10.09.2008 — With his Brooklyn accent, it sounds kind of intimidating when Paul Austi, owner of Long Island City, N.Y.-based Audio Video Crafts (AVC), claims Manhattan as "our turf."

What he means, however, is that it's not easy to be an integrator in New York City, but his team knows how to do it. "We know all the loopholes," he says.

Many of AVC's stable of high-profile clients live in Manhattan. Anybody who has ever worked there, tried to park there or even driven there understands the challenges.

Nobody knows them better than Austi who has served clients there for 22 years.

He lists just a few.

Traffic -- Based just outside Manhattan in Long Island City, AVC has easy access to the city.

"We have seven different ways to get in and my office is located a quarter of a mile from every entrance in Manhattan," Austi says.

Parking -- Commercial vehicles can't be parked in most of Manhattan's garages, and on-street parking isn't exactly abundant. So, AVC's eight trucks rack up about 30 parking tickets per month.

This is where Austi's experience pays off. He estimates that about 28 of 30 per month are beatable. Fighting the traffic department is time-consuming, but he says it's worth the effort.

Service Entrance -- Trades generally can't go through the main entrances in New York City apartment buildings. Often the service entrance includes stairs, according to Austi.

This isn't a good thing, especially when AVC installers are carrying heavy equipment. Austi knows which buildings involve stairs and can, therefore, plan extra time or men accordingly.

Freight Elevators -- Rarely will AVC be the only trade working at a given time in a luxury building. This often means waiting while other workers hog the elevator, jeopardizing AVC's project schedule.

This problem is amplified by the fact that many buildings only allow work to be done during certain hours or even during certain times of the year.

Luckily, Austi knows many of the attendants in the city's buildings and can negotiate work-arounds.