UPPER WEST SIDE — Just in time for Valentine's Day, Duane Reade wants to kiss and make up with the Upper West Side.
Months after vehement neighborhood protests forced Duane Reade to remove a flashy billboard at its West 72nd Street and Broadway store, the pharmacy scored brownie points by making a cash donation to a local nonprofit that feeds the hungry.
Duane Reade's parent company, Walgreens, this week gave $3,500 to the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, which runs a food pantry at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on West 86th Street and West End Avenue, at the suggestion of state Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who represents the area.
"This is the best possible ending to a situation that began with a lot of anger and frustration," Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) said in a statement this week.
Rosenthal's office was flooded with complaints last year when Duane Reade switched on a brightly lit billboard above its new two-story store at West 72nd and Broadway.
Locals said the glaring screen blasted ads for Duane Reade 24 hours a day, making the intersection look more like Times Square than the Upper West Side.
The Department of Buildings said the video billboard violated city rules because such signs can't be illuminated if they're on the second floor. Duane Reade was fined as a result and, just as neighbors were planning to march in the streets in protest, the company removed the sign.
Doreen Wohl, executive director of West Side Campaign Against Hunger, said the $3,500 donation is welcome because her organization can't keep up with the demand from hungry families. WSCAH has budgeted $10,000 a week to fill the shelves of its food pantry, but increased demand means the organization spends about $13,000, leaving a $3,000 shortfall.
"Every penny is needed and we're very grateful to Duane Reade," Wohl said. "This will keep us going another week."
A spokesman for Duane Reade said the charitable contribution was "in line with our historical support of needy NYC organizations, including City Harvest and our current City Meals on Wheels campaign."
The offending sign was banished to another Duane Reade, according to Rosenthal's office, but the store's spokesman said he didn't know where it had ended up.
Locals who rallied against Duane Reade applauded the donation. Lauri Grossmann, a neighbor who fought to get the sign removed, said in an email that the contribution "sets a fine example and highlights the good that can be done for our communities when concerned citizens work together with responsible businesspeople."
Others said the brouhaha over the sign and the donation that followed should serve as a cautionary tale for other businesses.
"I'm glad Ms. Rosenthal secured this donation, but the most important lesson is that other businesses in our neighborhood must adhere to the rules in future, and respect the ambience we want to maintain for this wonderful residential area," local resident Jeannie Williams wrote in an email.
