Roosevelt Avenue: Contested Terrain, Neighborhood Center, or Border?
Under a DOT plan passed with support from local business, Queens Community Board 4, and City Council Member Julissa Ferreras, a block of the service road next to Corona Plaza will be pedestrianized. Image: NYC DOT
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Corona Plaza started out as a normal, moderately used street where Mudanza trucks would park in order to avoid illegally parking on streets with parking meters. These trucks set up a business in the plaza parking lots for those residents who were frequently between housing, providing a quick and affordable moving services. As an already popular space, Corona plaza was used for activities like holiday gatherings and weekly farmer’s markets. However, it did not have the common amenities of a community plaza: tables, chairs, plants, etc. So, the New York City’s Department of Transportation’s plaza program set in place a plan to make this area a public plaza. As popular as this idea was with both residents and business owners, there was one issue regarding it. If the service street was blocked off, the business that the Mudanza trucks created would be displaced. This brought on some controversy, since these trucks were a popular operation within the Corona community. However, with the support of the DOT, this plan came to fruition in July of 2011. The service street between National Street and 104th Street was blocked off and plants were put in place, as well as chairs and tables for people to rest in. As one street, and business venture, of this neighborhood was taken away, it was with acceptance and enthusiasm that this community gained a place to interact with each other.
(For more info on Mudanza trucks and their use, visit http://community.queensmuseum.org/lang/en/blog/corona-plaza/working-with-artists-on-reframing-discourse-on-immigrants/.)
Since its transformation into a public plaza, the Queens Museum of Art has been actively using this space for community projects and events. These festivities are not only creative, but emphasize the importance of different cultures that make up both Corona and Queens. Starting with short-term projects, the QMA hosted events that would get the community involved. Their longer-term projects, which is part of what they call “Corona Studio”, focus more on supporting artists who are engaged in social efforts and incorporate them into their artwork. Artwork for the sake of social change has been the QMA’s reasoning for supporting and helping these artists give their artwork the effectiveness it needs to provoke awareness. Since 2011, the QMA has been with Tania Bruguera and Ghana Think Tank through their journey for social change, using Corona Plaza as one of their sites of displaying their work.
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