THE IRON TRIANGLE
Willets Point and the Remaking of New York
A community of immigrant small business owners fight to save their American Dream from government sanctioned bulldozers.
ABOUT
Targeted for several failed redevelopment plans dating back to the days of Robert Moses, Willets Point, a gritty area in New York City known as the “Iron Triangle,” is the home of hundreds of immigrant-run, auto repair shops that thrive despite a lack of municipal infrastructure support.
During the last year of the Bloomberg Administration, NYC’s government advanced plans for a “dynamic” high-end entertainment district that would completely wipe out this historic industrial core. The year is 2013, and the workers of Willets Point are racing against the clock to forestall their impending eviction.
Their story launches an investigation into New York City’s history as the front line of deindustrialization, urban renewal, and gentrification.
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CONTACT
Press Kit
SELECTED CREDITS
Prudence Katze, Director
Prudence Katze is a New York City-based artist and urbanist who is interested in how political infrastructures intersect with the built world.
She received a BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and a Masters in Urban Planning from the City University of New York’s Hunter College.
William Lehman, Director
William Lehman is an Oregon-based filmmaker and editor who lived and worked in New York City for ten years.
As an editor he has focused primarily on long-format social issue documentaries. In recent years he has been a contributing editor to the films The Yes Men Are Revolting and Meru, and has completed the feature length documentaries The Wound and The Gift, which delves into the beneficial relationships that grow out of the animal rescue movement, and Things Left Behind, about the first major art exhibition devoted to Hiroshima. Prior, he edited From The Ground Up, which premiered on PBS and OWN in 2011.
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Directed & Produced by
Prudence Katze
William Lehman
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Director of Photography
Dan Fridman
Martyna Starosta
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Edited by
Yuki Kokubo
William Lehman
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Original Music by
Andy Clausen
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Co-Producer
Claire Chandler
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Featuring
Sergio Aguirre
Gerald Antonacci
Eve Baron
Charles Barron
Richard Brown
Jose Calamanca
Ivan Contreras
Bettina Damiani
Julissa Ferreras
Mindy Fullilove
Roberta Gratz
Juan Garcia Guererro
Doug Henwood
David Harvey
Dan Halloran
Kyle Kimball
Karen Koslowitz
Jesse Masyr
Thomas McKnight
Rose Moore
Elias Pena
Seth Pinsky
Irving Poy
Tirso Mier
Marco Neira
Julia Sandoval
Kathleen Smith
Luis Suarez
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Made with the support of
The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
RESOURCES
Auto-repair Economy
Under the Hood: A Look into New York City’s Auto Repair Industry
United Auto Merchants Association
Zoning
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
Local Government
How to Join Your New York City Community Board
© 2017-2020 A CITY TRACED PRODUCTIONS, LLC