Willets Point, Queens, also known as the Iron Triangle, is a neighborhood where many poor people work. It is not a pretty place but it is where you will find those working on their own American Dream: to survive, to support their families, to struggle and find dignity in a world that does its best to deny that essential human quality.
The Bloomberg administration has plans to gentrify Willets Point, effectively ending the livelihood of many who are employed or own businesses there.
Here is a short film about the people whose investments are not from banks but from their own sweat, their heart and soul. In their own words they express a simple eloquence that comes from earned dignity.
Please click on full screen as the image quality is exceptional.
Willets Point: The Iron Triangle from Nicholas Weissman on Vimeo.
Willets Point has many Latino workers:
Village Voice
Willets Point boasts 250 mechanic workshops, employing 1700 workers -- 90 percent of whom are Latino, the paper reports. Eighty percent of Willets Point's 62 acres are owned by the city, which plans on investing $3 billion to recast the area as a tourist destination.
There is an organization fighting for the rights of the workers and small business owners:
http://www.willetspoint.org/
from wiki:
On May 1, 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his administration's new plan for urban renewal in the area, calling Willets Point "another euphemism for blight." The plan called for replacing the scrapyards and industrial sites with a sustainable and affordable mixed-use development including a convention center ,5,500 units of housing,1.7 million sf of retail,130,000 sf k-8 school,500,000 sf of office space,150,000 sf Community Facility, as well as environmental remediation, installation of sewers and other infrastructure, and relocation of previous businesses.Willets Point would created more than 5,300 permanent jobs and add 18,000 construction jobs.[8]
I hope you enjoyed hearing and seeing from those whose are generally not allowed a place at the table.