Community Corner
Brooklyn Nail Salon Closes After Brawl Video Goes Viral: Activist
The salon where workers beat a woman who wouldn't pay for a botched wax job has permanently closed, activists said.

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN -- The nail salon where workers attacked a customer who refused to pay for a botched eyebrow wax has permanently closed after local residents boycotted the business, community activists announced.
Happy Red Apple Nails owners were seen removing equipment more than four months after video of workers beating three African American customers sparked outrage in the community, according to Flatbush organizers.
Attoinette Rouse posted video to Facebook Thursday that shows two men loading stuffed bags into a van outside 1426 Nostrand Ave.
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"We're glad you're coming to get your stuff," Rouse tells one man. "You never even apologized."
Warning: Video contains explicit language.
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Happy Red Apple Nails first made headlines in August when video of employee Huiyue Zheng, 32, beating customer Christina Thomas, 21, with a wooden stick on Aug. 3 went viral.
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Both Thomas and Zheng were arrested for assault, but the charges against Thomas were dropped after prosecutors reviewed the video and interviewed witnesses, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez stated later that month.
Flatbush organizers began a months-long campaign to shut down Happy Red Apple Nails that included days of protests outside 1426 Nostrand Ave. and an online petition that garnered almost 10,000 signatures.
Local organizer Anthony Beckford returned to the salon hours later, found the gates pulled down, and posted a video response.
"When people tell you there's no unity in the black community, you show them that right there" said Beckford. "You show them a closed down shop."
Patch was unable to reach salon owners for comment.
Photo courtesy of GoogleMaps/Sept. 2017
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