Monahan stationed himself upstairs near the big room that housed the bar and crap-games; and Finnigan, the kibitzer of the three, naturally won the doormanship, his task being to welcome all patrons when, as and if they appeared, as well as to answer all incoming telephone calls from cabmen en route to the place with fares — an amenity always demanded by Smithy to preclude any unseemly overcrowding.
Source: wiktionary