YO! RICK OLIVERI SPEAKS WID US

ICAN TAKE the heat, and I'm not getting out of the kitchen. After 25 years at the Reading Terminal Market, they're trying to evict my Rick's Steaks family and me.

We're a big, tight family made up of grill men and women, some with me for more than 20 years and thousands of customers.

They're among those owed an explanation directly from me of what's really behind the efforts of the market's management not only to put me out of the market, but, in effect, out of business.

My fellow merchants asked me to represent them in dealing with the market bosses as head of our association. If you know anything about the market, you know we're a very independent, outspoken group of mostly family-owned businesses that come from many different backgrounds. The only language we have in common is the language of good food, a love for the market, and for our customers.

I took on the responsibility knowing it wouldn't be easy, that trying to get 80-some merchants to agree on anything would be a challenge, and that we all had to work together to raise the bar of the market to continue to be one of the best public markets anywhere.

It breaks my heart to be involved in a public controversy involving the market, especially because I've worked so hard to create harmony between the merchants and management.

But I didn't invite this fight, a fight for the life of my business, my coworkers and every customer of my shop and the entire market.

MANAGEMENT IS trying to throw me out because they view me as a troublemaker, a whistleblower, somebody who isn't a team player.

I don't know what team

they're playing for, but I've always worked hard to promote the market and every one of

its merchants, so long as he runs a quality business, pays his rent on time and supports the mission of our people's market.

Thankfully, the people are speaking out, many angrily, about this power play.

Thousands are signing petitions at the shop, thousands more are registering their protests online, and our lines grow longer every day.

Nobody is buying the line that management wants me out because they want a "fresh face" and customers are growing tired of our sandwiches. No. This is all about retaliation - with a dash of revenge on the side. *

Rick Olivieri is president of the Reading Terminal Market Merchants Association and owner-operator of Rick's Steaks. His grandfather, Pat Olivieri, created the Philadelphia cheesesteak.