As part of my quest to 'learn the City' I attempt to visit some of the more historical, edgy, even bizarre places that exist outside of the upper east side neighbourhood where I currently reside. The first in a series of exploratory adventures through the environs and destinations of New York - Met's/Willet's Point on the 7 line.
Seemingly not much to get off the train for here unless you're heading to a ball game, I manage to navigate my way down the platform toward the newly named 'Citi-Field'. I am headed in the direction of a community that stands isolated between two expressways, a vast no-mans-land of parking and the Flushing Bay slough. I have it on good information that this place promises not to disappoint.
I head east across a very lonely and desolate expanse of asphalt that surrounds the Mets stadium. Without warning I am immediately part of something other-worldly. I'm struck by the automotive reality that confronts and immediately engulfs me. An apocalyptic scene one can best describe as resembling the film Mad Max, I suddenly lose the ease in my stride as I feel eyes piercing my clothes. Perhaps it was my white sneakers or my camera, or perhaps it was the fact that I didn't show up in my car; I was somewhere very unfamiliar.
Shiny rims, stereos, tires, and whole chassis' piled high like cans of tuna; this was a well-oiled (nearly dripping in it) world of everything automobile. From the inconspicuous young man that served as the hamlet's gate-keeper, to the hoards of people that stood in front of their shops soliciting buyers not dissimilar to prostitutes calling at john's, this was an intriguing study in social behaviour and community I will never forget.
While there is no question that what happens in Willet's Point, stays in Willet's Point, this community of car aficionados and skilled workers seems to exist solely on the local knowledge and word-of-mouth recommendations of those who are seeking to maintain, or 'pimp' their rides. In this seemingly cash only world of pot-holes, rusting facades, and diners with an apparent lack of patrons there is undoubtedly a frightening charm that exists. This charm is only heightened by the fact that there is an embodied energy that exists here that is unlike the empty and ephemeral destination of its neighbour, 'Citi-Field'. Unfortunately, it is the increasing sterilization of 'Citi's' that leaves us less for the discovery of place. (Thank you Alex for your recommendation - I love this place!)
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