b'I ended up going to Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge near Shore Road for my senior year. It was a girls and boyshigh school. St. Augustine\'s was an all-boys high school. It was a big culture shock too. As a Catholic high school, it wastough, big into sports. We had the Franciscan brothers as teachers. When you say it was tough, do you mean it was demanding, or that it was rough and tough in other ways orboth?It was demanding and it was both. Not in the classrooms per se, but outside the classrooms there was a lot of roughand tumble stuff going on. What did you do after you graduated high school?I went to Staten Island Community College. I actually went back the second year and I said this isnt for me. I wentand got a trade job on the outside working on elevators. I was able to get a job with my father\'s influence as he was in thetrade. He was able to get me a job on the outside as an apprentice with an elevator company that\'s still here in New YorkCity. That\'s where I started my career. I didn\'t know what I wanted to do at that time. I don\'t think anybody does whenyou\'re a young man like that. Hopefully, you find your way.Did you like the work?Yeah, I like mechanical work. It\'s demanding, and you have to do a lot of studying. You have to know what you\'redoing, because you\'re responsible for a lot of things. You have a big liability on your shoulders.When you were at the community college, what classes were you taking?Business classes. I couldn\'t see myself sitting at a desk. I like cars, I like working on cars. I just said: "No, I\'m not inthe right area of pursuit here. I did have a part-time job with another union while going to college as a cemetery workerat Cypress Hill Cemetery. One of the things that really got me behind unions had to do with the bridge workers. [Readingfrom sheet:] Bridge operators choose Local 237 in 1967 and the day the bridges went up, citywide traffic at a standstill,job action taken to compel state legislatures to act on pension agreement collectively bargained with the City.That happened on June 7, 1971. I was stuck before the Marine Parkway Bridge that was open on my way to Cypress Hill Cemetery going to work. They opened the bridges! Barry Feinstein was the president of Local 237 at that time. They opened the bridges, so I couldn\'t get to work that day. That is really interesting, and then you become a member of Local 237. Thank you for sharing your unionmemories with us.112 '