4 OCTOBER 17, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood Tenants Union rallies against
planned luxury apartment building
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Members of the Ridgewood Tenants
Union (RTU) chanted “no, no
to luxury colonization — yes, yes
to homes for all” in front of Food
Bazaar Supermarket during their
rally against a planned new luxury
apartment tower on Monday.
The RTU demanded that city officials
stop Avery Hall Investments’
(AHI) plan to build a 24-story luxury
apartment building at 1590 Gates Avenue,
right on top of where the community
supermarket, Food Bazaar
Supermarket, is currently located.
“We are also here to demand that
our politicians, like Council member
Antonio Reynoso, fight harder to
protect us from displacement and
gentrification,” RTU member Tousif
Ahfan said through a megaphone.
According to a rep from the office
of Councilman Reynoso, AHI
is going ahead with the as-of-right
luxury project. AHI didn’t respond
to a request for comment before
press time.
RTU spoke at length about the correlation
between the construction of
luxury apartment buildings and the
city’s increased homelessness rates.
They were joined by Assemblyman
Mike Miller, who gave a short speech
against the proposed new building at
the rally, as well as representatives
of Assemblymen Brian Barnwell,
Andrew Hevesi and Senator Michael
Gianaris.
“The city should not allow for
Avery Hall to be built,” Miller said.
“Food Bazaar has been a staple in
this community for a long time. My
constituents need to buy affordable
groceries for their families; they
don’t need luxury apartments.”
Miller said that he “refused to see
these high-rise apartments be built
in a working-class neighborhood
where people struggle to make ends
meet.”
He also mentioned Mayor Bill de
Blasio’s promise of “ending a tale of
two cities,” saying that the mayor
has instead “made it worse.” Miller
added that he will continue to fight
for the Home Stability Support bill
that he and Hevesi have supported
The Ridgewood Tenants Union gathered in front of Food Bazaar
Supermarket for a rally against a proposed new luxury apartment and
homelessness in the city. Photo: Angelica Acevedo/QNS
to be placed into law.
RTU’s lead organizer, Raquel Namuche,
then took to the megaphone
and gave a passionate statement in
response to the Oct. 7 Community
Board 5 meeting in which Glendale
residents gave angry public statements
against the new homeless
shelter on Cooper Avenue.
Among them was Councilman Robert
Holden, who has been against the
facility since it was announced.
“We need politicians to take action
to end homelessness immediately
— instead, our Councilman
Robert Holden incites bigotry and
stereotypes and vilifies our homeless
neighbors,” Namuche said. “And
that is not right. It’s down-right
criminal.”
Namuche then spoke on behalf
of all the members of the RTU, and
are calling for the Committee on
Standards and Ethics to investigate
Holden. They also want the Committee
on Rules, Privileges, and Elections
at the City Council to remove
Holden off his role as chairperson of
the Technology Committee, as well
as his membership of the Committee
on Mental Health, Disabilities and
Addiction and the Committee on
Criminal Justice.
“All of these committees have a role
in looking at ways to serve our homeless
neighbors, and it is dangerous
for someone who plays on stereotypes
to create fear of the homeless
to serve on them,” Namuche said.
Namuche said that even asking
for a disciplinary action is “nice,”
and that he should just “resign
immediately.”
“We have to act from a place of compassion,
we have to act from a place
of understanding that the homelessness
crisis is not created by homeless
people, it is created by luxury developers,”
she said. “They’re uprooting
us from our homes, and we won’t
take it any longer. So today, we are
taking a stand against Trumpian
bigots like Robert Holden. He does
not represent us, and he should not
be allowed at City Council at all.”
The RTU then took to Twitter to
announce that they formerly wrote a
letter to City Council Speaker Corey
Johnson, urging him and New York
City Council to begin a disciplinary
action for Holden.
QNS reached out to Holden, who
declined to comment on the rally and
RTU’s statements.
At the rally, 72-year-old Emilio
Gavino shared his own housing
issues with the help of Namuche’s
translation.
Gavino, a cancer patient, is currently
living with his sister, and although
he’s been applying for senior
housing for more than six months,
he hasn’t received any assistance.
“That is just down-right criminal,”
Namuche said, after thanking
Gavino for speaking.
Namuche then addressed Avery
Hall directly.
“If you’re watching, if you’re
listening, Ridgewood does not want
you. You’re a luxury colonizer, and
on Indigenous People’s Day, we’re
saying no to luxury colonization, no
to luxury developers.”
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