Line work in East New York is Con Edison network work, which means it barely resembles the trade as it's practiced anywhere outside a dense city. Brooklyn distribution runs underground through a secondary network grid, so the day is manholes, vaults, splicing and network protectors instead of hooks and crossarms. If you came up climbing wood, the underground path from groundman to splicer is the transition you'll actually be making.
The utility for all of Brooklyn; nearly every permanent seat in East New York routes through their hiring process.
Crews holding Con Ed splicing, duct and vault contracts, usually the faster way in without waiting on a utility posting.
Twenty minutes east and overhead-heavy, worth targeting if you want to keep climbing rather than splice.
Storm and capital work upstate and in New Jersey; East New York is a place to live, not the jobsite.
Pay is high because New York is expensive, not because the work pays better in real terms; check the state-by-state numbers against cost of living before you move for it. Storm season is coastal and hurricane-driven, but network design means Brooklyn rarely goes dark the way overhead territory does. When it does, from flooding rather than wind, restoration is slow and underground.
Less than almost anywhere else in the country, because Brooklyn distribution is predominantly underground network. Cable splicing, vault work and network protector maintenance are the core skills, and climbing certification matters more for getting hired outside the city than in it.
Con Edison's operating workforce is organized, but not under the IBEW outside line agreements that govern most of the country, so the book you'd sign in Oklahoma doesn't apply here. Use the IBEW local finder before assuming your ticket transfers.
Con Edison hires off its own testing process rather than an apprenticeship you apply to cold, so most people enter through a contractor doing duct and splice work first. Read how the entry path actually works before you count on a traditional apprenticeship here.