Through intimate portraits of this tight-knit community, WEST SIDE FAMILIA follows the story of a Puerto Rican-led biker gang and community care group from the ‘70s that’s grappling with the preservation of their public traditions and cultural identity in the hyper-gentrified neighborhood of Manhattan’s Upper West Side. 

The film uses their life stories to talk about the major cultural and political movements the neighborhood’s Black and Latino community played a key role in despite often being sidelined in the gentrified narrative of the neighborhood. It celebrates the community’s overlooked impact on New York, the United States, and even the world while sharing lessons about what makes a community worth fighting for. It also depicts third generation Upper West Sider, filmmaker Taylor Hosking’s journey to uncover this untold history after her late mother impressed upon her that there’s plenty to know about the blocks they both come from.