When my dad was a youth, both NYC and his hometown of Newark had vocational high schools, which were abolished soon after he graduated (from a Catholic "Academic" high school) for "elitism" and "discrimination." Lots of money in the building trades in both NY and NJ, and they are always hiring. Even when home construction is flat, there is plenty of work to do rehab and government contract work. In other words, a fine alternative to working a fry cooker.
Harvey Keitel is perhaps one of the more famous alumns of a vocational high school (he attended Brooklyn Tech before it went "academic") he did something other than work a blowtorch or lay re-bar.
I believe Brooklyn Tech was always academic — part of the Bronx Science, Stuyvesant thing.
NYC pours a ton of money into the specialized high schools and from what I can tell, it pays off. Of course, if a kid isn’t motivated, then they get kicked to the curb.