While Jobs' hoped-for payday will come June 29 when Apple's iPhone debuts, the Queens business owner is already cleaning up - the car-wash maven will pocket $24,000 a year for leasing some roof space to mount 10 AT&T cellphone antennas.
The 20-year deal inked last year - with 3 percent to 5 percent annual increases built in - will, over the course of the agreement, put more than $700,000 into the business owner's pocket.
And this business owner, who asked that his name and his exact business location not be revealed so nearby building owners and customers stay out of his hair, is far from alone.
All over Gotham, more and more property owners are cashing in by renting out roof space for cellphone antennas as companies race to keep up with technology.
As carriers like Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T, which will offer the iPhone, offer more services like video broadcasting, Wi-Fi and text-messaging there has been a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in antenna placements in the city over the past two years, according to one industry executive.
The spike in antenna installations around town is the direct result of this ramp-up in demand for smart phones, BlackBerrys and other wireless gadgets, said the executive, Hans Fiedler, a manager with MCM, Inc., a Connecticut-based rooftop-site development company, who works with carriers to find suitable locations.
One Queens church got $42,000 a year for leasing roof space to Sprint for eight antennas.
"It's like having the perfect tenant - no complaints at all," said the owner of the Queens car wash, who noted that the extra cash helped pay the mortgage and other debt.
