Real Estate Developer David Marom Turns into The Real-life Grinch: Wants to Destroy a Kids’ Garden
A Manhattan kids’ community garden, created to serve as a sanctuary for children to learn about and play with nature, is under threat.
David Marom, a real estate developer with apartment buildings around the garden, wants to raze and destroy it for his business.
For this, he has been using various intimidating tactics since 2014 to make the local community back off.
They have been in a legal battle to protect the decades-old Children’s Magical Garden, located at the corner of Norfolk and Stanton streets. While the local community wants to preserve the garden, the real estate developer wants to build a residential building there.
Recently, the garden’s leadership had to file a civil rights lawsuit against him after David Marom lost his $20-million defamation claim against them.
According to the local community, his $20 million defamation claim was a part of his harassment campaign to intimidate them into backing off.
The lawsuit reads:
“Marom’s actions are meant to interfere with garden’s mission of providing a safe place for children to play and learn about nature and to intimidate and silence the community that is speaking out against Marom’s Grinch-like plan to bulldoze the garden.”
He didn’t stop here.
According to the garden leaders, he has even put encroaching fencing on neighboring lots.
The lawsuit alleges:
“David sent workers to the area to “destroy trees and dump construction waste,” and his workers “unloaded dozens of containers filled with rotting garbage onto” the city oasis.”
It highlights that David had only filed the $20-million defamation lawsuit because he wanted to harass and intimidate the garden leaders. He knew that they are of limited means and he could never recover the judgment amount.
Kate Temple-West, the garden president, told the media, “The garden will never be swayed by these kinds of scare tactics. But I was deeply hurt by community members, with young children, being sued for millions. “
She further added, “We are a sanctuary where people can find peace and children are safe to create with their imaginations. “
Somebody needs to slap the guy right in his face. David Marom has lost his mind. You don’t go around threatening to raze a children’s playground. It makes no sense whatsoever.
God bless the garden’s wardens.
Some of these real estate developers are borderline psychopaths. Let the kids play dammit.
I hope they win the case and David ends up paying them millions. That would be the only solution to this problem.