NEW YORK — Across 126th Street, in the shadow of the towering, brick-and-stone facade of Citi Field, the Willets Point section of Queens unfurled into its everyday routine on a humid afternoon.

The piercing zzzzzzzppppppp! of torque wrenches tightening bolts, the clanking of mallets against metal and the hum of Latin music rose from cluttered strips of auto body shops, scrap yards and waste disposal plants along a 10-block stretch.

When the Mets opened their sparkling, $850 million ballpark in 2009, this is not what they had in mind.

The thousands of fans arriving for Monday night’s Home Run Derby and for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game will not find the streets surrounding the ballpark filled with new real estate projects or bustling restaurants and shops, as the Mets had envisioned, places that might lend the area a sense of neighborhood.

Instead, fans streaming in from the elevated train platforms and turning off the Grand Central Parkway will barely notice an area all but forgotten amid mounds of torn-apart cars and rows of tin-roofed shops. It is a patchwork of streets filled with craters, littered with crumpled bottles and crushed takeout food containers. There are no sewers, storm drains or sidewalks here.

The neighborhood hasn’t changed in the four years since the ballpark moved in, making Citi Field one of the few retro stadiums that has failed to revitalize the surrounding areas.

Enduring is a classic blue collar-white collar clash and a struggle over what to do with the land, wedged between the Flushing River and Citi Field. Everyone is impatient for repairs, but although the city — along with the Mets owners — sees an untapped destination spot and a vehicle to draw more fans, the businesses, including some that have been here for more than 50 years, say they deserve to be part of any modernization, and they are refusing to budge.

In March, the City Planning Commission granted initial certification for zoning changes, starting a seven-month review for a $3 billion proposed project around Citi Field. The developers are part of a joint venture by two real estate companies — Related Companies and Sterling Equities, owned by Fred Wilpon and Saul B. Katz, who also own the Mets and Citi Field. Inquiries with the Mets were steered to Phil Singer, a spokesman for the development group.

"Redeveloping Willets Point will reverse a century of contamination that will not only transform the area outside Citi Field into a vibrant destination for Mets fans, but also create thousands of new jobs, housing, retail and open space for residents," Singer said.

The project includes cleaning and detoxing the soil in 23 acres of Willets Point, then building shops, restaurants and a 200-room hotel along 126th Street and a 1.4 million-square-foot mall between the stadium and the Grand Central Parkway.

But it could be years — or decades — before the project is finished.

"I’m sure if I live long enough I’ll eventually go to some cool place across the street," said Shannon Prior, 43, a longtime Mets fan who lives in the Morristown area and is a blogger for MetsPolice.com. "But I don’t know if that’s going to be in three years or 20."

Plans to redevelop Willets Point were hatched in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, but something has always stopped progress.

In 2007, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan for urban renewal in the neighborhood, famously calling Willets Points "another euphemism for blight." Two years later, the pitch fell apart when local business owners filed suit, claiming the plans had undergone inadequate environmental reviews.

Today, if fans want to grab a bite or beers before games, there is only one viable place nearby — McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon, built on the side of Citi Field, and across 126th Street from Willets Point. Otherwise, they must gather one or more stops away on the No. 7 train.

The merchants of Willets Point say a complete makeover isn’t necessary. If they had proper roads and sewers, the neighborhood would improve on its own.

"If the city of New York was to invest money into an infrastructure, the area would redevelop," said Michael Rikon, an attorney who represents some Willets Point business owners. "But that requires the investment to give services everyone else has."

The dispute has been tense and bitter, and people in Willets Point are scared of losing their livelihoods.

Crown Container Corp., a family-owned waste management company, has been around since 1959. It provides service to more than 2,000 customers — homes, restaurants, shops, offices, factories and warehouses. Like many in Willets Point, those at Crown are fearful of being pushed off the land.

"They throw people out, where they going?" said David Antonacci, a Crown co-owner. "They’re just killing businesses."

But Antonacci acknowledges Willets Point desperately needs infrastructure. Like most business owners there, he had a water pump rolled up on his property to discard dirty, trapped rainwater.

"Let me tell you something," he said, looking overhead as a plane from nearby La Guardia Airport zoomed through the sky. "The reason this place is an eyesore is because the city created it that way. I pay taxes for clean streets. I get no services here. There’s no sewers. They don’t do snow removal. They just steal our tax money. There’s no lights, no stop signs, no streetlights."

On a recent afternoon, a heavy stench hung in the air. Less than a quarter-inch of rain had left the streets pockmarked with puddles of filthy water. Amid the mess, one business promises the best prices for tires and rims, another an in-and-out oil change.

During a recent game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, fans from the Pepsi Porch in right field had a bird’s-eye view of the area. Some stopped, pointing and gawking. At least one fan snapped a picture.

But rain or shine, Willets Point never slows, Antonacci said. Shops are open seven days a week, 365 days a year. The area has provided jobs for generations of immigrants. On 126th Street is Chile Auto Glass, next to International Auto Body. A Halal truck sits on the corner of 37th Avenue. Men and boys in front of shops beckon to passing motorists, offering better prices than the next guy.

It all could be going away. Last week, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall gave her approval for plans to build a shopping mall on what is now a parking lot next to the stadium, while asking for local hiring programs and continued input from community boards. Marshall supports the overall development plans, according to Dan Andrews, her spokesman.

Under New York state law, property owners forced out of Willets Point are entitled to just compensation, and tenants who have installed trade fixtures are also eligible for compensation, Rikon said. Both amounts are varying.

"They’re not entitled to recover for goodwill that they’ve built up for over 25 years," Rikon said.

Meanwhile, Prior, the fan and blogger, said out-of-town visitors might be in for a surprise when they visit Citi Field for the All-Star Game. Their only pregame option will be McFadden’s — which looks directly across the street at the bustle and decay of Willets Point.

"There is just no place to go," Prior said.