By:  Marty Raminoff

While most New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet and pay their rent, there is a secret world of members-only clubs and concierge services for the city’s wealthiest individuals.

As reported by the NY Times, there’s a new wave of private clubs and concierge services tailored to meet the needs of the Big Apple’s super rich residents.  This bubbling industry includes Ultra-exclusive clubs, laundry specialists, on-demand helicopter rides and services that help get restaurant reservations by bidding hundreds of dollars.   These services are meant not only to cater to –but also fully transform the way those with a seemingly superfluous disposable income can eat dinner, travel, see the doctor, exercise, walk their dogs and even watch their children.  The services aim to wipe away the regular hum-drum part of their day, and allow them a truly luxurious existence without forcing them to interact like regular folks need to.

Per the NY Times, here is a list of services that residents in New York City can have access to, by virtue of their abundant cash supply.  There are websites, including Appointment Trader and Cita Marketplace, that can help affluent users bid for reservations for in-demand restaurants.

Zip Aviation, a private helicopter service, offers to ferry groups of up to six people from the heliport at Pier 6 to local airports, including New Jersey’s Teterboro for private jets, charging $2,050 one way. Zip also flies to the Hamptons, charging up to $5,000 for the most expensive flight, which travels to the easternmost point of Montauk.

A new domestic help agency, named Wellington Agency and led by April Berube, helps wealthy homeowners get seamless access to housekeepers, house managers and other staffers in the New York area–even for their second homes or for their yachts.  Ms. Berube said the volume of requests for every area of domestic service soared compared to three or four years ago. She said housekeepers are now making an average of $45 an hour, up from about $30 before the pandemic.

She added that families are now also expected to offer health insurance and other benefits to their home staff. Anita Rogers, the founder of British American Household Staffing, a domestic staffing agency in NYC, said the size of her company has close to doubled since the pandemic.  She said that in the past, one babysitter would work some 40 hours for a family, but now its handled by a group of two or three rotating nannies.  These nannies typically earn roughly $120,000 a year, Rogers added.

Wealthy New Yorkers are also in the market for private chefs to cook their lunches and dinners.  Private chef companies and domestic staffing agencies say chefs are now in demand positions that pay roughly $150,000 a year.

There are also niche roles that families use like a laundress or seamstress.  An expert laundress may charge about $50 to $60 an hour, and work 30 minutes just to fully iron a dress shirt, Ms. Rogers said.

While we have all heard of dog walkers, some pet owners also want their pups to occasionally have the opportunity to run free in wooded upstate areas. A private hike can cost $250 a day through services like Shape Up Your Pup, while group hikes generally cost $145 per day.

Per the NY Times, the ultra-rich also have healing clubs, that use cryotherapy and crystals.