NYC Parks Department Searching For Skilled Blacksmith
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New York City is looking for a blacksmith.
The job pays about $100,000 a year, but it's not for everyone, as CBS2's Dave Carlin found out firsthand.
John Fitzgerald is one of the city's dozen blacksmiths working for the parks department. Now, there's a new slot open.
"Yes, we're hiring another blacksmith," his supervisor, Ricci Lawrence, said.
Carlin tested his skills and tried making a basketball hoop from rolled steel cut down to 58 inches. Rolling the rod into a hoop proved to be a test he failed.
Fitzgerald: "That's a bad pass."
Carlin: "Did I mess that up?"
Fitzgerald: "I think so."
Carlin: "That's a terrible basketball hoop. I'm not going to get this job."
But his oval-shaped hoop could be hammered into shape.
Carlin: "Do you get out a lot of your aggression this way?"
Fitzgerald: "I have no aggression."
That's because he loves his job, with its city benefits and pension, and taking home about $100,000 a year. Every day, sparks fly.
While Fitzgerald welded the basketball hoop, Carlin stayed back and visited some of his colleagues.
The job entails so much more than basketball hoops -- for example, the blacksmiths are creating the iron beams that hold together a loft space on park's property. City blacksmiths also make railings and fences, but they never get anywhere near a horse. Different workers, called farriers, handle the horseshoes.
Someone highly skilled will land this sought-after blacksmith job – maybe a sculptor with wild welding skills or someone currently in a construction field.
Anyone fired up to join Fitzgerald and company, get your application into the city by October 30th.
