In the pre-dawn hours before opening statements in the People of the State of New York vs. Donald Trump, Robert Samuel was standing in line outside 100 Centre Street, the county criminal courts building in Lower Manhattan.
Samuel was holding a place in line for one or another of the credentialed journalists seeking access to the courtroom and overflow room. He was one of 22 men working Trump's hush-money trial that day for the niche company he founded 12 years ago, Same Ole Line Dudes.
As the historic Trump proceeding enters its third week, Samuel is starting to accept orders for seats reserved for the general public, who must form a separate line outside the courthouse.
This business model came to Samuel after he lost his job with AT&T for chronically showing up late, he said. Having sold iPhones, he knew that devotees would eagerly queue outside the Apple Store overnight to purchase the latest models on release day. In September 2012, someone paid him $100 to wait in line for the iPhone 5. He sold two additional spots in line that night and ended up with enough cash to buy a new smartphone for himself.
"I have the box still, as a memento,” he said.
Samuel, who is 48, stands 6-foot-5 and makes an imposing figure in line. Last Monday morning, with temperatures in the low 40s, he and his fellow Line Dudes were wearing black wool hats with the company logo embroidered in bright yellow.
“It grew from me doing it by myself, and then when I realized that there was a demand, I started pulling in the people closest to me, my friends and family,” Samuel said. “New York is this rich, fertile ground — things to see, things to do, things to buy, experience, taste.”
Line Dudes has held spaces for Brooklyn pizza, ramen burgers, rainbow bagels and cronut pastries, PlayStation games and sample sales at fashion houses.
“Sometimes I succumb to going in and purchasing for myself, which is a bad habit," Samuel said.
He has stood in line for ticket-holding fans at Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles concerts, hoping to grab general admission spots closest to the stage.
“The K-pop fans love us,” he said.
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Samuel has also been hired to secure seats for Broadway shows at the TKTS booth in Times Square or at theater box offices, waiting in line for rush tickets or last-minute cancellations. Sometimes that has yielded the perk of an extra ticket.
“I saw 'Hamilton' 11 times,” Samuel said. "Six of those times with the original cast."
He also got to see the 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of "Much Ado About Nothing" — those tickets are free, but handed out either by lottery or to folks who wait in line. “One of the benefits of doing this is that it exposes me to stuff that wouldn't be on my radar,” Samuel said. “It always amazes me when people hire us to wait for free things.”
Line Dudes has previous experience with high-profile trials in Manhattan — for example the 2021 trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring, last fall's trial of cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, and E. Jean Carroll’s two civil suits against Trump for sexual assault and defamation.
Samuel said his company had "built up a good rapport with media agencies. We're the go-to when they don't want their reporters standing in line.”
Trump trials have definitely been good for business. With courtroom and overflow room space sharply limited, Samuel charges media organizations $50 an hour, twice his regular rate, to hold a place for the current hush-money trial line. That line begins forming shortly after midnight for days the court is in session.
“This is such a high-profile type of assignment," Samuel said. "You run the risk of, you know, coming in contact with protesters and supporters, so we charge a premium."
Trump trials have definitely been good for Line Dudes' business. With courtroom and overflow room space limited, Samuel charges media organizations $50 an hour, twice his regular rate.
During the long hours before dawn, his employees try to get some rest in folding chairs. “You get paid for going to sleep,” Samuel said. “It's mostly men that work with me. It's ‘line dudes,’ not to be sexist. It wasn't done like that intentionally. We do have women that do this as well.”
Spending the night on the streets of New York involves some risk. “We had a gun exposed to us once in the line for a Justin Timberlake release,” Samuel said. “We have a general policy that we don't get confrontational. When people skip [the line], we try to hold our ground as much as reasonably possible without letting it escalate.”
There isn't much need for line-holding calls when new iPhone models are released, Samuel said. “Everything is mostly online and pre-order. So we lost. That was our Christmas.”
But the business has expanded nonetheless. Line Dudes has started taking bookings in Washington, D.C., as well. “We go only for Trump," Samuel said. "We've only branched out as a result of his trials. So I guess I can say thank you for that.”
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