Queens Tribune

A documentary that addresses what some perceive as the negative stereotypes surrounding the Queensbridge Housing Project in Long Island City will be shown at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center Oct. 20.

“Queensbridge: The Other Side” was produced by Selma Blake, a longtime resident of the neighborhood. Her mission behind the production of this documentary was to prove wrong the common misconception that if one is from Queensbridge, they are engaged in any number of illegal professions such as prostitution or drug dealing. Rather, Blake sets out to show how there are plenty of hardworking middle class Americans in the neighborhood who don’t resort to lives of crime in order to make their livings.

“I want to raise public awareness that Queensbridge does not house a bunch of thugs and drugs dealers,” Blake said. “It is becoming a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic community where people respect one another.”

In the documentary, Blake attempts to portray what she believes is the “real” community of Queensbridge through the stories of the people who live and raise their families there. It took Blake two years complete the documentary, for which she conducted 115 interviews, shot 75 hours of film and used still photographs taken in the 1930s and 40s to capture the neighborhood’s historical perspective on film.

The documentary is divided into three sections: past, present, and future. It begins in 1939 when Queensbridge was built to house World War II veterans and their families. With its 3,142 apartments and more than 7,000 residents, the project was the nation’s largest.

The project went through the turbulent 1960s and the crime-ridden 1990s. For those bleak periods, the documentary gives a realistic view of the community with its violent turf wars and rampant drugs. However, by 2001, conditions in Queensbridge began improving with increased police canvassing of the neighborhood. Today, Only 21.6 percent of Queensbridge’s tenants receive welfare and almost all non-elderly adults are employed, although the average gross annual income is still less than $20,000.

“If kids today will say, ‘I don’t have to feel bad because I’m from the projects,’ it will be worth it,” said Blake when asked about her inspiration behind the film.

The documentary will be shown in the Little Theatre at 47th Avenue and Van Dam Street, Long Island City, at 7 p.m. Following the screening, Blake will lead a panel discussion that will include residents of Queensbridge, Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood) and an official from the New York City Housing Authority.

For more information, call (718) 482-5151.