Willets Point, 2014.

Since the 1930s, the small triangle of (former marsh) land between the Flushing Creek, Flushing Bay, and the Flushing Meadow Park has been an industrial zone. For decades this small neighborhood, known as Willets Point or the Iron Triangle, has been home to hundreds of auto-body shops and junkyards. Anyone who grew up in Queens knew this is where you went when you needed new windshield or brakes. The area had no sidewalks, few paved roads, and non-existent sewage, but was a thriving business district that employed a largely immigrant workforce.

But the gritty landscape was not well-loved by the city government and according to the New York Times, “Cleaning up or clearing out Willets Point has been a goal of nearly every mayor since the 1950s.” In 2007 the then-mayor Bloomberg announced an urban renewal plan for the area which would have razed the shops and developed a convention center, new housing, retail, and office spaces while relocating the businesses and adding needed municipal infrastructure.

Despite opposition and lawsuits the plan was passed by the City Council and moved slowly ahead. By 2011 the city had changed the plan to include a new mall, which soured even more people to the redevelopment. Additional lawsuits and changes to the proposal (as well as the goals of the incoming new mayoral administration in 2014) further delayed the project. By 2016 most of the businesses in Willets Point had gone out of business or moved to Hunts Point in the Bronx and the once bustling area was largely abandoned and being demolished.

In early 2018 a new plan was announced that would include 1,100 lower- and middle-class apartments, parks, and retail spaces. As of early 2019, work has yet to commence.