These headphones won’t drown out the neighbors’ frustration.
Mark Zuckerberg may have thought he was turning down the volume on discontent in Palo Alto, California.
Instead, his latest gesture — distributing noise-canceling headphones, sparkling wine and Krispy Kreme donuts to the families living alongside his multiyear building spree — has amplified resentment, according to Fortune.
For more than a decade, the Meta chief and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have methodically acquired at least 11 properties in the Crescent Park neighborhood, transforming what was once a quiet enclave of professors and executives into a private compound worth more than $110 million.
Critics online blasted Zuckerberg’s headphones gesture as condescending, with one calling him a “d****nozzle” and others questioning how billionaires lose touch with reality.kittyfly – stock.adobe.com
The project, which has included guest houses, gardens, a private school, underground facilities and frequent outdoor gatherings, has brought with it years of construction noise, blocked driveways and heightened security surveillance.
“No neighborhood wants to be occupied,” Michel Kieschnick, who lives on Hamilton Avenue told the New York Times. “But that’s exactly what they’ve done. They’ve occupied our neighborhood.”
Social media users say the gifts are more insulting than conciliatory. One called the gesture the equivalent of saying, “Sorry for being an insufferable d*****nozzle, here are some noise canceling headphones.”
Another posted, “These a**holes live in such a different world than us, and it’s f**ing sickening.”
Others chimed in: “WHAT AN A**HOLE,” one wrote, while another asked, “At what point do the rich lose their sensibility and become narcissists?”
The Post has reached out to Zuckerberg’s reps for comment.
Neighbors allege that the city has facilitated the expansion, approving dozens of permits and even posting tow-away signs so guests could attend Zuckerberg’s private events.
“Billionaires everywhere are used to just making their own rules — Zuckerberg and Chan are not unique, except that they’re our neighbors,” Kieschnick said. “But it’s a mystery why the city has been so feckless.”
From construction debris flattening tires to workers parking in front of nearby homes, residents say the inconveniences have piled up.
Years of hearings and objections slowed but never stopped the acquisitions.
A onetime city review board member, architect Peter Baltay, recalled his own run-in with Zuckerberg’s security while attempting to review the site.
“I said ‘I’m standing on the sidewalk looking at this project for review,’” Baltay told the Times. “He said, ‘Well, we’d appreciate it if you could move on.’ I was pretty shocked by that.”
What began with a single 5,600-square-foot house in 2011 has become a sprawling estate brimming with amenities and surveillance.
At the center sits a statue of Chan, unveiled by Zuckerberg on social media last year — a symbol, perhaps, of permanence.
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