"We were looking for an easier life but didn't find it," says Pasley Hanley, 43, an immigrant from Jamaica who works at Afri Tires. "The airport looked really nice but once we got out, it was shocking."


Only the shell of this Toyota remains after a thorough stripping by Budget Auto Salvage. PHOTO: Rob Frehse

The few non immigrants on the strip look unsympathetically upon their neighbors. Danny Feinstein, who runs Feinstein Steel Works with his father, says that the new immigrants have made Willets Point into "the Wild, Wild West." Their business is one of the few that are not auto-related on the strip. He has been in business for 32 years.

"It's a bunch of lawless, chop-shop junk dealers who run when the police come, and hide when the INS comes," says Feinstein, "There're no rules." Many of the immigrant workers hesitated to give their names for fear of being tracked down by the INS.

Every few months, workers say the INS sweeps the area. "The INS will go in and take 100 guys away and the next day 100 new ones will come," says Feinstein.


Gerardo Neira scoops up rice to serve with his classic fried fish and coleslaw dish. PHOTO: Cecily Barnes

Although many of the immigrants say they dislike working in Willets Point, some, like Gerardo Neira, have created their own bubble of success within the strip. Neira, a short, energetic man with a warm smile, used to drive a Good Humor ice cream truck around Willets Point, selling Popsicles and ice cream sandwiches to the grease-covered auto workers. In 1992, he had saved enough money to buy a restaurant on the auto row for $35,000. Two years later, Neira sold it for $80,000. Today, he runs another restaurant that he bought in the same area. He proudly explains that he works hard to keep it clean, a marked contrast from the wreckage yards and garages along the dirt road. He serves Spanish rice, sizzling hot fish with the heads still on, vegetables, sandwiches, sodas and other homemade dishes.

"I feel very lucky and happy that things have worked out," Neira says.

Not everybody feels the same. Leeroy, who leans forward with excitement when he talks about music, looks defeated when the subject switches to changing tire rims. His new goal is no longer to make it in America. Today, he simply wants to save enough money to take his wife and daughter back to Jamaica and buy a home.

  

 


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Auto shocks serve as eye-popping art at Budget Auto Salvage. PHOTO: Rob Frehse

By Rob Frehse

Scattered scrap of every variety surrounds each auto shop in Willets Point. Hanging bumpers, hubcaps and engine parts create an artsy scrap park for visitors.

"It's obviously not our job to make art," says Juan Carlos, a part-time, fix-it man at Budget Auto Salvage. "Parts just get stacked together and it looks kind of cool."

Carlos arrived in America from Mexico City 10 years ago. He lives in nearby Flushing with his parents.

"Old auto shops used to throw parts on their roofs — to show what they bought or sold," says Carlos. "Now, it's a sign of the older businesses and of what used to be, but some people still like the look of it."