This anvil is the heart of International Creative Metal in Woodside. Crafting A Craft While visiting an Armenian church in Tenafly, N.J., a priest asked Agonian if he could design a bronzed altar cross. He did, for this church and more than 100 others. As his reputation as a craftsman grew, artists began coming to Woodside to ask the Armenian who sounded Bulgarian to fabricate their artwork. He quit his job and began working solely for himself in 1975. Limited by the size of the garage, most of the projects were small. There were two employees, including a part-timer. Agonian has been involved with different sports since he played on a local soccer team outside Sofia. He boxed while serving in the Bulgarian military, and said he spent six days in jail for winning a match against a Russian Olympic champion. In 1979, an Armenian soccer player who’d been studying in the United Arab Emirates told Agonian about a showplace library being planned for Abu Dhabi. The design called for metal gates and fencing. “When I said, ‘Maybe I can do this,’ he laughed at me,” Agonian said. A call was placed to the library’s architects, in Boston. Agonian went to their offices and was invited to design a sculpture for the development’s courtyard. ICM’s owner was overjoyed when the architects liked his concept but horrified when they asked to visit his shop. After seeing the layout, the firm’s representative – a tall man from Texas – was driven back to LaGuardia Airport. When he got out of the car, he shook Agonian’s hand and offered some advice. “He said, ‘Listen, young man. [Henry] Ford started in a garage also. But you’ve got a problem. You’d better go find a bigger place,’” Agonian said of the meeting. A former warehouse used by a supplier of industrial casters was located at 37-28 61st St. It had the space necessary for Agonian to fabricate the library’s gates, sections of fence, and the 20-foot sculpture. The company is still there, and its owner now commutes to work from one of the houses next door. World Renown Since the library project was completed, handiwork from Woodside has been prominently installed at dozens of buildings and plazas around the world. Agonian, flipping through his files, past letters of recommendation and old photographs, offered brief descriptions of the work. There were the two other jobs undertaken for architects working in the United Arab Emirates; the fountain for the New York Hilton; the elevators at the Plaza Hotel; the flagpoles and bollards at Rockefeller Center; heavy black fencing for the United Nations in New York. And many others. In the early 90s, ICM bid on a fourth project from the Middle East: a pair of giant bronzed doors for the Abu Dhabi palace of a crown prince. Employment grew to 21 people. “That’s where my tragedy started,” Agonian said. The doors were completed a decade ago but remain in the shop, wrapped in sheets of translucent plastic. Because the designs were significantly changed from when ICM was awarded the contract, Agonian refused to ship the 50,000-pound doors until he was paid for the additional costs. A lawsuit was filed against the Woodside company, and ICM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Agonian remains bitter about the matter, even if he later won a judgment against the builders, and a 1997 order for 600 bollards for Arlington National Cemetery allowed ICM to emerge from bankruptcy. Eyeing The Future He has 12 employees now, and the proprietor said he’s content with a business of this size. The tools and machines at ICM have a well-used look. Agonian attends machine shows during the year, though mostly to make contacts that could lead to future sales. Some work is subcontracted to shops having computer-controlled machines, but Agonian – remembering his days as a boy pounding on an anvil – is more impressed by what craftsmen do to metal than its manipulation by digital devices. “If you know the old fashioned way and the new way, and you combine them together,” he said, gesturing, making a soft clap when his palms met, “it’s going to be fantastic.”

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