You would never know from the MoMA presentation that the most modern architecture in New York City, just blocks away, was being made by Mohawk ironworkers from Canada—the famous “Skywalkers” who had helped construct the Empire State Building, among other skyscrapers and bridges. By the 1930s, a community of these skilled riveters and fitters had settled in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. They would contribute to the city’s skyline for decades, earning a reputation for fearlessness that was tinged with romanticism. As late as 2002, the ironworker Kyle Karonhiaktatie Beauvais remarked, “A
...more
