Freeing frisky lovers from a set of fuzzy handcuffs at 2:00 a.m., or granting law enforcement access into an apartment containing a dead body \u2014 it\u2019s\u00a0all in a profitable day\u2019s work for Upper East Sider Sahar Yona.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old residential and commercial locksmith is one of the less than\u00a0<\/a>12 percent of American women \u2014\u00a0and 8 percent of adults under age 30<\/a> \u2014\u00a0making bank in the blue collar profession.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the New Yorker\u2019s classmates were gearing up for their junior year of high school in 2017, cramming for the SATs and applying for college and student loans, Yona \u2014\u00a0who dreamed of becoming a criminal lawyer as a kid \u2014\u00a0made the drastic decision to withdraw from the academic rat race.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sahar has amassed over 23,000 followers online, detailing her work as one of the city\u2019s leading lady locksmiths. Josh Katz<\/p>\n \u201cI just decided I didn\u2019t want to do school anymore. I was a great student, but I just really wanted to start making money,\u201d Yona, the self-crowned \u201cLocksmith Girl NYC,\u201d told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n The unconventional entrepreneur, charging base rates ranging from $50 to $125 per job \u2014 not including her time and labor, travel expenses and after-hours fees \u2014 asked to withhold her total annual earnings. But locksmiths in and around the city are earning $60,000 to over $100,000 a year,\u00a0according to reports<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI had no idea what locksmithing was at first. I\u2019d never used a screwdriver or anything,\u201d said the high school dropout. \u201cBut once I got trained and learned the trade, I fell in love with it.\u201d<\/p>\n With college tuition costs\u00a0soaring past $100,000<\/a>, and the threat of\u00a0artificial intelligence commandeering jobs<\/a>\u00a0from hardworking human beings, a majority of Gen Zers \u2014 adults born between 1997 and 2012 \u2014 say they\u2019re not pursuing undergraduate degrees to get their hands on a traditional 9-to-5.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, they\u2019re\u00a0earning up to six-figures<\/a>\u00a0by getting their hands dirty.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Gen Z entrepreneur makes a comfortable living servicing the boroughs with her unique skill set. Josh Katz<\/p>\n A whopping 60 percent of the whippersnappers are pursuing blue collar careers in 2026,\u00a0per recent data<\/a> \u2014\u00a0which spotlights construction, electrical work, HVAC, plumbing, automotive repair and building maintenance in the top 10 most popular trades among workforce novices.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the Z\u2019s aren\u2019t the only demographic ditching formal office gigs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Women of all ages \u2014 a tranche that currently hold\u00a0more jobs than men<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 are storming the gates of historically male-dominated fields to become the high-yielding, hardhanded maintenance mamas of Manhattan and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n The breadwinner is one in the growing number of women pursuing blue collar work in 2026. Josh Katz<\/p>\n After racking up years of experience and launching her own locksmithing business in January, Yona is oft-inundated with praise from her mostly female clientele \u2014\u00a0who say how much safer they feel knowing a woman is coming to help.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy to be a woman in the field who people call during some really challenging, frustrating times,\u201d said Yona. \u201cEvery day I hear how much more comfortable clients feel with me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And while the pay is great, the gig can be challenging, Yona admits \u2014 and puts her in some pretty tight spots. <\/p>\n She\u2019s narrowly avoided being robbed by crooks, she said \u2014\u00a0and once unlocked a door to discover that someone had committed suicide on the other side. A typical evening could mean helping out party girls who\u2019ve lost their keys \u2014 or it could mean helping the cops evict a renter. The hours are brutal, too. <\/p>\n \u201cI usually only get like three hours of sleep. I\u2019ll have a job at 2 a.m., then get a call at 4:00 a.m., and another at 6:00 a.m.,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m lucky if I get a quick nap in my car between jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Sahar is quick to drop her personal plans in order to answer a call for locksmith help at all times of day and night. Josh Katz<\/p>\n Judaline Cassidy, 56, a NYC plumber of more than three decades and netting upwards of $120,000 annually, isn\u2019t big on resting either.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lady laborer, founder of Tools & Tiaras, Inc.<\/a>, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit, works tirelessly teaching girls ages 6 to 17 the art of plumbing \u2014 as well as construction and engineering \u2014\u00a0and how it can make them a great living.<\/p>\n Women make up only 3.1% of plumbers, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Judaline Cassidy told The Post she was \u201ctired of being poor,\u201d and saw plumbing as a viable way out. Olga Ginzburg for NYPost<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of kids don\u2019t realize that trades are a path way into middle class and to becoming rich,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Cassidy tells The Post. \u201cWhen you learn a skill like plumbing, you can work in the field, or work in plumbing design, engineering or estimating. And you can do it without taking on college debt.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can earn more than come of our college-educated counterparts,\u201d she said. \u201cYoung people can start making money right away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Top-earning plumbers can rake in upwards of $149,000 per year in New York,\u00a0according to ZipRecruiter<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Trinidad transplant chose a different career path than her fellow female classmates who chased careers in administrative work and culinary arts. Olga Ginzburg for NYPost<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Cassidy, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, bringing home the big bucks as a lady plumber was a mere pipe dream when arrived in NYC in the 1990s.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be Wonder Woman and a lawyer as a kid. But when I went to [vocational] school, I fell in love with plumbing because it\u2019s all about solving puzzles,\u201d said Cassidy, who chose the atypical trade to avoid competing with other girls for secretarial and seamstress roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n But as a newcomer to New York, the 4-foot-11 dynamo was shunned by misogynists in the profession \u2014 like the jerks who told her to \u201c\u2018go home and do dishes.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI went in my car and cried. But I didn\u2019t give up,\u201d she said. \u201cI knew I could be making great money, building a career that I absolutely loved.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy ultimately became the first woman permitted into the Staten Island Plumbers Local Union 371. The city\u2019s unions eventually merged to become the Plumbers Local Union No. 1. Cassidy is an executive board member. <\/p>\n Cassidy tells The Post that girls usually come into her workshops kicking and screaming, only to leave with a newfound fondness for manual labor. Courtesy Judaline Cassidy<\/p>\n After making a small fortune as a full-time plumber, Cassidy began schooling NYC\u2019s youngsters on the benefits of blue collar work. Courtesy Judaline Cassidy<\/p>\n In addition to plumbing, Tools & Tiaras students learn about construction, welding, architecture, design, finance and history. Courtesy Judaline Cassidy<\/p>\n The powerhouse now imparts her love for plumbing to her tween and teen summer campers \u2014 who mostly attend under duress by their parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDay one, the girls are like, \u2018What the hell am I doing here?,\u201d Cassidy chuckled. \u201cBut once they learn the history of plumbing in New York City, the equipment and tools, how to solder, press, cut and snap cast iron, they love it.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing how to fix things gives them confidence, and teaches them that jobs don\u2019t have genders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Cassidy wants the younger generation to consider trades as a rewarding path to personal wealth. Olga Ginzburg for NYPost<\/p>\n