6 SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood Tenants Union organizes protest outside
Photos courtesy of Ridgewood Tenants Union
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
An 11-car caravan attempted to
give luxury developer Meir
Babaev, president of AB Capstone,
a wake-up call on the morning
of Monday, Sept. 14.
Members of the Ridgewood Tenants
Union (RTU) organized the
protest at 5:30 a.m. outside of what
they said was Babaev’s home in Jamaica
Estates. The group has been
protesting the planned development
of an “as-of-right” 17-story, mixed-use
tower — with 138 apartments as well
as retail and commercial space — to
be located at 54-27 Myrtle Ave., 336
and 350 St. Nicholas Ave. in Ridgewood
for some time now.
The demonstration woke up
other residents of the neighborhood,
whom RTU protesters said yelled at
them from the door, “He doesn’t live
here!”
Members of RTU said they were
met with hostility from residents
of the upper-middle-class neighborhood.
They said one neighbor shouted
in front of a protester’s face, saying
they shouldn’t “be allowed to destroy
his peace and his neighborhood.”
“Why should he and his neighbors
get rest when Meir Babaev is causing
our community to lose our sleep and
our homes over the displacement his
project will bring?” said Bonnie Gil,
a leader with the RTU.
About 20 minutes into their demonstration,
in which they drove around
the block four times creating a loud
noise disturbance, the protesters
left when the NYPD arrived to the
scene.
Last month, RTU demanded AB
Capstone take down the “Blue Lives
Matter” and “All Lives Matter” signs
that were hung up on the developments’
scaff olding.
“Black people and people of color
are not only the most likely targets
of police brutality, but they are also
the most likely to be displaced and
evicted from their homes,” RTU
stated. “Signs in support of the police
placed at the construction site make
our Black neighbors and neighbors
of color feel unsafe and indicate that
AB Capstone has no concern for the
violent displacement their luxury
tower can trigger and absolutely no
concern for the racist symbolism
behind the signs.”
AB Captsone did not respond to
QNS’ request for comment.
The tower, set to become Ridgewood’s
tallest building, was
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