Bella Chen

Custodian Mario Vasquez

For over two decades, Mario Vasquez has worked behind the scenes at Townsend Harris High School, keeping the school’s bathrooms, hallways, and classrooms clean.

“It [is] a beautiful experience working here,” Mr. Vasquez said, reflecting on his custodial career. 

He said it all began at a small Catholic school in the Bronx, where he worked part-time. “I never saw any kids because I used to go there after hours,” he said. But later, moving to THHS, his career took a different turn. 

Initially, transitioning to THHS wasn’t easy, but during that time, Mr. Vasquez found support from a fellow custodian. “Hector Benitez – he’s helped me a lot. He’s been here since they were building this school, so he knows [it] better than I do,” Mr. Vasquez said..

Mr. Benitez, who has been working at THHS for 28 years, described what it was like working alongside Mr. Vasquez. He said, “Honestly speaking, it’s been a great experience [working with Mr. Vasquez] because of the kind of person that he is. I’ve learned a lot from him and still learn a lot from him. He’s a wonderful person. He’s got a great heart.”

Over the years, Mr. Vasquez has seen firsthand how student behavior affects the cleanliness of the school. While most students recognize his and the custodial staff’s work, the behaviors of some students create significant challenges. “We put a lot of effort into [our work], and sometimes, people just don’t seem to care,” he said. 

He described the girl’s fourth-floor bathroom, which had to be closed recently due to vandalism. “[Students] trashed it, jumped on the sinks, and bent the pipes,” he said.

In addition to these challenges, custodial work includes restocking soap and paper towels in bathrooms, deep cleaning measures to prevent bacteria and viruses from spreading. Mr. Vasquez emphasized the importance of sanitation, saying, “We always disinfect [the bathrooms] and everything. We use the cleaner and disinfectant, so [the door handles stay clean].”

For Mr. Vasquez, maintaining a clean school environment is a team effort. “When everybody does a little bit of work [and] when everybody cares, that’s when things go a lot smoother,” he said. He believes that if students simply respected the facilities more and treated the bathrooms better, the custodians’ jobs would be much more manageable. Many students voiced similar issues with the treatment of school bathrooms by fellow students. Sophomore Leslie Lindsany said, “I always see loads of paper towels [in] the sink.” Freshman Tiffany Wang emphasized that cleanliness requires cooperation from everyone. “We as students should be responsible to clean up after ourselves and not mess around in the bathroom—cleaning up after ourselves would alleviate the burden from the already very hard-working custodians,” she said.

But regardless of the challenges, he shows up each day, ready to tackle whatever mess awaits him—knowing the difference his work makes.