Shuttered Fresh Pond store bringing down the nabe

From the Times Newsweekly:

Rachel’s Garden, which was located at the corner of Fresh Pond Road and Woodbine Street in Ridgewood, closed its doors only 18 months after opening. Before the fruitstand, a medical office was briefly located there. For many years, the location was a large and successful funeral parlor—Wasmund’s, then Wasmund’s and Sorice.

Problems were touched off between the establishment and block residents when the store took the garage, located at the rear on Woodbine Street, and turned it into an additional storage room for the fruits and vegetables, when the rooms below the store became filled with too much produce.

Others in the area noted that Rachel’s Garden management also used the converted garage to store garbage, which included rotting fruits and vegetables, kept right alongside the fresh produce which they sold.

This was evidenced by the stench emanating from it which one nearby property owner described as “unbearable.”

Since being shuttered, the store has taken on a dilapidated appearance, according to area residents. The entryways to the shop have been boarded up with plywood. Some of the wooden shelves once lined with produce have been dismantled, with the pieces left lying on the sidewalk adjacent to the storefront.

Neighbors also claimed that they have seen an assortment of pests—including roaches, mice and rats— scurrying into and out of the garage and shuttered store. Complaints have been filed with various city agencies via the 311 hotline demanding action to compel the landlord and/or the defunct shop’s owner to clean up the mess.