It would be nice to post a text summary so those of us who don't want to waste time sifting through a 17 minute video can get a summary and decide to keep reading/watching or move on.
Met people who talk about greasing the wheel to get things done. But won’t say more.
For example, a store selling used equipment was fined for not individually labeling the equipment as used. All equipment in the store is used, it's all outdated stuff, and it's completely obvious. But one day someone from the city shows up and levies a fine. So now this scuffed, obsolete gear from the 1990s has a "used" sticker on it.
Waste management especially is mafia territory, if you don’t know the right people and make sure they get something out of your operation, you can count on getting shut down for breaking the same rules that every single one of your competitors also breaks.
I used to work with a truck driver who knew how to properly grease the guys running the loading docks at the Javits center (slip a $20 into your paper work.) Though he said it only works with "older guys who've been around and know the game." That saved us 2-3 hours of waiting, we go into a dock right away, truckers watching us were pissed we skipped the line somehow. This was about 15 years ago though.
Though nowadays I hear those practices have mostly gone away. Of course we have no real way of knowing.
When we went in the office he said it might not work as the younger guys "don't play the game" but then saw an older guy at one desk and said "That guy right there." Dude pages through the paperwork, sees the $20 tucked and clipped, says "okay looks to be in order. You're going to loading dock so and so." I think we waited in the truck for 5-10 min before we were called and the driver ahead of us didn't look too happy.
That mentality is from the old mob days. Thankfully mostly a memory.
Yes, and they are called "Expeditors" and "Expeditor Fees" and in some cases "Campaign Contributions". In real estate for example, "Expeditors" magically make all sorts of things happen, not happen, go away, by virtue of "Expeditors Fees"