The construction industry has been in a slump since 2006. In New York, the number of issued building permits in September 2008 decreased by 33 percent compared to the same period last year, and by 59 percent compared to September 2006, according to New York City Department of Buildings. The faces behind these numbers are ones like Raoul Osario – men who were once well off and now are struggling to cope with limited work in an expensive city.

The contract jobs started slowing down in 2006, bringing down Osario’s income from $2000 to $1200 in 2006, and to $800 in 2007. In 2008 Osario described things as “getting really bad” and reaching a peak in August and September when he got no jobs at all. Left with only $130, he visited Salvation Army and St. Marguerite’s food pantries in Jackson Heights for the first time and filed an application for food stamps.

Besides the economic downturn affecting the construction business, Osario says competition for contract jobs has gotten worse. “The competition is so bad and what makes it hard is that people who have no papers are competing with us,” said Osario. These undocumented day laborers wait on different locations in the city (including Jackson Heights) to be picked up by contractors. They are usually paid below minimum wage.

“They [day laborers] are bringing the prices real down,” said Osario. “These guys would put the sheet rock. If it costs $400, they might do it for $200.” He said he is not willing be paid so little, especially since he purchases insurance in case of accidents in construction sites.

In the last week of October, Osario got his first temporary construction job after more than two months replacing a heating system in a bar in Jackson Heights and putting up air conditioning in an apartment in Harlem. He worked for 36 hours non-stop.

“I gotta buy winter clothes for my kid,” he said, describing why he worked for a day and a half. With the $800 he expects to earn from the job, November may not be a month to struggle through.