Lifestyle

How Summer Fridays became the most divisive issue in NYC

Every other Friday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Matthew Owens leaves his Flatiron District office at 1 p.m. sharp and heads east to the Hamptons for a relaxing, sun-soaked sojourn.

But before the 27-year-old publicist for fashion brand Express arrives at work, he dutifully sends a screenshot of the Long Island Rail Road train schedule to his friends who work in banking.

Scott Gramling, 10Ten Media’s managing director, is against Summer Fridays.Anne Wermiel

“I remind them that I will be taking an early train out to the Hamptons,” he says. “And I send them a later schedule to remind them they will be taking a late train out. And that they can find me at a restaurant out east, where I will be enjoying a glass of rosé,” he adds with a sinister cackle.

Owens is one of the fortunate New Yorkers who have a coveted Summer Friday work schedule, which means beating the scrum of weekend warriors to the roads and rails. And while he relishes his early exit, he gets just as much of a thrill from ribbing his pals who toil away in traditional industries that require them to work a full day on Fridays.

After all, once the summer calendar is under way, the Big Apple becomes a tale of two cities — the people who have Summer Fridays and the rest of the working schlubs. The liberal policies vary from allowing employees to leave early to giving them the day off entirely. The lucky “haves” tend to work in creative industries like fashion, public relations and media.

And it’s all in addition to their allotted vacation time.

“It’s so much fun to mess with friends who don’t have them. It has become a pastime,” says Owens, who also posts poolside selfies on Instagram for the viewing pleasure of his desk-jockey pals.

His investment-banker friend John DeMeo isn’t as tickled by Owens’ leisurely updates — especially when the clock has barely hit 2 p.m. “I try to be upbeat about it, and hold back my anger against my friends who have Summer Fridays,” says the 27-year-old, who slaves away until 7 or 8 p.m. on Fridays, regardless of what month or day or season it is.

But with the explosion of social-media apps like Instagram, the Summer Friday has gone from a quiet personal privilege to a braggadocious hashtag with the accompanying boastful sun-soaked images.

DeMeo explains that fun-in-the-sun Instagram posts exacerbate his envy.

“[Instagram] posts are like an advertisement of what I am missing out on. It’s a reminder that it’s a beautiful day and you’re stuck in the office with the rest of the finance stiffs,” he says.

Matthew Owens enjoys “messing” with his friends in traditional jobs by sending pictures of his Summer Fridays.Tamara Beckwith

Catherine Scavelli, who works in advertising — and has a full five-day week — says her friends’ Instagram accounts on Friday afternoons look like a brochure for careless summer days.

“Drinks at the Frying Pan, picnics in Central Park, Citi Biking, the beach, you name it. About half of my friends have them, so these are the things I have missed out on,” says the 22-year-old.

“I will see an Instagram photo tagged to the Frying Pan and they are all texting me asking when I’ll arrive,” says Scavelli, who last week missed a whole day of a Connecticut beach weekend because her friends were able to leave on Thursday night, while she had to leave on Friday after work and battle traffic to head north. “I am not angry with them, I am just jealous,” she insists.

While some people without Summer Fridays see their work schedule as fun deprivation, boss-man Scott Gramling thinks they are a sign of weakness.

“I just don’t understand why they exist,” says Gramling, managing director of 10Ten Media and former editor-in-chief of FHM magazine.

While at the helm of the lad mag in 2003, Gramling recalls a colleague asking about Summer Fridays because “when the weather is nice, you allow people to take advantage of it.”

“I said, ‘Then maybe we should have Winter Saturdays.’ If we are going to take time off when the weather is nice, then we should make up for the time when the weather is crappy and nobody wants to be outside, so they might as well be at work.”

No one has made the mistake of asking Gramling for a Friday pass again.

“This is not the New York that I grew up in,” says the 42-year-old. “This used to be a really hard-working city, and I think it is, in many respects, but there are little hints of softness slipping in, and Summer Fridays is one of them.”

http://instagram.com/p/qUGv2CmGgI/?modal=true
@alihanner captioned her photo, “#SummerFridays thanks #RalphLauren.”

Human resources expert Steve Boese says perks like Summer Fridays are becoming more commonplace because of technological advances and a general desire for employers to give their workers more autonomy.

“We’re moving past foosball tables and soft couches in the office,” says Boese. “What people really want is more control over their schedules. And it used to be that you couldn’t always access files unless you were in the office. But now that everyone has Skype, tablets, smartphones and even Dropbox, you can leave on Friday at 1 p.m. and still be available.”

Alison Brod, who owns Alison Brod Public Relations, a beauty, fashion and lifestyle agency, says Summer Fridays don’t amount to slacking off.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, her Friday office hours are 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Public relations firm boss Alison Brod (in yellow) is happy to give her staffers Summer Fridays. She even encourages them to pre-game before clocking off at 1:30 p.m.Zandy Mangold

“I defend my staff having Summer Fridays because we do events every night. They are out and can be checking media in at [events] at midnight. Their hours are different than office jobs where they are done by 5:30 p.m.,” says Brod, who six years ago rented a Hamptons home for her stable of manicured and well-coiffed publicists.

Brod even has a salon in her Park Avenue South office where all 66 of her employees can get a blowout and acupuncture before getting a jump on the weekend.

“I have always believed in vacation time, experiencing things and weaving them into your job,” she says.

As the use of smartphones proliferates, Brod feels like her employees could be doing the same job from the pool as they can do at their desk, so why keep everyone tied to a cubicle?

“They’re still on call. We have international clients and clients outside of New York. If someone from Chicago wants to have a conference call at 3 p.m., you can do it from the beach.”

And she notes that she often has to push her staffers — who last week partied their Friday afternoon away on a co-worker’s rooftop — to leave at 1:30 p.m.

“I will say, ‘I know you’re busy, but go sit by a pool or at a cafe and do work.’ ”

Owens agrees that his work doesn’t suffer, because he uses extra elbow grease during the week for the privilege of more play time.

“Especially in my industry, people tend to have Fridays off, so no one is even answering emails on the other end,” he says.

It’s an excuse that still doesn’t jibe with Gramling, who says he is going to start a “Winter Saturdays” hashtag.

“I will get about 17 followers,” he jokes before getting serious again. “We’re going to become Europe. Where does it end? Are we going to be sitting here in five years talking about Summer Thursdays?”


“Jealous,” was all one friend wrote on @dony01223’s #summerfridays photo.

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These NYC companies offer Summer Fridays to their employees

DKNY
Although they won’t discuss their policy, the brand’s p.r. honcho tweeted about taking conference calls from her couch during #SummerFridays.

Bloomingdale’s
Employees in the corporate office work until 4 p.m. from Memorial Day through July 4. For the Fourth through Labor Day, Friday quitting time is 1 p.m.

Victoria’s Secret
Employees are allowed six full Fridays off throughout the summer.

Estée Lauder
The cosmetics giant, which owns Clinique, Bobbi Brown and Jo Malone, gives its employees five full Fridays or 10 half-days to take off at their discretion.

J.Crew
Its corporate staff is allowed to work half-days on Fridays in the summer.

Condé Nast
The magazine publisher (Vogue, GQ, Bon Appétit) says its summer hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., Monday through Thursday, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Deadlines permitting, closing time Fridays is at 1 p.m.

Shadow PR
The lifestyle public relations firm bases its Summer Friday policy on seniority. If you’ve worked at the company for more than two years, you get every Friday off. Between one and two years, it’s every other Friday.

PMK-BNC
The giant public relations firm allows its staff to leave at 2 p.m. Friday from Memorial Day though Labor Day, provided their work for the week is done. But staffers must be reachable by phone when needed, says CEO Cindi Berger, whether they’re on a ferryboat or a beach.