Man Makes A Living Scouring NYC’s Streets For…Gold and Diamonds?
- Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:35pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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What if I told you that you could earn $800 a week scouring the sidewalks and gutters of Manhattan’s Diamond District? That’s what one Queens man apparently earns prospecting for precious metals and gemstones in New York City’s streets.
According to Raffi Stanian, whose tools are “tweezers and a butter knife,“ the streets are ”paved with gold.”
From the New York Post:
“The percentage of gold out here on the street is greater than the amount of gold you would find in a mine . . . It comes close to a mother lode because in the street, you’re picking up gold left by the industry.”
With a reporter in tow, Stepanian took his Styrofoam cup of mud to a friend’s polishing studio on 47th Street near Sixth Avenue and demonstrated how he “pans” the precious particles like an old-fashioned prospector — by hand, in a small metal basin with water and a strainer.
“The stones are already cut and manufactured — it’s a step above a mine,” he added. “I’m finding them already cut and polished.”
You can view this New Yorker’s quest for gold below:
“Everyone is always running around, and everyone is always losing something,” admitted one diamond dealer, 54, who would give his name only as Rueven. “Sooner or later, you’re going to find a diamond.”
(H/T: New York Post)
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Comments (62)
vivrobbins
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 8:55amgood for him, I hope he makes a million and the blankity blank, thieving government can’t get any of it.
Report Post »itslucky
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 8:24amgold on NYC streets? lol
Report Post »80mesh
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 8:12ami am a small scale gold miner out west and the way the forest circus and the BLM is trouncing the mining laws of 1872 …scrounging the streets is all we’ll have left soon. good for him waddya bet they’ll try to stop him
Report Post »localwildlife
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 8:02am@ MOSSBRAIN : Isn’t it how you catch Mad C… I mean Mad people Disease?
Sorry, don’t mean to criticize, and according to this quote in the movie Rat-at-ouille : “Once you get past the gag reflex, you’ll find that there are a lot of things that are quite edible.”
Report Post »5headspro.com
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 7:36amHuman ingenuity is alive. It is alive because the govt. has not yet found a way to quash it from us. They may tax the hell out of it, but never, never, never will they quash is from our being.
that is all…
Report Post »NevaDan
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 7:36amTry to live in New York on $800 a week.
Report Post »Bushie
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 6:54amIf obama gets reelected, we will all be back to panning for gold because there won’t be ANY jobs left.
Report Post »Julio
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 6:53amI know this guy for years. He is a complete PSYCHO.
Report Post »BBFLAG
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 6:35amI bet NYC will find a way to claim it’s theirs since it was found on their streets. Bloomberg will not let this go unpunished.
Report Post »TANK3584
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 6:32ammore power to him….good luck
Report Post »Raven249
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 5:33am@Mossbrain
Report Post »Weird.. Whole new meaning to the phrase, “eat s*** and die,” possibly? Crazy how we find new and unorthodox ways to use technology.
NOBALONEY
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 5:23amA Prospector!
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 5:21amHere comes the New York gold rush
Report Post »mossbrain
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 2:15amI earn my living in recycling too. I sell steaks to restaurant. Perhaps you’ve eaten one of my steaks? .
Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.
Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria.
The researchers then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The “meat” is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The researchers color the poop meat red with food coloring and enhance the flavor with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef.
Report Post »Pastor Ray
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 6:18amI thought it taste like chicken! HA!
Report Post »localwildlife
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 7:57amAnd next thing you know, you come down with Mad C… I mean, Mad Human disease.
Well, to which his own, and l according the famous quote from the movie Rat-at-ouille: “Once you get past the gag reflex, you’ll find that a lot of things are quite edible.”
Report Post »USAMEDIC3008
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:46amNext we will see little old woman
Report Post »running into BK screaming………
“Where’s the $#!T”
Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 1:09amAnd the progs want the kids to think America has no opportunity- when gold is literally littering the streets..
Report Post »nomercy63
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:55amyou can double your profits by taping a sign on your back while your on the sidewalk saying i will work for food!
Report Post »TheGreyPiper
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:26amVaguely recall reading about a city in India where some of the out-caste/untouchables do this, but it’s all in one big jewelry district. They come out at night and sweep the streets and sidewalks, recover the gold dust that’s blown about.
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:12amMy preciousssss…..
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:26amha!
Report Post »Aerocog
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:59pmWhatever works for you, all least yours in mostly tax free.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:28amNot now .. he better have declared at least $800 per week or they will come looking for back taxes. Don’t know where he was selling his “finds” but I would bet there is a paper trail.
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 1:28amWhy do you assume the man fails to pay his taxes?
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 5:29amSince he makes no money until he sells his gold and gems I doubt he is not paying taxes.
Report Post »jim
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:49pmThe streets really are paved in gold.
Report Post »5headspro.com
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 7:31amand diamonds and rubys and pearls, LOL
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:47pmNow there will be thousands of people scraping the streets of NYC daily.
http://www.AMillionGoWest.com – Help us get 1 million signatures on a petition that asks Allen West to run for President in 2012.
Report Post »AmericanLass
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:46pmNever underestimate we humans. Living proof that when there is a will there is a way. Good for this guy.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:44pmAll the glimmers is not gold. But just think of all the Bum Excrement you have to sift through.
Report Post »TheGreyPiper
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:15am“Glisters.” Not glistens. If you’re quoting proper Shakespeare. Sorry. Lit Nazi.
Report Post »Uranium Wedge
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 1:52amAnd don’t forget about monkey feces.
Report Post »miles from nowhere
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:43pmTo bad it went public, Obama and Holder will want there cut now.
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 1:19amand Weener will want to investigate the man for his connections to Goldline
Report Post »;-)
Professional Infidel
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 10:18pmcheezwhiz, consistantly the best wit! thanks, and keep it coming.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:42pmIngenious indeed. Best wishes and good luck; especially when the IRS shows up on your doorstep.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 20, 2011 at 11:53pmYes …. and now how many others will be out there too? .. .looking for treasure or looking to steal from this guy.
Report Post »EnoughBS
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:00amBack in my hometown, one famous bum on the street would always be pushing around a shopping cart full of- what looked like- garbage.
My family owns a building near his stomping grounds.. and one day they learned an odd truth: it turns out this so-called bum is collecting scrap metal from nearby scrap yards and dumpsters, and turn around and sell them to dealers. They checked to make sure the goods weren’t stolen, and he turns out to be clean. If you ask him, on any given day, he knows the price of steel, copper, you name it, and always had some significant wad of cash.
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:04amAnd they think they have trouble walking through the streets of NY NOW…….coming soon…..commuters jumping over sidewalk panners!
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:18amI’m thinking of moving to New York.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:21am@EnoughBS
Understood, I gather cans for recycling along with papers and such with some friends; we do manage to make some money monthly this way, when we manage to have enough worth selling. The case of scrap metal is interesting in the number of auto wrecks we have here in Phoenix, sometimes you may find bumpers or hubcaps, or even wheel rims fit for salvage as well.
Where there is a will, there is a way for someone to make money off of it.
Report Post »Eric_The_Red_State
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:50amI just want my free Obama Money.
Oh – Bah – Ma
Report Post »Oh – Bah – Ma
Oh – Bah – Ma
Oh – Bah – Ma
Uranium Wedge
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 1:48amPeople usually don’t have the patients for this type of thing. Good for him.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 6:14amoh well….this is the end of his mining career …loose lips sinks ships.
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 7:18amYeah…it might be a little harder to stake a claim and hit the mother lode in NYC now that it is on the news
Report Post »Dale
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 9:39amIt’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.
Report Post »verityquest
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 10:45amavenger
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 6:14am
oh well….this is the end of his mining career …loose lips sinks ships.
YEP. He hasn’t done himself any favors, nor has anybody promoting his gig. Good for him, though, if it’s working for him. He’s his own man.
VOTE – 2012
Report Post »mils
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:03pmshould not have advertised this occupation…
Report Post »VegasGuy
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:45pmTotally believable. My wife and I walk 3-4 miles five days a week. Over the years we have found many coins, bills, rings, earrings and a couple of loose diamonds. I always check out anything that sparkles.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:49pmA dust buster would make it easier.
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 9:39pmShut up man. after exposing your “hustle” your going to get robbed by thugs or politians. one in the same.
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