Iron Triangle works on

Iron Triangle works on

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In the shadow of Citi Field, home to the New York Mets baseball team, mechanics and panel beaters work in corrugated iron structures. This is Willets Point in the New York borough of Queens.

The industrial area, also known as the Iron Triangle, features scrapyards, tyre workshops and auto-glass shops. Some tenants are fighting relocation amid development plans, local media say.

. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

While it’s uncertain what exact form the redevelopment will take, plans include housing, shops, a hotel and convention centre. Vacant premises show some businesses have already moved on.

For now at least the industrial area, with its pot-holed streets that pool with water after heavy rain, work and life go on. Many of the workers are immigrants.

In this gritty corner of Queens, a borough that covers more than a third of New York City, the days of these makeshift structures may be numbered.

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Slideshow

A woman selling drinks pushes a cart in the Willets Point area.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A woman selling drinks pushes a cart in the Willets Point area.

A worker sits on a bicycle.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A worker sits on a bicycle.

A worker reorganizes tyres.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A worker reorganizes tyres.

A worker walks through a junkyard.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A worker walks through a junkyard.

Soccer is played on a television.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

Soccer is played on a television.

A man works on a minibus.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A man works on a minibus.

A man sands panel work on a car in a vacated premises.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A man sands panel work on a car in a vacated premises.

A religious poster hangs on a wall.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A religious poster hangs on a wall.

A worker wipes his face during a break.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A worker wipes his face during a break.

A man smokes a cigarette.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A man smokes a cigarette.

A man carries a tray through the street at dusk.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A man carries a tray through the street at dusk.

A man stands in the doorway of a cafe.
. New York, United States. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

A man stands in the doorway of a cafe.