Raffi Stepanian, a resident of Whitestone, Queens, spends his afternoons on his knees on the concrete in Manhattan’s Diamond District, on 47th Street. He carries tweezers and a butter knife. He is not looking for coins: he is looking for gold.
The idea came about when he found traces of precious metal on the floor of a diamond exchange. He thought that if it fell inside, it must also fall outside. He was right. From the cracks in the sidewalk he collects diamond and ruby shards, platinum, and gold clasps that come loose from the clothing, shoes, and jewelry of thousands of people who walk along that block every day.
In just six days he gathered enough material for two sales that totaled 819 dollars. He compares it to collecting cans for recycling, but with gold that has been accumulating for 60 years under New York’s feet. The neighborhood jewelers already know him, and some even joke that part of that gold belongs to them.
