Can New York City’s Infrastructure Boom Change the Face of Its Workforce?

Amanda Filpo, a sheet metal worker and graduate of the Nontraditional Employment for Women pre-apprenticeship program, at a construction site in Manhattan. All Photos by Matt Gunther.

After seven years working in construction, Samuel Wattree knew a union apprenticeship could be his ticket to better pay and stability — if he could get his foot in the door.

Following a stint in prison, Wattree, now 39 a father of three, had found his purpose in ironwork: “It was love at first sight,” he said. “I wanted to give myself a shot at life.”