SCHENECTADY — Former mayor Albert P. Jurczynski effortlessly navigated the Uber app on his cell phone Thursday afternoon — boasting of his five-star ratings, reading the fun facts on his profile, talking up his latest job as a driver with the popular ride-hailing service.

The ease with which he used it would have almost unthinkable about 15 months ago, when his friend Paul Harding encouraged him to try Uber.

Harding cited Jurczynski's "boundless energy," people skills and fondness for driving long distances as he explained why he was confident his friend would be an asset to Uber.

"It's such a natural: He's a people person, he always enjoys a conversation ... and he's so easily sharing of his own life, but yet he has a way where people open up and share a piece of them," said Harding, a prominent attorney who has known Jurczynski for more than 25 years.

Jurczynski, a "technically challenged" ex-pol who turns 62 in October, had no idea what Uber was.

He picked up his first fare on Dec. 30, six months after the service became available outside New York City. He regrets not doing it before.

"I didn't really know what to expect, so I started doing it, and it was fun," said Jurczynski, a Republican who served as mayor of the Electric City from 1996-2003 after serving multiple terms on the City Council.

"At this stage in my life, this is the perfect job for me," said Jurczynski, who was a part of the administration of former Gov. George Pataki and retired nearly five years ago after a stint as a jail guard and more recently in credit card processing. He has also worked as a car salesman.

The fact that he collects a "decent pension" gives him the luxury of being able to drive for Uber. He plans to stick with it as long it continues to be fun.

"I don't have to work, but my wife says, 'If I gotta work, you gotta work — go out and get a job.' And then Paul suggested Uber," he said. "And like I said, I don't feel stressed out by it. You don't make a ton of money, but I work when I want to work, I enjoy it, and ... it's actually very relaxing."

Jurczynski said it's not uncommon for him to work seven days a week a few hours at a time. He likens the work to fishing.

"If the fish are biting, you stay all day long, and if the fish aren't biting, time to pack it up," said Jurczynski. There are rare days when he's out for hours on end, and can put upwards of 300 miles on his Honda CRV.

With a 4.95 out of 5 rating, Jurczynski has logged over 1,600 trips and racked up more than 1,000 five-star ratings and 203 "badges" for exemplary service.

He admits early on that he had a handful of critical ratings before he learned that he had to "hold his tongue."

Jurczynski recalled picking up a woman who insisted on giving him directions even though he was depending on the app's navigational system; another rider, a thirtysomething named Alberto, asked in a rude tone why a former mayor would be driving for Uber.

In what Jurczynski now views as a teachable moment, he politely gave Alberto a lesson about showing respect.

"This is something I've learned quite a bit since I was mayor: I said I never looked up at anybody and I never looked down at anybody — wherever I go I always try to deal with people eye-to-eye," said Jurczynski, who thinks the younger man got his point.

He slips his departing passengers a card with contact information for his wife's real estate practice on one side and his on the other. (Both work for Howard Hanna real estate services.) The couple, married for nearly 34 years, have two grown children and live in the Central Park Estates neighborhood.

Then there was the hairdresser he picked up around Van Vranken Avenue who immediately recognized Jurczynski and asked him about talk in the community that he wooed Guyanese immigrants from downstate to Schenectady by offering them tax breaks and money.

He dismissed that notion, and pivoted the conservation to the positive impact the Guyanese community has had on the city.

"The only thing they got from me was my time, and they used to think it was a big deal to come up from the city to Schenectady and have a private audience with the mayor," he said, adding that it's the sort of thing that hardly ever happens with mayors in New York City.

Still, Jurczynski tries to avoid talking politics, and strives to be polite and courteous to every person who sets foot in his SUV.

"I've picked up GE executives, picked up a lot of immigrants — Indian, Pakistani, you name it, all over the world," he said. He's learned a lot from those passengers.

"It just seems to be a happy place for him," Harding said. " ... He's having a great experience. And the rating is high."