- Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as the youngest of three brothers from an Italian/Irish family.
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Married to his wife, Angelica. They have a four-year-old daughter, Alessandra.
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Enjoys spending quality time with his wife and daughter, traveling and doing many outdoor activities.
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Because there are a lot of different distribution projects going on his jurisdiction, he will keep learning for a long time.
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Nominated by Jorge Miranda, who says Andrew is a great lineworker, teacher, and one of the hardest workers in the yard.
Early Years
My journey into line work was unconventional. I earned my bachelor’s degree from a Catholic college named Franciscan University, and I had the opportunity to study abroad in Austria and live and travel throughout Europe for a year. During the summers, I worked for the family of my close friend, Ryan Newell, to pay my way through college. Once I graduated, I entered the white-collar workforce. Although it paid a great wage, the type of work wasn’t fulfilling, seemed super robotic and didn’t feed my need for adventure. When my wife and I were expecting our first child, we moved to New York City, and I made a career change. Ryan, and his older brother, Billy, reached out to me about pursuing a career in the power industry. They knew that the type of work I would be doing would help me to provide for my family as well as provide a challenging work environment that would meet my needs. They pointed me in the right direction, and I became an apprentice. Both of my friends tragically passed away before they could see me become a journeyman, but I’m very grateful for the impact they had on my life and the difference they made in my family’s life.
Day in the Life
I’m currently working as a contractor for Con Edison. My main responsibilities are maintaining and reconstructing the overhead power grid in Brooklyn and Queens, New York. A typical work day usually consists of reconstructing utility poles and power lines. The system currently in place is old and outdated and needs to be updated to accommodate the modern electrical needs of the many customers in the area we serve. Tasks as setting poles, installing new wires, installing more efficient equipment and other similar distribution tasks involved in the industry.
Safety Lesson
I remember working a primary reconstruction job in Staten Island in a busy area, and our work site was properly set up with traffic cones and signs. The sidewalks were also coned and barricaded off as well. I was in the bucket clipping in the energized primary wire when suddenly an impaired driver plowed through our work zone, crashed into the truck I was operating, reversed her damaged car and then fled the scene. Luckily, I had my safety harness on properly with the straps secured around my legs. I got tossed around in the bucket, but I didn’t get ejected due to my PPE. Even though all the proper safety mitigations and warnings were in place, the unexpected happened. Had I gotten complacent and not properly worn my PPE, my life could have changed for the worst.
Memorable Storm
Hurricane Ida was my first big storm away from home, and I didn’t know what to expect. We went down to Louisiana, and by the time I arrived, it was very dark. The damage was severe. The hurricane destroyed power lines and utility poles, uprooted trees and damaged houses. It was a maze navigating the destruction just to be able to reach the area we needed to serve. I’ve never seen the destruction of Mother Nature in that way firsthand and seeing it for the first time in that way was very ominous. So many lineworkers from around the country came to help. Locals were put up in hotels while their houses lay in rubble. Initially, we were staged in a county prison before we made it to the campers and tents set up for us. We stayed there for about a month before we returned home. The devastation those people suffered from that event was sad, but the gratitude the people showed to us on a daily basis was very gratifying.
Tools and Technology
The Milwaukee Power tools are a game changer for me personally. The ease that they give to performing tasks save wear and tear on my body and allow me the ability for a longer and healthier career and life. Technology is improving efficiency and safety with better PPE and testing devices that add more layers of protection to workers than ever before in industries everywhere.
Plans for the Future
If I could do it over again, going into the power industry would definitely be one of my top choices. Hard work is gratifying to me. Physically building something and seeing the fruits of your labor instantly is also rewarding for me. The skills I’ve learned and the people I’ve met along the way are also valuable and intangible assets. The electrical industry is growing with the future, and there’s only going to be a need for more electricity as technology advances, so it’s a good career to enter in that respect. This job also gives my family the opportunity to live comfortably.
