A black dog with no collar trots passed me and flops down onto the stained driveway of an auto body. Puddles fill the street and Spanish drifts on the slight breeze that is unable to dissipate the smells of spray paint, chemicals and exhaust. Every few minutes a plane headed towards La Guardia roars overhead the thirteen-block area historically known as ‘the Iron Triangle‘.
There are no sidewalks and no sewers–the standing puddles concerned the city so much last month that they sprayed for mosquitos to prevent the West Nile Virus. Apart from 6 cafes and a few supply stores, Willets Point is almost entirely filled with junkyards, auto bodies, muffler shops, windshield warehouses LINK, etc. Used or new, I guarantee you can get a replacement door installed for less than half the price.
There are Escalades and SUVs slowly cruising the dirt roads partially-covered with gravel, the ones that stop are rapidly approached by men wanting to know what they are looking for. I’m instantly reminded of the seedy Tenderloin in San Francisco at night. No drugs or sex, it’s car parts that are for sale.
Willits Point lies in the shadow of the Met’s Citi Field–the new ballpark due to open in 2009. The area’s future lies in the shadow of Mayor Bloomberg’s $3 billion redevelopment project that, at the current moment, reserves the right to utilize the law of eminent domain to forcibly remove Willits Point business owners, workers, and one resident (who has lived there over 70 years!). As the deputy mayor for economic development, Robert C. Lieber, put it to the NY Times: “. . . at the end of the day, if there’s one holdout, we’ll resort to eminent domain if we have to.” The city claims that the new convention center, stores, and a hotel will create thousands of jobs, but it is unclear who those jobs will go to.
