there are some New Yorkers who have, in fact, encountered the real deal.

Secret passageways, trap doors and hidden rooms are no longer reserved for the sets of movies.  There are actual New York City residences, stretching from the Upper East Side all the way to Park Slope, The Times reports, whose blueprints don’t reveal all.

Perhaps most well known is the underground tunnel lurking beneath Riverside Drive’s Schinasi Mansion, where an underground tunnel leads to the Hudson.  But there are others, as well, such as the mini cellar hidden beneath the floorboards of Eric Schiller’s staircase, most likely a remnant of the Prohibition Era.

While many of these stowaway spaces no longer serve their original purpose, who’s to say that they can’t find a renewed sense of meaning?  While we agree with The Times when they say, “hiding the family silver or keeping servants out of sight… are less relevant today,” The Observer can think of a long list of people and things that could benefit from being routinely tucked away (younger siblings, a guilty pleasure, or maybe an illegal one, just to name a few).

A secret closet was recently discovered in the master bedroom of an apartment on East 67^th Street, after being hidden behind a brocade for decades. And to think: If R. Kelly lived in the penthouse of the Milan House, he might never have escaped the closet.

kcarter@observer.com