Ridgewood Residents Demand Luxury Developer Meir Babaev Take Down Racist Signs From Construction Site & Halt Project

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. AB Capstone’s luxury tower will only exacerbate gentrification, worsening an already dire situation for the working class residents of Ridgewood who have been unable to pay their rent during the coronavirus pandemic and who previous to the pandemic, were already rent-burdened.

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release

Contact:

(929) 251-5044, ridgewoodtenantsunion@gmail.com

Ridgewood Residents Demand Luxury Developer Meir Babaev Take Down Racist Signs From Construction Site & Halt Project  

Group demands meeting with developer to discuss how the luxury tower will impact the community

Queens, New York – Racist “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” signs hang from the construction site for AB Capstone’s 17-story luxury tower and Ridgewood residents demand the developer take down the signs and halt the project until they meet with members of the community.  Since 2015, Meir Babaev’s AB Capstone development project has been stalled while scaffolding takes up public space, creates safety hazards for pedestrians, and accumulates piles of garbage that make sidewalks unsanitary.  Babaev, recently awarded “emerging developer of the year” by Property Shark, a real estate data provider, plans to build a 17-story luxury tower with 138 apartments that will include retail and commercial space, as well as a curtain wall glass façade, a pool, mini golf course, and an outdoor theater with outdoor cabanas on the roof.  Currently, racist signs are proudly displayed on the scaffolding of this construction site and the community demand they be taken down and this project halted.

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. AB Capstone’s luxury tower will only exacerbate gentrification, worsening an already dire situation for the working class residents of Ridgewood who have been unable to pay their rent during the coronavirus pandemic and who previous to the pandemic, were already rent-burdened.  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.  This Saturday, members of the Ridgewood Tenants Union will demand the signs be taken down and that the luxury developer meet with the group in good faith.

WHAT:           Demonstration outside of the Ridgewood Tower construction site

WHEN:           SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 AT 12 noon

WHERE:         Vendetti Square located at Myrtle Avenue & Woodbine Street

WHO:             Ridgewood Tenants Union and Ridgewood residents

About the Ridgewood Tenants Union:

The Ridgewood Tenants Union is a tenant led housing group that works to build power among community members to fight displacement. It does this by organizing tenant associations, know your rights sessions, and anti-gentrification neighborhood-wide campaigns.