A neighborhood's plight against big business invasion.

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Three years ago it served as a parking lot for grocery store customers. Then it became something of a junk yard. It has never been the most attractive piece of property in the neighborhood. It is just an empty lot surrounded by a broken down chain link fence. Then Clean Rite stepped into the picture and the mud slinging began. The lot was cleared of the trash heaps and abondoned cars and a big yellow and blue sign was posted facing the main thoroughfare claiming the lot as the future home of a 24 hour laundromat. My heart skipped a beat. It was just what we needed in our modest community where every weekend our little area laundromats are filled to capacity and customers squabble over the use of dryers.

As it turned out every one in the neighborhood wasn't as thrilled as I was to see the sign. No sooner had the sign appeared that another followed asking in bold letters, "Do you want to see a park here?" It was a color blow up that included design plans proposing a cafe next door. Now, the cafe I could get with. I've been praying for a decent cafe in our neighborhood for the last 3 years but a park on the corner of one of the busiest streets in Brooklyn? Surely they jest. The next thing you know a woman had planted herself in front of the lot armed with a clipboard and pen. What surprised me most was that many of the neighborhood residents signed her petition requesting a park in the middle of a run down business strip.

Other signs began to cluster on the fence surrounding the lot. Signs like "Clean Rite is bad for the environment" and "Clean Rite pays minimum wage." Community meetings were planned that many residents did not attend. It became a one woman battle against not only Clean Rite but other local businesses who welcomed them. This anti-Clean Rite campaign activist tried to form a coalition with the small run down laundromats in our neighborhood that indulged her but didn1t fully jump into the ring with her.

Finally after months of a dirty territorial tug of war the heavy equipment entered the lot and began to tear down the dilapidated building next door. Ground breaking began and it appears as if the neighborhood is getting a brand new, clean, well lit, 24 hour laundromat. There is even a small cafe opened across the street.

I hope it turns out to be a good economic incentive for the community and offers a needed boost to the neighborhood. I am happy to see the strip of run down businesses that are either occupied with front operations or claimed by the drug dealers on the next block being stripped away and replaced with a viable business that will serve everyone in the surrounding community. Perhaps I am simply being selfish but I1d much rather have a clean, functional laundromat at the end of my block then a menacing empty lot that is used as a dumping ground.