ACORN Protesters Storm The Beacon Tower
The anti-gentrification movement stepped it up a notch yesterday with ACORN protesters storming the open house at the Beacon Tower, Shaya Boymelgreen’s 23-story condo development at 85 Adams in Dumbo. What a shame! What a pity! We can’t live in New York City, the 50-odd protesters chanted while blanketing the sales office with flyers that…
The anti-gentrification movement stepped it up a notch yesterday with ACORN protesters storming the open house at the Beacon Tower, Shaya Boymelgreen’s 23-story condo development at 85 Adams in Dumbo. What a shame! What a pity! We can’t live in New York City, the 50-odd protesters chanted while blanketing the sales office with flyers that read, Beacon Tower developers get rich off the backs of working families.” The protesters main gripe? That luxury projects like the Beacon still receive tax breaks in a holdover from a program started in the 1970s to stimulated development. The ambushed Corcoran agents manning the open house called in the cops who removed the protesters. Prospective buyers didn’t appear to be too sympathetic to the cause. “Tell them to get jobs and go live in the projects,” said Jenny Malone, who was there checking out apartments. “People just want something for nothing.”
Activists Protest Dumbo Condos [Metro]
More coverage in the print edition.
Noooo….I would lay odds that Jennie is a spoiled, snotty brat. And that comment about getting a job and go live in the projects- I can’t be the only one who understood what she was really saying: poor people should all be gathered together in detention camps- oops…I meant projects, so I don’t have to ever deal with them again. Until I need a cheap housekeeper.
I don’t have a lot of respect for Acorn after they sold out to Ratner, and I also think the protesters should have picked the real target, Boymelgreen. That still does not mean they have no message. That being the incentives, givebacks, and benefits developers get for building their luxury housing. It doesn’t matter if the law was written to promote development all over the city or just in poor neighborhoods, those abatements cost us more dollars than the subsidized housing which has so many of you up in arms. As for the benefits of construction jobs- CHP is right. It’s a targeted group that benefits- not your average poor, unemployed person.
The fact of the matter is: The protesters had no right to barge in on these hardworking brokers (who have to work on Sundays) and make fools out of them. The Beacon Tower agents are some of the nicest in the business and they should not have been subject to this major inconvenience. Hopefully this entire fiasco generated a sale for them.
These people were screaming at Corcoran agents and their customers while they should have screamed at Boymelgreen himself. They couldn’t get to him so they picked on the easiest target.
Screw them and their holier-than-thou attitudes. As annoying and snotty as Jenny sounds, I probably would have said something similar in retrospect.
No one needs to be yelled at while making a luxury purchase. Does Jenny get ambushed at the spa? The Saab dealership? Saks? Not likely. Why should she while buying a condo?
Jenny, (and by saying Jenny, I’m referring to a hypothetical/typical Dumbo buyer, perhaps not the actual person who made those remarks) I’m sure, is a hardworking person who deserves these luxuries who otherwise would not be able to afford the home without the tax abatement. I am sure she works just as hard as the protesters pretend to. If she were truly of the elite class, she would not be buying a mid-level condo in Brooklyn.
You pays yer moneys and you takes yer choice.
Douglas at 7:43pm — you are so right. As an African American who has purchased in dumbo and has worked hard to get to where I am, I know that I’m one of the lucky ones. Lucky enough to see through the fog and not get caught up in the system and ignorance that plagues our race. However, it’s not so easy for everyone. If your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. are poor and uneducated, your fate is almost a sure thing… just like that of trust fund babies.
Wait a second. Someone mentioned black lawyers. Are there black layers? Do they say “yo yo yo, what’s up my man client?” just curious
Hey Mr. and Mrs. B that was some group therapy session. Some real breakthroughs. I think brown bomber may have had an epiphany of sorts.
I’M reading this stuff. Being both black and white I hear it all in real life too, not just on Brownstoner. I think Brownbomber is right on, though the reality of it is that no matter how hard blacks “compete” there is PLENTY of racism out there and it sure makes the competition that much harder.
Does Jenny realize DUMBO is right next to the projects?
MADE HIS $ NOT DIAMONDS
FOR THE RECORD LEV LEVIEV MADE HIS DIAMONDS FROM RUSSIAN DIAMONDS NOT AFRICAN DIAMONDS.