By Neal Pollack
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Betty’s Resale Shop was either a treasure trove or an eyesore, depending on who was looking. Last week the city stepped in to settle the debate (detailed in the Reader September 25). On Wednesday, November 18, five garbage trucks pulled up to the strip of storefronts on the 3400 block of North Lincoln. They were followed by officials from the Department of Streets and Sanitation, several police officers, and Alderman Ted Matlak. The garbagemen walked into the building at 3439 N. Lincoln and began removing sheets of glass, secondhand appliances, old lamps, and whatever else they could lay their hands on. Mary Gonzalez, who runs the shop for her mother, Betty Merker, didn’t take it sitting down. She ordered her employees to start hauling the stuff to the building next door. The garbagemen grabbed Gonzalez’s desk and tossed it into their truck.
Matlak says that cleaning up Betty’s has been one of his top priorities since he took over the alderman’s job in May, replacing his former boss, Terry Gabinski. This summer Gonzalez was issued citations, but not much changed. Complaints continued to mount. “This has been an escalation over the years,” Matlak says. “She was never willing to cooperate. For the city to physically come in and clean it out, I can’t tell you how far along in the process this is. I’ve been begging her for years, and I don’t think she understands now.”
“It just seems like everything’s getting twisted around,” says Gonzalez. “Why are they condemning me? I can’t do nothing to please them! I give people a way to make a living. I go to every garage sale in this neighborhood. I go to every estate sale. Everybody that calls me, I’m open. That’s why everybody says, ‘Mary, I cannot believe you’re having this kind of trouble.’ I say, ‘I don’t believe it myself. Why are they dumping on Betty’s?’” o
