By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HELL'S KITCHEN — The West Side Neighborhood Alliance is celebrating the opening of its new space with a weekly movie night — free popcorn included.
The Friday night screenings will feature movies and documentaries that delve into the story of the West Side, with discussions to follow. The grassroots organization hopes the films will encourage greater community participation and and attract members.
"We are really trying to make these unique events were people can really get into the issues,"said Lucas Shapiro, a community organizer with the Housing Conservation Coordinators, the umbrella organization for the alliance. He said most of the films they intend to show will focus on neighborhood issues such as affordable housing and social justice.
The movie nights are planned for the last Friday of every month at 6:30 p.m at 500 W. 52nd St. near Tenth Avenue, and will be free to WSNA members with a suggested donation of $5 for non-members.
This Friday, "A Stadium Story - The Battle for New York's Last Frontier" tells the story of the doomed plan to build a stadium over the Western Rail Yards for the New York Jets and the city's failed 2012 Olympic bid.
"The West Side Neighborhood Alliance was born out of our successful campaign to defeat the stadium proposed for the Hudson Rail Yards four plus years ago," said Shapiro. The film will be followed by a discussion on the latest rezoning of the site, which is Manhattan's biggest undeveloped space.
The following month two short films will be shown in Spanish with subtitles. The first, "The Case against the Lincoln Center," describes the Puerto Rican community that was displaced to make way for the new arts center. The second, "Break and Enter," tells the story of landlord negligence in New York City.
The WSNA moved into its new space in January.
"We are being able to do a lot of these events because of this space," said Shapiro. Last week more than 60 people packed the venue for a meeting on illegal hotels, a nagging problem for the West Side.
"It is great seeing people mingle and get to know each other," he said.
