Week 3 Response-Anika Czander

“These guys who put the rivets, they die but their work remains in place. There’s no monument to these people.” – Gay Talese

I found this quote to be particularly fascinating, and in a way, very sad. I once wrote a research paper on the construction of the old Pennsylvania Station and read many first hand accounts from the men who built the tunnels going into the station and much of the infrastructure. I saw a very similar sentiment with how Talese described the builders of the Verazzanno Bridge, and was touched when it was mentioned that the skyline was something of a family tree. While Talese says that there is no monument to these people, I have to disagree. The works themselves are the monuments to these men who labored and sometimes risked their lives to create the infrastructure that makes New York what it is.