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The Iron Triangle at night, Willets Point, Queens
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Brian. He was happy to tell me that he has joined The Air Force ROTC. Is this the only way the young can afford an Education in this Society?
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A day in the Iron Triangle, Willets Point, Queens
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Martine, a small business owner in the Iron Triangle, is holding up a photo of his mother and father. "I came to this country in order to own my own business and to help support my parents and hopefully bring them to the U.S." Willets Point, Queens, NY
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Chino, on a cold winters' day, waiting for customers to drive in to the Iron Triangle, Willets Point, Queens, New York.
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Many of the Afghan workers in the Iron Triangle have homing pigeons, which they set free to watch them fly throughout the sky. This reminds them of their homeland, why they have immigrated to the U.S. and of the fight that everyone is waging-to save their small businesses. Willets Point, Queens, NY
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Marco, in his ice cream truck, driving through the Iron Triangle, looking for the police during a suspected raid on shops who have allegedly hired illegal immigrants. Willets Point, Queens, NY
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V.K., outside of his shop, having a good time after finding out that the police raid was not going to happen after all. Willets Point, Queens, NY
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The mud in the Iron Triangle is a very toxic mixture of chemicals that, over the generations, have seeped into the ground from the work that has been done on automobiles and heavy industry. The city wants to build condos, shopping malls and office towers in this area of toxic land. Willets Point, Queens, NY
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The home of Joseph Ardizzone, the only resident of Willets Point, is one of the properties that the city would like to claim imminent domain and tear down for its economic development plan for the area. Willets Point, Queens, NY
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The Iron Triangle on a cold winter's night. A moon-like landscape is created due to the lack of modern sewage infrastructure which causes flooding and a thick sheet of dangerous ice in the winter. Willets Point, Queens, NY
Public Story
The Iron Triangle
Credits:
kevin c. downs
Updated: 04/23/11
In Corona, Queens, outside of the new Citifield, is an area known as the Iron Triangle. It is a junkyard full of chop shops and people making a living. Young men and women are working to save and send their children to school. Some are even sending money to their home countries in order to give their families a better life. This story is about their fight to keep their small businesses because the city wants to relocate or close the businesses so that they can create new malls. The city has refused to give social services. The immigrant workforce that makes up the Iron Triangle is mainly made up of Latino and Afghan workers, working side by side to achieve the American dream. This is a project that I have been working on for the past three years. . I hope that the photos in this project would give the community back their voice, a sense of self and a sense of worth that the mayor and his push for gentrification throughout the city has taken away.