1.   Afterward, the city operator calls the floor lady directly and tells her how much to charge.

2.   It is next to the desk of the ubiquitous floor lady, the not-so-subtle boss and spy of all guests who tumble into her domain.

3.   Like most floor ladies, Mrs. Yeltskaya is on one full day and off the next.

4.   Long seen as a particularly unpleasant sentry of Soviet authority, the floor lady is always stationed near the elevators at the entrance to every corridor.

5.   The floor lady, or dezhurnaya, is part Big Nurse, part house mother, part cop and all Russian.