Remember the old B&W photo of Empire State building steel workers?

Neat video.  I've always been fascinated/horrified by that photo...   I'm not particularly afraid of heights under normal circumstances, but that's way out of my league.

Thanks for sharing! That was a really cool video.

watching that makes my stomach churn...

Wouldn't bother me a bit.

TIL that those guys were working on the Rockefeller Center. I always thought it was the Empire State Building too.

TIL that too.  Ever take the 30 Roc elevator to the roof?

That was really cool.

I'm going into the city tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I'll be having lunch somewhere else.

That photo hangs in our living room

Thank you so much for sharing this. I particularly enjoyed the focus on the contribution of these now anonymous workers.

I have to admit, it did make me somewhat uncomfortable to watch. I don't do well with heights. 

I have stood on steel at 245' about 12" from the edge of nothing. I was wiring in a 6 pack welding machine to temporary power. The electrical box for the welders was at the edge of the building and the siding hadn't been installed yet. None of the other electricians would touch it. I was in my 20s at the time and with a safety harness on it didn't bother me at all. 

I get the feeling it would bother me now. I can't even imagine what it would be like 800' up without any kind of harness. How long is the trip to the ground? That's how long you get to think about your last mistake.

what about the dude on the right drinking during lunch while up there? I'm sure they were all doing it...

My neighbor is a great guy but sort of a nutty guy - being an iron worker fits his personality cause he has no problem walking beams or putting together those giant windmills in the Midwest.  

Hell no.

In my younger days, not only would I, but would have loved it. Never got offered the right contract, at the right time. Same thing for off shore oil rig work. But today? I could still be ok with the heights, but I'm no longer tough enough for the work!

Two stories I've heard about the picture: the one ya see all the time is stagged - but one of the photographers stayed a bit and got a picture of them on their true break... napping!  They show one I had not seen on the vid (I watched with no sound available) but did not show the napping picture I have seen.

Also, there is a woman in the picture, although women were not allowed to walk high steel at the time. She WAS tough enough to do the work, so the rest of the crew let her!

Not for a hundred million dollars could I do that.  I can't even watch the video. 

Even Toymans story made my gizzard twist.  

Me coward.

I have to be certified for that yearly. In this year’s course we watched a video about the evolution of  working at heights safety and the part  about the Golden Gate Bridge was pretty interesting. 

Cool vid. I'm not generally bothered by heights, but nope nope nope on that.

I noticed at 2:10 in they show a still with what looks like a Pitcairn OP-1 autogyro in the background. History is cool.

Streetwiseguy said:

Me coward.

Me also coward.  First Post makes me uneasy.

My MiL is the first female to retire from the Boston Building Wreckers Union. She was what they called a burner. She would climb up the girders and cut them through with an oxy/acetylene torch nearly all the way and in such a way that it was controllable when coming down.

Fun fact: If you look at the album cover for the Dropkick Murphys Do or Die you will see the fathers of 2 ladies I have dated (and married one of) and you will see 2-3 brothers of my FiL. First time I met my FiL I made him cry by showing him that cover. Two of his brother in the pic have passed away a long time ago, one very young.

I love that. 
 

I have been building for 46 years, and have worked with thousands of nameless men who built the buildings, roads, and bridges we all rely on today.

Though my name is inscribed on 2 buildings I built, even I can name only a few of the tremendous men I have worked with.

Its a nameless, thankless job. 
 

One of my favorite moments working in old buildings is finding a main support beam in an inconspicuous spot somewhere under a 100+ year old building with dozens and dozens of signatures of men long gone who once worked on building that building. (It happens quite often)