"I born in Columbia. I've been here in the United States 22 years already. I'm an American citizen. Now we struggle. It's very hard..." Frank does not have a resume, nor does he have email. He lacks the tools to navigate job searches.

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Streets Paved With Dreams

virginia allyn | United States

This story is a familiar story - in search of a better life people have gambled on coming to America.   Willets Point, Queens, New York has served as a refuge and a place to make a living for newcomers to America.  Today this once busy and thriving place looks like a ghost town.  It is a mishmash of auto parts and auto repair shops.  It has come to be known as "the junkyard."  But on this desperate stage of dusty streets with damaged and totaled cars and the odor of paint fumes, where spanish music blares from radios, hopes were woven into dreams by those who've tread here - each with their version of the American dream.  One among them states: "Every night I look to the sky and I say 'hey God, I'm here.  Don't leave me alone.'"  Few speak english.  Everyone fears deportation.  Today Willets Point is on the verge of great change.  A redevelopment plan includes building a shopping center, entertainment complex and park here.  

 

 

 

As a society change is all around us.   Witnessing Willets Point from the windows of the 7 train I felt compelled to document the changing scene.  At Willets Point, a city within a city in Queens, New York the winds of change are tangible and people are frightened.  This story is not about a place per se but about the people of a place.  The ending has not been written because no one knows what will become of the people of Willets Point and the dreams they wove.  Theirs are coming to America stories, stories of challenge, stories of survival.

 

Interviews

Research in local periodicals

Research material on the internet

 

Virginia Allyn

718 422 7977

allynva@aol.com

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