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by tbran 1207 days ago
Some crane operators in NYC apparently make up to $500,000!!

Kind of crazy that some skilled work pays so much. That may be fine, but makes me wonder if any planners/civil engineers/whatever are making anywhere close to that.

From 2011: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303936704576399...

3 comments

> Some crane operators in NYC apparently make up to $500,000!!

Not totally crazy when you remember how much weight they're dangling above people's heads. If they fuck up they could cause dozens of deaths and many millions of dollars worth of damage in a split instant. The damage a civil planner can do is more subtle and long-term, not quite as easy to recognize and understand as a crane collapsing onto a crowded street.

Still, that's more than (most? any?) airline pilots make. But maybe with some NYC cost of living adjustments it's not such a large gap.

Those are private sector jobs, no?
Sort-of. There’s a tangled weave between the union and the licensing authorities. On top of that various tax and zoning considerations often force the use of union trades on building projects in NYC.
Being union or having regulated labor doesn’t make someone a public sector worker.
This is part of the reason the majority of high rise projects in NYC don't use cranes. It's insane.
Then what are they using instead ... drones?
They carry it up. I'm not joking.

https://www.city-journal.org/deconstructing-new-yorks-buildi... (ctrl+f crane)