b"And I stayed with 237 right through for the next 38 years, because I was in Tier 1 and 40 years of retirementthey let mego 40 years, they let me go June 30th, 2009.Did you continue the training you had started on your own after you joined the union?Yes, and I completed it. I did well in all four classes. I got certificates for all four. I had to take a practical test to showthem I knew how to use the tools and everything to get into Housing. They put me as a maintenance worker up in MorrisHouses. Then, all of a sudden, like six months down the road, I became a mechanic because I knew what I was doing.Then they took me out of Morris Houses and they brought me down to Jacob Riis [Houses]. From Jacob Riis, I went to RedHook [Houses], then from Red Hook I went to Vladeck [Houses]. Then I became resident in Vladeck. Because I was doingso well, they wanted me to stay there on the job. They gave me an apartment and they let me reside over there for awhile, when I was with my first wife. After I got separated from my first wife, I had to leave and I went to Straus Houses uptown on 28th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. There are two buildings there.I stayed there for the rest of my time.I got there in 88 89, and I stayed there until 2009.What was your job title?Maintenance worker. When I first started, I was a maintenance helper. They gave me a mechanic to go around withto the empty apartments. He taught me a lot. He did me a favor. He was an old-timer and he showed me how to work thetoilets, how to do all the work in housing. I was just watching and I learned from him.It was kind of an informal apprenticeship, would you say?Yeah, I would say he did it out of the goodness of his heart.Why did you decide to go to work for the Housing Authority?I enjoyed what I was doing.Did you have family who worked there?How did you know about it?Well my brother-in-law started in Housing. He was a supervisor of grounds, and then after that I found out hisbrother was a superintendent in Housing. I came to Housing and after that, my other three brothers came into Housing.My brother Danny got out of the Air Force and he came into Housing, Larry came into Housing and Billy came into Housing, so they all went. I taught my son, Joey, and put him in. He's the only one left in Housing now. All the brothersretired in May. My other brother just came out of Queensbridge over there, in 21st Street and Astoria; he just retired as amaintenance man, too. And my other brother was working with Emergency Service[s]. And my other brother, he didn'tlike to get his hands dirty or anything so he went right up the ladder right away. He went from assistant super to superin-tendent. He wanted to be a pencil-pusher. Me, they offered me a couple of times to be a provisional, and I said nope.What's a provisional?Without taking the test, you go to where they need you. I know people who did that and they didn't like it. I washappy where I was. I was happy talking with people, being around people, going at my own pace, nobody was bothering70 "