New York is a huge city. This means that people in it are engaged not only in familiar professions, but also earn their living differently. Moreover, some classes cause bewilderment and curiosity among passers-by, who quickly give way to surprise and laughter.
This is not about street pantomime or professional poverty, it’s difficult to surprise residents of megacities. Passers-by are amused by a person who carefully examines cracks in the sidewalks and pulls something out with tweezers. Hearing that a man collects gold and diamonds on the streets, people are first lost, and then they begin to laugh, believing that they were played. However, a strange person does not joke at all, he actually does what he says.
Who collects jewelry on the sidewalks?
This person who came up with such an original way of earning money is called Raffi Stepanyan. He is not at all an immigrant who cannot find a job. He was born and raised in Queens.
Ruffy looks great, he is smiling and eagerly explaining to everyone curious what he is doing, kneeling on the sidewalk. Mr. Stepanyan knows the city very well and loves it, and he also has a unique perception of the world around him and thinks very original. It was these qualities that helped him notice that under the feet of the inhabitants of the metropolis is a real Klondike.
When did they first talk about this person?
For the first time, the story of the “urban crank collecting gold on the sidewalks” was published in Post in 2011. A reporter for this publication was walking along the street and noticed a well-dressed man kneeling on the sidewalk and carefully examining something. Thinking that the man had lost something important, she went up to him and offered help.
Imagine her surprise when she found out that the man was just looking for gold and other jewelry that others had lost. Of course, the reporter girl talked to him, and the next day the story of the “urban eccentric” appeared in the newspaper.
The report caused a great response from readers, the story was picked up by other publications, including the Daily Telegraph. As a result of this hype, Raffi has become a “city landmark”. For example, on 47th Street, where he is especially often, many know him by sight and greet him when they meet.
Is it really so possible to earn?
Extraction of jewelry from cracks in the sidewalks seems to most people a crazy idea. Meanwhile, Mr. Stepanyan claims that he makes very good money.
According to him, after six days of “cleaning the cracks” he receives about $ 800. Of course, sometimes there is more money, sometimes less. Raffi Stepanyan is pleased with his original profession and is not going to do anything else as long as he is able to examine jewelry in cracks clogged with street dirt. He proudly calls himself "street gold miner" and sincerely does not understand why some people consider his occupation "stupidity and whim."
How does Raffy work?
Mr. Stepanyan takes his occupation very seriously. He even has a specific work schedule.He takes to the streets every day, at 19:30 pm, and leaves them at dawn.
The timing is not accidental. By half-past seven the foot traffic density decreases, since most enterprises are already closed, and their employees managed to take places in public transport and go home. Of course, Raffy is not interested in the employment schedule of those who use private cars, because these people do not create a crowd on the sidewalk.
What exactly is he looking for?
What can be found on the street? What kind of gold, what kind of jewelry are we talking about? Do all New Yorkers have so many decorations that they lose them on the streets every day and don’t look for them?
Of course not, Raffy collects not lost jewelry, but their grains, parts. Mr. Stepanyan claims that the cracks on the sidewalks of 47th Street and the nearby alleys are simply filled with precious stones.
What does he find? This person’s standard booty consists of the following:
- small gems ranging from diamonds to gems;
- fragments of jewelry made of gold and platinum, for example, chain links, fasteners;
- pieces of broken brooches, earrings.
Of course, sometimes almost whole products come across, for example, small pendants, pendants, which have broken mounts.
Why do jewelry remain in the crevices of the sidewalks?
People do not always notice such losses on time, and when they discover them, they are usually already far from the place where the trouble occurred. Ornaments are trampled in the cracks of the sidewalks by thousands of other passers-by.
According to the “street gold miner”, any of the grains he discovered could have come a long way to the gap in which it was found. For example, a tiny diamond flying off to the side of the earring when it hits the asphalt can immediately get stuck in the sole of a sneaker or shoe and thus cover a considerable distance.
Of course, wipers and cars washing the sidewalks do not clear the cracks, so the jewelry remains in them. Until Raffi Stepanyan finds them.
How does Raffy understand that he is facing a jewel?
In the crevices of the street sidewalks, after all, not only jewelry remains. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people pass through the streets of a giant metropolis, and many of them drop something, lose it. For example, if a child drops a key holder with rhinestones and some of them fall off, spread out on the soles of shoes in the streets and settle in cracks, then how does Raffy understand that he found rhinestones in the mud, not a diamond?
And with regard to fragments of jewelry, there is also no clarity. Does this person carry with him a “miniature chemical laboratory” similar to those used by forensic experts in detective series?
Not at all, Mr. Stepanyan relies only on his intuition, on the sharpness of his eyes and on the experience of a jeweler. Yes, oddly enough, the “street gold miner” worked in the jewelry industry. Moreover, he gave this craft twenty-six years of his life. Therefore, he is able to distinguish rhinestones from diamonds, and gold from copper even without the use of chemicals.
Why does Raffy like his occupation?
Raffi Stepanyan says that in just a couple of weeks he was able to collect in the streets of the metropolis precious metals and stones worth $ 1,010. He believes that he is quite capable of starting a new gold rush on the streets of New York.
But would he really have earned less by working as a jeweler? Mr. Stepanyan was engaged in “diamond setting”, that is, he did not create exclusive jewelry, but worked at the enterprise, where his duties included fixing precious stones in jewelry.Funny enough, isn't it? The person who was responsible for ensuring that the stones did not fall out of the rim now finds them in the cracks of the sidewalks.
Although his earnings are not very small, this money is not enough for a comfortable life in a giant metropolis. Therefore, Mr. Stepanyan is unlikely to be able to start a new gold rush. Yes, and for several hours to consider cracks in the asphalt, moving along the sidewalks on his knees, few will agree.
Most people who meet a “street gold miner” every day for several years are very skeptical of his occupation. Those who see him for the first time either perceive Raffi as an eccentric, or think that they have become a victim of a rally.
But Mr. Stepanyan clearly likes to do what he does. Otherwise, what would have prompted him to take to the streets every day throughout the year in any weather and inspect the contents of cracks in the sidewalks?
Raffi himself says that from childhood he noticed a “sparkle of treasures” in elevators, on carpets, on escalators and in cracks in sidewalks. He always wanted to bend down and pick up what shone, to take it to himself. That is what he is doing now. Accordingly, we can say that Raffi Stepanyan simply realized his childhood dreams and fantasies.
