16 JULY 5, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
More commercial and residential developments coming
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
A pair of new commercial and residential
developments could be
on the horizon for Ridgewood
according to applications fi led with the
Department of Buildings (DOB) in June.
Records show that a three-story
commercial building has been proposed
at 55-03 Myrtle Ave. where it
intersects with St. Nicholas Avenue,
and a four-story residential building
has been proposed at 460 Seneca Ave.,
between Harman Street and Himrod
Street.
The commercial property would
take the place of a former dollar store
on the corner Myrtle and St. Nicholas
Avenues, for which a full demolition
was approved in February. The new
43-foot-tall structure would have
20,841 square feet of space with the
fi rst fl oor for retail use, the second
and third fl oors for offi ce space and the
basement for storage, records show.
A series of applications have been
submitted for the project but it has not
yet been approved by DOB offi cials.
The building was fi rst purchased by
its current owner, Infi nity Real Estate,
The proposed site of a new three-story commercial building on the corner of Myrtle Avenue and St. Nicholas
Avenue in Ridgewood.
back in 2012 for $1,595,280, according
to the Offi ce of the City Register.
Infi nity Real Estate has not yet responded
to a request for comment.
The residential property on Seneca
Avenue would take the place of an
older one-story residential building,
though a demolition application has
not yet been fi led. The new structure
would be 45 feet tall with 6,381
square feet and seven apartments,
records show.
The basement would have a laundry
room, the fi rst fl oor would have a lobby
and two apartments; the second and
third floors would have two apartments
each; and the fourth fl oor would
have one apartment with a roof terrace.
There would also be two parking
spaces on the property, records show.
Photo via Google Maps
The application for the residential
building has also not yet been approved.
City Register documents show that
the Mendolia Family Corp. from Middle
Village purchased the building for
$995,000 in February.
Sal Mendolia, whose name is on the
application, said that the new building will
be a “mirror image” of the recently built
apartments next door, which he also owns.
Community seeks justice for hit-and-run victim
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The parking area alongside a
Wyckoff Avenue laundromat in
Bushwick near the Ridgewood
border has been closed off by police
barriers, but it is far from empty.
Dozens of bouquets and balloons,
hundreds of candles, multiple signs
and posters and one large, colorful
drawing of 4-year-old Luz Gonzalez
have transformed the lot into a
memorial.
On the other side of the barriers,
another cluster of candles rests on
the sidewalk in the exact spot where
Gonzalez was killed on June 24 when
a car pulling out of that parking lot ran
her over.
For the fourth straight day, hundreds
of local residents gathered despite the
blistering heat on July 2 to light the
candles and march the half-mile from
the laundromat to the 83rd Precinct
stationhouse to demand justice for
Gonzalez. Although police detained
the 38-year-old female driver of the car
that struck the child moments aft er the
incident, there have been no charges
fi led because the driver was unaware
that she hit anybody, authorities said.
Gonzalez’s mother, Reyna Candia,
39, who was crouched down tying her
daughter’s shoe on the sidewalk when
the collision took place, spoke briefl y
to the Ridgewood Times in Spanish before
the march and said that her neighborhood
has helped lift her spirits.
“I see the support of the community
and I feel that I am not alone,” Candia
said. “But I will not stop until I see justice.”
The family is desperately searching
for some sort of closure and accountability
in the case. When surveillance
video from the incident surfaced
online there was an outcry on social
media, and Candia agreed with the belief
that the driver had to have known
she hit something.
The legality of the parking lot itself
is also in question. There is only one
apparent curb cut near the lot, but it
is not directly in front of the parking
spots. The lot is so small that the ends
of the painted lines for each space
nearly touch the sidewalk.
Therefore, exiting the lot means
driving along the sidewalk toward
the curb cut, or just driving over the
curb completely.
As the predominantly Mexican-American
crowd marched down Hart Street
away from the laundromat, then turned
on Irving Avenue to head toward the
precinct, they chanted in Spanish, “Queremos
justicia!” or “We want justice!” The
heartbreaking story has also drawn supporters
from the community that never
met Gonzalez or her family.
“I’m part of this community, so it’s
very important to me to support any
injustice case happening in this neighborhood,”
said Francisco Ramirez, a
Bushwick resident for 16 years. “Even
if we march one day, two days, or many
days, the girl is not coming alive again.
But if we support this case for the family
they’re going to feel a little better.”
Other members of Gonzalez’s family
still have no words to describe what the
past week has been like for them. Fabiola
Mendieta, Gonzalez’s godmother, has been
one of the main organizers of the marches
and said that she had a panic attack when
she first heard the news of the tragedy.
As she looked around the area and
reflected on the uplifting support
that everyone has given the family,
Mendieta added that they only plan to
make their movement even larger in
the coming days.
“Our plan is to go to the mayor’s offi
ce,” Mendieta said. “If we have to go
there and stay outside and mess up his
routine then we will do that.”
A community aff airs offi cer from
the 83rd Precinct said that the family
has been receiving the department’s
offi cial information on the case, and
the investigation remains ongoing.
Photo by Ryan Kelley/QNS
Luz Gonzalez’s parents carry a Mexican fl ag that reads “Queremos justicia
ahora” (We want justice now) as they lead a march from the laundromat
where Gonzalez was killed to the 83rd Precinct in Bushwick on July 2.
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