Residents of the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood picketed last night outside a video store, hoping their chanting and poster-waving would prod D.C. officials to shut a business the neighbors said has been operating illegally as a sex shop for more than a decade.

The rally near Fun Fair Video-Movie, in the 900 block of Fifth Street NW, drew more than 30 people, who held signs reading "Not Fun Not Fair" and "Prada Not Porn."

Cary Silverman, president of the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association, said the store's certificate of occupancy is for a mainstream video outlet. According to neighbors and city officials, Fun Fair lacks the proper certificate of occupancy to operate as a sexually oriented video store.

The store has been wrangling with the city over its business license for more than a decade.

Fun Fair displays several rows of plastic-coated VHS movie boxes in its front aisles. But neighbors claimed that most of the store's revenue comes from pornographic videos that customers pay a fee to watch in booths in the back of the store.

Diane Groomes, commander of the 1st Police District, said police made a drug-related arrest in the lobby of the store Friday night. She said she forwarded information about the drug sale to the attorney general's office and contacted the city's nuisance-property task force.

Groomes said she has seen plenty of activity near the store.

"They sit and drink their coffee and then get up their nerve to go in" to the video store, Groomes said.