New York- Planet Pleasure, meet Murder Avenue.

Back in the early 1990’s, thanks to a high crime rate and a popular song by the Brooklyn rap group the Geto Boys, the stretch of Myrtle Avenue that runs through the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Clinton Hill and Fort Greene acquired the nickname Murder Avenue.

But the avenue, which is home to a new “adult-oriented store,” the only one in the two neighborhoods, has cleaned up its act. In the 12 years since the rappers sang about the street, crime has dropped significantly in the surrounding areas; according to the 88th Police Precinct, which serves the area, total crime is down 70 percent, and there have been no murders this year, compared with 25 in 1993.

Planet Pleasure, a modest storefront near Grand Street with a hot pink and black sign bearing the words “Whatever your pleasure,” arrived in May, and many local residents fear that the store will attract the kind of criminal activities they have worked hard to combat.

“The issue for me personally is impact,” said Robert Perris, district manager of Community Board 2. “Are there now guys down the street having sex with prostitutes? Are there used condoms littering the streets?” (The answer, according to Police Officer Lisa Connor, a spokeswoman for the precinct, is no.)

Some residents did not even realize that they had a new neighbor. The Rev. Alethia Rice, who serves as pastor of the Bishop Memorial Mission across the street, said she hadn’t noticed the place until her grown daughter stumbled upon it one day.

“She walked by and thought it was a supper club, and then, boom, she quickly realized it was a different kind of dish being served,” said Pastor Rice while serving her homeless congregation her own dish of fried chicken with macaroni and cheese.

Pastor Rice is one of many seeking to put Planet Pleasure out of business. She said she had signed a petition to protest the store and also planned to distribute petitions of her own.

In the 70’s and 80’s, the glut of porn shops in Times Square was a symptom, and, many believed, a cause, of the kind of crime and unsavory behavior that the Giuliani administration sought to curtail. Zoning regulations passed in 1995 stipulated that no adult-oriented business could exist within 500 feet of a residence, church, school or another so-called adult-oriented business.

A 2001 amendment, known as the “60-40 law,” stipulated that a business was “adult-oriented” if more than 40 percent of its merchandise was adult-oriented.

The Department of Buildings has ruled that Planet Pleasure is operating in violation of the amendment. “We had an inspector go undercover to the store to evaluate their inventory,” said Jennifer Givner, a department spokeswoman.

Mike Rizzi, an owner of the store, said he planned to contest the violations in court.

“Thirty-five percent of my merchandise is adult,” he said. “I always stay 5 percent under what the law lets me do. Most of what I have is lingerie, toys, lube, all of which are within the law.” A clerk, reaching for a large replica of a male sex organ, added: “See this? This is offensive to some people, but that don’t mean it’s illegal.”

Mr. Rizzi, who also runs an online sex store and two Pleasure Planet franchises in Staten Island, said he chose Clinton Hill as the location for his new shop because 70 percent of the hits on his company’s Web site come from the Myrtle Avenue ZIP code.

“It’s an artsy, First Amendment, liberal neighborhood,” he said. “Everyone in this area has a sex toy, everyone has lube. If not, maybe they’re the ones who need help. Come in here, we’ll show you how to enjoy your bodies.”