6. Willets Point, A Last Remnant of the Valley of Ashes

Not all of the Corona Ash Dump was revitalized by Robert Moses. The area known as Willets Point became a gritty home to auto body and chop shops, junk and salvage yards, construction businesses, warehouses, and towing. There is also an MTA storage yard and the privately owned House of Spices, the nation’s largest distributor of Indian foods.

But history repeats itself, and evictions are coming with the looming Willets Point redevelopment plan, approved by the City Council in 2013. Calling Willets Point’s 75-acre triangle of land “New York’s next great neighborhood” and “a historic redevelopment effort,” the administration plan promises “retail and entertainment amenities, a hotel and convention center, mixed-income housing, public open space, and community uses.”

Read more about the history and future of Willets Point here.