THE BOILER MAN.

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 17-MAR-03

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COPYRIGHT 2003 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

One thing that distinguishes Henry Gifford's New York City Boiler Tour is the fact that there are no boiler tours quite like it in New York City, not to mention anywhere else in the United States or, possibly, the world. Another is the singular passion for boilers that is exhibited by Henry Gifford, of Gifford Fuel Saving, Inc. Gifford came to boilers late in life, when he was twenty and had already worked as a bicycle mechanic, a window-gate welder, and a landlord. As a landlord, Gifford had calculated that the biggest variable in terms of expenses was the boiler. He observed that in the boiler arena there seemed to be what he called a "knowledge vacuum,"and he set out to fill it. "I miss having...

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