14 DECEMBER 26, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
The top stories from September 2019
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Here are the top stories from
September 2019.
Ridgewood’s Italian street
festival to return for four days
after years of being scaled back
Ridgewood’s Fresh Pond Road
Street Fair was restored to its fourday
glory on September 5 through 8,
after Community Board 5 voted in
favor at its Feb. 13 meeting.
Long-time organizer of Ridgewood’s
Fresh Pond Road Street
Festival, Tony DiPiazza, asked that
the full scope of the street fair be
restored on the grounds that it has
a history of being well-managed and
could be an economic boon to local
business.
DiPiazza, who helped found the
Italian American festival, said
the four-day bash in the streets
has been scaled back to two days
in recent years due to road work
projects on Fresh Pond Road. After
its completion, he called on CB 5 to
approve the full five blocks to be
provided for this year’s celebration.
“The first two years were very
contentious, needless to say, but we
proved after the first couple of years
that we would be able to stage the festival
in a peaceful, joyous manner of
sharing our pride and heritage with
the community,” DiPiazza said.
In the end, the mayor’s office made
the final decision to bring it back.
Children’s clothing boutique on
Ridgewood’s Fresh Pond Road closes
36 years aft er its christening
Aft er 36 years of business, R & M Children’s
Boutique, a Ridgewood store run
by first-generation Italian-Americans
offering imported dress clothes for
communion and christening, is shutting
down.
“Aft er a long thought, we decided, especially
aft er our mom passed, that it’s
about time we close the doors,” said Rita
D’antoni.
Rita, who ran the shop with her mother
and sister — both named Maria — from
its opening, said that the decision was
based on a combination of fi nancial and
personal reasons. At 65, she was ready to
retire, but she said that sales had been long
declining as a result of online shopping.
“The times have changed. That’s what I tell
my customers. Amazon is doing a nice job,”
D’antoni said.
The business weathered a number of
economic shake ups before the explosion
of e-commerce in recent years. Still for decades,
D’antoni said that they maintained a
clientele who passed down their loyalty to
the store from generation to generation.
The top stories from
October 2019
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Here are the top stories from October
2019.
Community board hearing on
Glendale homeless shelter draws a
huge, irate crowd
Planned as a meeting for the Department
of Homeless Services (DHS) to
broadcast the details of the proposed
Glendale homeless shelter and collect
feedback, Community Board 5’s public
hearing on Oct. 7 devolved into an over
hour-long tussle fi lled with shouting
matches, interruptions and an incitement
of violence.
More than 1,000 residents streamed
into Christ the King High School Auditorium
through a lobby fi lled with a heavy
police presence and metal detectors.
Aft er the representatives from DHS
and service provider Westhab detailed
the programs for the proposed shelter
at 78-16 Cooper Ave., residents gave their
arguments for and against the shelter
in between speeches by local elected
offi cials including Councilman Robert
Holden, state Senator Joseph Addabbo
and Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi.
Both the residents defending and attacking
the shelter did have one thing
in common: They both heaped vitriol at
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s response to the homelessness
crisis in New York City.
The tension between the city offi cials
and shelter opponents reached its peak
when a woman opposing the shelter
said, “I do not care about the homeless.
I feel sorry but I don’t want them in my
backyard. I hope someone is going to
burn that place down.”
Ridgewood Tenants Union rallies
against planned luxury apartment
tower
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 Oct. 14.
RTU demanded that city offi cials stop
Avery Hall Investments’ (AHI) plan
to build a 24-story luxury apartment
building at 1590 Gates Ave., right on top
of where the community supermarket,
Food Bazaar Supermarket, is currently
located. According to a rep from the
offi ce of Councilman Reynoso, AHI is
going ahead with the as-of-right luxury
project. AHI didn’t respond to a request
for comment.
At the rally, RTU was joined by
representatives of Assemblymen
Brian Barnwell, Andrew Hevesi and
Senator Michael Gianaris. Assemblyman
Mike Miller was also present and
gave a statement in support of RTU and
other members of the “working-glass
neighborhood.”
RTU then called for the Committee
on Standards and Ethics to investigate
Councilman Robert Holden aft er his remarks
about the homeless at a Glendale
shelter meeting on Oct. 7.
“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,”
Raquel Namuche, RTU’s lead organizer,
said.
YEAR IN REVIEW
R&M Childrens Boutique Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
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: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
/WWW.QNS.COM
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