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Amongst all the auto repair shops of Hunts Point, one has always stood out to me: Radiator Woman (yes, that's the name). Tita, age not revealed, has been fixing cars and specializing in radiators for over thirty years. She is the one of the few women working, and the only one who owns a store, in the roughly five square block part of Hunts Point dedicated to cars.

When Tita left Puerto Rico she arrived in Hunts Point and needed a job: "My parents taught me to never take anything without working for it. I wasn't going to go on welfare. Everyone around here was fixing cars so I started helping out, learning. Nobody was fixing radiators, so I made it my thing. I am still the only one in the area who knows everything about radiators."

When asked what was it like to be the only woman in the industry, she smiled and said: "The call me Tita for a reason, I don't take anything from anyone."

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Beauty, 21, was born and raised in Oklahoma, and was brought to New York City by a pimp who promised her she could "make some mad money." She has since had nine pimps: "I have been through nine niggas. Got my first black eye from one, another punched me in mouth, but this guy is good to me."

Her mother was an addict. "She started using crack. That's when it all started, the walls started coming in on me. Now she is incarcerated. I can't blame my mom--she's my mom. I smoke weed, but not crack. I don't like that peppermint burning smell."

"I want to get out of this stuff, but I am scared. I guess I could stop at any time. Some of the guys tell me I could be a model. Money wise it's good, but otherwise, fuck Hunts Point. Maybe I can become an RN, or go into childcare."

When I asked her how she wanted to be described she said, "I'm a good person. I don't like to see anyone down. I like to make people happy."

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Jose surprises folks leaving the subway station in Hunts Point.

Check out more of Jose here: Jose the amazing
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What more can I say about Jose. Accompanied by his friend Henry this time.

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Pepsi, 43, grew up in Hunts Point. She started dealing drugs and smoking weed at 12, a shy girl attracted by what the older girls where doing. Heroin and crack followed, picked up in her later teens. She has been walking the streets for almost twenty years. "I have almost died out here twice. One john started choking me, another threw me out of the moving car like a bag of shit. Us girls try to watch out for each other, if I am your friend I'm not gonna let anyone do anything to you."

"I beat myself up all the time, I know that I am better than this, but I keep making bad choices. I been in jail over 40 times, my rap sheet is a book. Being out here, the drugs, you lose your dignity and who you are. "

When I asked her how she wanted to be described, she said "Spontaneous." When I asked what her dream was, she thought for a long time, then started to cry. "I want to be with my kids."

More on Addiction: Faces of Addiction
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