When Sandra Miniero got wind of a rumor that Duane Reade was replacing IGA Food Basket on Seventh Street, she immediately drew up a petition, in which thousands of residents signed, to stop the large chain drug store from moving in.

"The reason I returned to Garden City to bring up my children (in the place I was born and raised) was because it had that New England feel to it," she wrote in a letter to Mayor Barbara Miller. "In spite of the fact that we are surrounded by large shopping malls and strip mall towns, Garden City has held on to its open, one-stop shopping street where storekeepers know your name as well as your children's names."

Robert Saidov, pharmacist and owner of Atlantis Chemists, said he first heard that Duane Reade may move in earlier this month and became quite concerned. Saidov, who replaced Mar's Pharmacy at 152 Seventh Street a year ago, used to do business in Franklin Square.

According to Saidov, Mar's Pharmacy regretted closing down. The local drug store sold its prescription files to CVS, upsetting many residents, including Miniero. "That's a big reason why the community doesn't want another chain store in town. They want to retain a small store with good customer service who wouldn't treat them as a number but as a person," Saidov said. "That's what prompted me to come here."

Saidov's landlord, Stone Crest Management, recently purchased a whole block of buildings on the south side of Seventh Street, including the properties that house Culinary Heights, Michael's Haircutters, Atlantis Chemists, Seventh Street Stationery, Bestever Cleaners, Feldis Florist, TCBY, Town Meat Market, Food For Thought, Jean Marie Patisserie and The Food Basket. The company also owns HL Gross, The Klipp office building, Edmund's and Neptune Photo on Franklin Avenue.

On April 14, Mayor Miller, along with Village Administrator Robert Schoelle, Trustee Robert Rothschild, liaison officer to the business community, Building Superintendent Mike Filippon and three Chamber of Commerce representatives met with Josh Goldberg, a principal of Stone Crest Management.

On behalf of the village, Mayor Miller welcomed him to the community and encouraged him to work with the village administrator and building department. Officials shared with Goldberg the need to "preserve the integrity of retail businesses" on Seventh Street - Garden City's downtown shopping area.

Mayor Miller applauded Goldberg's desire to work with the village and his tenants, his plans to improve the facades of these buildings, especially the parts that face Parking Field 7S. Goldberg indicated that he had not yet signed a lease with Duane Reade and said he'd continue marketing the Food Basket space for the time being.

The mayor adds she is hopeful that with "continued communication" with Goldberg, all parties will reach a resolution that will be best for the village. She urged residents to continue voicing their concerns to their respective property owners' associations, the board of trustees and the Chamber of Commerce board.

"Supposedly the petition helped but not to the extent we need it to," Miniero, who collected 98 pages of signatures, said. "The landlord is rethinking Duane Reade going in at the moment because of the groundswell of opposition but I don't think it's going to keep IGA Food Basket here."

Saidov, who was aware of the April 14 meeting, said, "From what I understand, I don't think there will be a Duane Reade moving in after all."

He thanks the Garden City community because "they really supported not just me but all the small businesses around here ... At this point, I'm not as concerned about this as I was before."

Although there is a possibility Stone Crest Management could still sign the lease, Saidov said he's relieved that Goldberg is now cognizant that people don't want IGA Food Basket going out of business or Duane Reade moving to Seventh Street. "He is aware of that type of mood here," he said.

Miniero, who said she witnessed the hotel being torn down when she was too young to do anything about it, also saw Martin's, Bloomingdale's and A&S close. "When I asked why it had happened, I was told, 'There wasn't any choice.' I saw Mar's Pharmacy give way to CVS and was told that there was also 'no other choice.'

"Maybe there wasn't a choice for the outcome of these stores. Maybe stores can't be forced to stay open just because we love them or they are the ones that give the town its convenience and charm we all moved here to have. But I don't believe we don't have a choice in the types of stores that are replacing them."

To offer a unified front in dealing with these types of circumstances, Miniero is trying to create a Seventh Street Preservation Association and is looking for someone to help get her started. "I need somebody with the knowledge of organizing something like that," she told the Garden City Life. "I'm actually going to call the Chamber of Commerce in Cold Spring Harbor and see if they have something installed because you don't see chain stores there.

"I think something has to be put in place so at least there's an association of landlords, tenants and citizens making decisions together on how diversified the streets should be so we don't end up with a whole block of chain stores or a whole block of drug stores. We need to keep it diversified and small."

Miniero, who's lived in the village for more than four decades, said she's seen many stores come and go. "There was a sort of balance. A drug store would leave and a bakery would come in. Now the same types of stores aren't coming back in. When something goes, it's gone for good."

Frustrated with "sitting back and accepting whatever we're given to fill a landlord's pocket, indiscriminant to our needs and preferences, forcing us to shop in other towns and malls instead of at home," Miniero admits she should have done something when the aforementioned stores closed. "I am tired of doing nothing and watching as this town is eaten away by the landlords who do not live in Garden City and just consider us as profit or loss in their books."

She requested in her letter to Mayor Miller that there be a rezoning of Seventh Street's and Franklin Avenue's commercial property. "Too many small town stores are being swallowed up in Garden City in favor of large, indifferent chain stores," she added.

According to Schoelle, the only village prohibition is for first floor office use, in alliance with the village's recently adopted C-4 zoning legislation - Local Law No. 1-2003. In other words, if Goldberg opts to sign the lease with Duane Reade, the village board has no power to stop him.