One of the city’s trashiest parking lots has been getting cleaned up these days. Hmm — Maybe the cleaning up around the Walgreen’s on Whalley Avenue near the Boulevard has something to do with a demonstration planned for Thursday at 11 a.m. by the Edgewood-Elm block watch. Or maybe it has something to do with a recent citation for health code violations from the city Health Department. Or maybe it has something to do with persistent complaints by a city neighborhood worker, Elaine Braffman, about abandoned junk cars and out-of-control trash.
Whatever the reason, the neighborhood and the city plan to continue putting on the heat. The demonstration is scheduled to proceed as planned. And city inspectors are monitoring Walgreen’s management’s promises to keep the grounds cleaner.
“According to them, they’re working on taking over the entire property and putting up a lovely Walgreen’s” like the ones you find in other towns, says health inspector Roslyn Hamilton; she sounds unconvinced at this point. Hamilton says the management did begin breaking down and compacting empty deliver containers and cleaning trash from the lot. Hamilton also cited the store for selling baby formula beyond its expiration date.
“Walgreen’s has been an ongoing problem to the point where I’m pulling my hair out,” says Elaine Braffman, neighborhood specialist for the city government’s anti-blight agency, the Livable City Initiative.
Scott Corley, the Walgreen’s district manager who handles complaints from the locals, couldn’t be reached for comment. His office said he was out of town until Friday — helping with Hurricane Katrina.