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Brooklyn Coffee Shop Owner Says Someone Called 3-1-1 Over Smell

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- These days, complaining about something in your neighborhood is as easy as dialing 3-1-1, but one Brooklyn business owner wishes people would handle it the old-fashioned way.

The coffee's been roasting on Court Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn for more than 50 years.

"I grew up in the neighborhood so I grew up smelling it all my life. It used to come in my windows," coffee shop owner Joan D'Amico said.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reports

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So she was taken aback when a city inspector stopped in last week and "said that he had gotten a complaint, an anonymous complaint," D'Amico told Alex Silverman.

Someone, it would seem, isn't too keen on the smell.

"We were a little concerned, so I wrote a note which you'll see in the window," she said.

The note reads: "If you have concerns with out roasting schedule, we invite you to come talk to us."

"We're willing to rearrange our roasting schedule, you know, we'll work with you. We'll work around the problem," she said.

"I wish people would be more considerate, not be so quick to lodge a formal complaint, because it could really hurt people, could hurt somebody's livelihood," she said.

Are people too quick to dial 3-1-1? Sound off in our comments section below...

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