A series of videos shows New York City’s modern skywalkers working on tall buildings and erecting scaffolding more than a thousand feet above the ground.
The videos, uploaded by Marcos Valencia, show him and fellow construction workers scrambling atop towers in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
One shows them passing tools to each other as they work on Manhattan’s 3 World Trade Center, at its tallest 3,079 feet. From that height, it’s possible to make out Governor’s Island and Staten Island behind it.
In another, they work above the Upper East Side, overlooking Brooklyn across the Hudson River.
His videos often pan down to reveal the terrifying heights on which the intrepid workers spend their days, as well as spectacular views of the city.
But it’s dangerous work — between 2009 and 2018, 78 construction workers died after falling in NYC, according to New York State data.
Valencia and his colleagues can be seen in boots and high-viz, crawling along narrow scaffolding planks and guiding aluminum building materials into place using cranes. It offers a view from the top of 3 World Trade Center. The black building (right) is the US Steel Building
Falls from heights are the leading cause of fatal accidents in construction. Over the past 10 years, such accidents accounted for about 50 percent of all deaths and that percentage is increasing.
Unlike their predecessors, who used limited safety equipment, Valencia and his colleagues are usually equipped with full-body harnesses with lines clipped to their backs. Even some of the tools and materials they use are strapped to prevent them from falling.
In most of his videos, Valencia and his colleagues can be seen in boots and high-viz, using cranes to crawl over narrow scaffolding planks and move aluminum building materials into position.
Such videos of high-rise workers have become a sensation on TikTok, with half of their viewers terrified of the heights and the other half asking in awe where they can get hired.
Valencia included the name Local Union 1556 in its video captions. The union’s website suggests that the scaffolders earn just under $50 an hour, while apprentices earn just $20.
Valencia shows himself at work as he shoots from the top of skyscrapers overlooking the Hudson River
A colleague passes Valencia construction materials as they stand on narrow shelves 300 meters above the ground at 3 World Trade Center
Native American Mohawk ironworkers at work on the Chrysler Building
Famous photo taken in 1932 shows workers having lunch in the 70-story RCA Building in Rockefeller Center
Mohawk ironworkers on Park Avenue in 1970 – they work on steel structures in the city to this day
A Mohawk ironworker on a construction site at the northwest corner of 86th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City
