Oral History: Gerard Rokosz: Last Dry Dock Manager of New York Shipyard. 2005

Gerard Rokosz is a man deeply in love with his former job as the last dry dock manager at Todd Shipyard. At the time of this 2005 interview, he was working for a marina and nostalgic about the shipyard: "seeing my old office collapsing makes me choked up."  This interview gives a feel for shipyard work from colorful characters and interethnic relationships to the technical end of how graving docks work. Gerards shares honest stories of accidents, special moments, and some historical perspectives such as the gangs of midgets that were hired to get into small spaces.

As of 2016, he is back in dry dock work at Bayonne Dry Dock.

Unedited interview by Cate Cochran and Carolina Salguero for PortSide NewYork, 2005.

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Item: Todd Shipyards is related to This Item

Sources:

  • Cate Cochran, Carolina Salguero, PortSide NewYork, 2005.

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