‘GO STICK IT!’
Protest close 'brawl salons'
An angry crowd descended on a Brooklyn salon Tuesday, waving broomsticks to protest the way employees used them to whack customers in a racially charged melee last week.
“The broomstick is to represent the violence in this community that happened in Happy Red Apple Nails,” said Aisha Fari, 53, who protested at the store earlier in the day.
“They seem to have these things in there as weapons,’’ she said of the broomsticks. “It’s like they bring them here specifically to beat us. All nail salons have them. Just in case.”
The East Flatbush salon was the scene of a now-infamous brawl between black customers and Asian workers last Friday over a botched $5 eyebrow wax. Video of the incident showed salon worker Huiyue Zheng, 32, chasing a woman out of the shop while whacking her with a broom- stick. Zheng was later arrested, as was Christina Thomas, 21, the complaining customer who got the bad brow job.
Demonstrators on Monday protested outside the store as well as another shop, the Beautiful Red Apple Nails salon at 1224 Nostrand Ave., which they claim is owned by the same people.
Happy Red Apple Nails was closed all day Tuesday, while protesters eventually forced Beautiful Red Apple Nails to shut down as well.
Police had to escort three employees from Beautiful Red Apple Nails salon into a police cruiser Tuesday evening.
Local residents left several brooms propped against the roll-down gate covering the Happy Red Apple Nails storefront to symbolize their outrage over the workers’ behavior. Signs taped on the gate read: “Black Dollars Matters!!” and “They wicked!”
Another protester held a homemade sign that read, “Take your broomsticks and fly away, you witches!”
Those demonstrating against the salons marched through the area, shouting, “What are we gonna do? Shut them down! When we gonna do it? Now!”
“No nails! No toes! This racist business got to go!”
Zheng and Thomas face charges that include misdemeanor assault, menacing and harassment.
Meanwhile, cops said they were looking for a man who allegedly hurled a beer bottle at a police detective during the Monday nail-salon protest.
The suspect was in a crowd of about 50 people when he launched a bottle that struck a detective in the head at Martense Street and Nostrand Avenue at about 2:30 p.m., according to police.
The detective was not seriously injured.