The Sky CowboysThe New York Times

-Gotta connect that
iron in the air. Yeah, there we go. -Ironworkers. -We're changing the skyline.

-We're changing the skyline. -The skylines of New York. Real ironworkers, they're
all hustlers. You don't want to be
afraid of too much.

You definitely want to
be a little wild. -That's why they call us
the cowboys of the sky. -Cowboys of the sky. -Yeah, that one was good.

-The view. -The best part of ironworking
is the view. -The view is amazing. -Once in a while, you get some
down time, even if it's just 30 seconds.

And you could take the 30
seconds and look uptown at the Empire State Building
and just chill out. -Yep. -Beautiful. -Every bolt goes in.

-Everything's got
to be precise. -One way or another, we're
going to make it happen. -Think about it. Do you really want to
be an ironworker? -There's no one day of you life,
after doing this long enough, that something
doesn't hurt.

-Why is it so hot? -Smell like a hockey
bag right now. -It's hard work. It's hard work. -Every day.

-I bust my ass every
day, and I love it. -I love it. -I love it up here. -[UNINTELLIGIBLE] -10 years ago-- -During 9/11 when the
towers came down-- -They were calling out
for any ironworkers.

-And they told us that, we're
going to need you. -Pile was seven stories
high, heavy steel. -We were there-- -The first night-- -Everybody was a volunteer. -I'd volunteer down here.

-And you'd just want
to help out. -We took a lot of steel
out of here. -That's hard work. -The way it came down,
it was heartbreaking.

At least we could
put it back up. -It brings a little
closure to me. -Be able to look down, see
the finished product. -Someday, maybe I'll
tell my grandkids.

Turn around, point up to the sky
and say, see that building right there? Look at what we built. -And I'll be able to say,
look how straight it is. -Wow. That looks good.

-Very honored to be here. -Very proud. -No, it's just the truth..