You are reading

Kew Gardens Homeowner Comes Under Fire For Hanging Banner Saying Biden Administration Marks the Beginning of Socialism

The sign at 82-28 Abingdon Rd. Sunday (Image by Aleda Gagarin)

Jan. 26, 2021 By Michael Dorgan

A local candidate for city council has taken issue with a large banner hanging in front of a house in Kew Gardens that claims Joe Biden’s inauguration marked the beginning of socialism.

Aleda Gagarin, who is running as a progressive to represent District 29, came across the banner at 82-28 Abingdon Rd. Sunday and posted an image of the house and the sign to Twitter.

The banner reads: “January 20, 2021, Death of Democracy, The Beginning of Socialism.” The date marks the day Joe Biden was sworn into office as the 46th President of the United States.

The banner also features a hammer and sickle as well as an image of Lady Liberty crouched over with her hands in her face. The banner drapes between two flag poles in the middle of the front garden that each fly the USA flag.

“It’s just so silly, the person is clearly misunderstood,” Gagarin told the Queens Post. “Joe Biden is certainly not a socialist.”

Gagarin noted that Biden doesn’t even support universal healthcare.

“The sign also uses communist imagery that shows a clear lack of understanding,” she added.

Michael Ricatto, who owns the house and put up the banner, disputed Gagarin’s claims and said he knows exactly what he is talking about. Biden’s policies are socialist, he said, and all hardworking taxpayers will have to pay more due to his left-wing policies.

Furthermore, Ricatto added that there is little difference between socialism and communism and he considers socialism as communism’s “little brother.”

“We worked hard for years to amass what we have and I don’t like being forced to support someone else,” Ricatto said.

Ricatto believes that American democracy is under threat and claims that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. He argues that the democratic process was upended.

“There were too many ambiguities that were never reported and most of the media lean left,” he claims. None were proven in court.

However, Gagarin says it was Trump who put democracy at risk.

“Trump was trying to kill democracy, he was trying to overthrow our actual government, that’s very clearly true,” she said, referring to the attacks on the Capitol on Jan 6.

Gagarin said that while she was offended by the sign she respects his right to free speech.

She said she was more offended by previous signs put up by Ricatto that expressed his outright support for Trump. She said that Trump’s policies targeted undocumented residents in Queens.

“I don’t agree with propping up a fascist whose policies terrified our immigrant brothers and sisters,” Gagarin said, referring to the rise in ICE arrests in Queens under Trump.

Trump’s wall, she added, was “a waste of money, stupid, childish and inherently racist.”

82-28 Abingdon Rd. (Image by Aleda Gagarin)

Ricatto has courted controversy relating to his signs in the past.

In 2016, his pro-Trump lawn signs were constantly stolen. In response, he stapled “wanted” signs on public trees in an effort to catch the people swiping them. The Parks Dept. fined him for damaging the trees.

Nevertheless, Ricatto said he will not let anyone deter him from exercising his right to free speech.

“They are not going to shut me up, they will never shut me up,” he said.

He also said that people are afraid to voice their opinions due to a fear of backlash from the left and that some people have thanked him for putting up his signs.

“There is a silent majority out there, not so much in Queens but there are enclaves of right-leaning people.”

Donald Trump saw his support in Queens rise in the 2020 election with 26.8 percent of citizens voting for him – up from 21.8 percent in 2016.

Ricatto said he has not received much trouble for putting up his signs but joked that a person has been sending him tissues in the post since Biden was elected. The tissues are for Ricatto to wipe his tears since Trump lost the election.

He said that while he disagrees with Biden’s position on a myriad of issues he wishes him well and is not hoping for him to fail.

“We are all one big airliner and Joe Biden is now pilot, I am not hoping for him to crash.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Brooklyn man killed on Belt Parkway in Howard Beach after crash sends SUV into tree: NYPD

A Brooklyn man was killed in a high-speed chain-reaction crash near Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach on Tuesday night.

Police from the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park responded to a 911 call of a vehicle collision on the Belt Parkway and 79th Street at around 11:12 p.m. and found a 25-year-old man unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to the body. EMS responded to the scene and rushed him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said Wednesday. He was later identified as Nicolas Blagovisny of Stuart Street in Sheepshead Bay.

Bronx man killed in single-vehicle crash on the Nassau Expressway in Springfield Gardens: NYPD

A Bronx man was killed in a horrific crash on the Nassau Expressway near JFK Airport early Wednesday morning.

Police from the 113th Precinct in Jamaica responded to a 911 call about a vehicle collision near Exit 3 on the Nassau Expressway, where they found the 25-year-old motorist had been ejected from his BMW. EMS responded to the scene and rushed the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was later identified as Andre A. Beadle of Mickel Avenue in the Pelham Gardens section of the Bronx.

State Senator Joseph Addabbo cruises to victory past GOP challenger Danniel Maio

Like he has done so many times in the past, State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. is thanking the community for re-electing him after he defeated his Republican challenger, Danniel Maio, by nearly 40 points on election night.

Addabbo was first elected to the Senate in 2008 after serving seven years in the City Council. “I am deeply honored and grateful to receive the trust of my constituents once again,” Addabbo said.

NYC immigrant groups denounce Trump’s re-election, pledge to protect immigrant communities

Nov. 6, 2024 By Ethan Marshall

In the wake of Donald Trump being re-elected President of the United States Tuesday, multiple New York City-based immigrant organizations have released statements in which they criticized Trump for his history of anti-immigrant rhetoric and reinforced their missions to protect immigrants from any unconstitutional actions his administration may take to get them deported.

AM Pheffer Amato will have to wait once again to declare victory over GOP challenger

Assembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato will have to wait to see if the voters of South Queens are sending her back to Albany, where she has been one of the most prolific legislators in recent years.

Pheffer Amato holds a slim two-and-a-half-point lead over her Republican challenger, Thomas Sullivan, in a rematch of the 2022 race that she won by just 15 votes after waiting nearly two months to declare victory.