philadelphia, kensington avenue what happened philadelphia, kensington avenue what happened

Officers will issue code violation notices and try to prevent new spots from forming. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, (Short Clip #53) Monday, Sept 6, 2021. [56], In 2010, three women (Elaine Goldberg, 21; Nicole Piacentini, 35; and Casey Mahoney, 27) were strangled to death in the neighborhood. The underpass is cleared of homeless during the regular Friday morning police enforced clean-up at the homeless encampment on Kensington Avenue north of E. Lehigh Ave. on the Kensington neighborhood of North Philadelphia on Friday, April 27, 2018. initially postponed due to a lawsuit filed on behalf of residents. In addition to having a high rate of drug overdose deaths, 80% of Philadelphia's overdose deaths involved opioids, and Kensington is a significant contributor to this figure. People are hanging out everywhere, turning tricks and working petty hustles. The camp was cleared, the people chose new spots in the neighborhood to overrun with used needles, overdoses, and trash. Nobody rousts or arrests the line of addicts nodded out in full view in the gutter. But users who buy in the Badlands come to Kensington to shoot up. Last month, the city announced plans to clear out two of the larger encampments: one just north of K&A, the other about a mile south on Lehigh Avenue. During my career I concluded we werent making a dent in drug addiction or related crime. City workers arrived in the early hours to clear out two homeless encampments the latest dustup in a years-long saga in Kensington and try to get the roughly 50 people living there into housing or recovery services. Parks in and adjacent to the neighborhood include Harrowgate Park, McPherson Square, Hope Park, Fairhill Square Park, Norris Square Park, Mascher Park, Frankford Avenue Garden, Arcadia Commons, Trenton and Auburn Park, Letterly Green, Emerald Park, Konrad Square, and Palmer Park. Parents will walk their children to the bus stop, even if it can be seen from their front door, and wait there with them until the bus comes. Because of the high number of drugs in Kensington, the neighborhood has a drug crime rate of 3.57, the third-highest rate by neighborhood in Philadelphia.3 Like a lot of the country, a big part of this issue is a result of the opioid epidemic. Frankford Avenue Baptist Church, 2347-49 Frankford Avenue, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA (1889). Its a place where many admit they dont want to be, but cant get away from. Some merchants, like Widdy Darts, a 108-year-old dartboard manufacturer, have been that way for a long time. Everything You Wanted To Know About Los Angeles Skid Row, Everything You Wanted To Know About Los Angeles' Skid Row, Is Philadelphia Safe To Visit? The government has shown attempts at trying. Using proceeds from the sale of the Hope Farm estate (present day Port Richmond), which included three enslaved people named Abraham, Hannibal, and Phillis,[9] Palmer purchased what was called the Fairman Estate, located along the Delaware River in the Northern Liberties Township (area just north of the City of Philadelphia on the Delaware River). Mattresses lie in the mud along the railway where prostitutes trick, and rapes and assaults are common. These territorial disputes happen in clear daylight, theres no concern for the repercussions. The eyes of one woman in her 20s filled as she sobbed in the arms of a familiar woman, Marti Hottenstein, who pledged to get her off . In recent years, Kensington has experienced increasing social issues primarily related to drug abuse. Heroin isnt sold here muchthat trade is controlled by Latin drug crews in the Badlands. Together we can reach 100% of WHYYs fiscal year goal. These self-described low-bottom dope fiends havent bathed recently, and many have been running and gunning around the clock for days, selling needles and prescription pills, or prostituting on the Avenue to hustle up enough money for another bag of heroin. Local news should be free and accessible, which is why we ask readers like you to support our work rather than charging a fee to see it. Eva Gladstein, Philadelphias deputy managing director for Health and Human Services, said outreach teams have helped more than 20 people connect with social services during the last month of engagement at the two targeted camps, plus an additional four people on Wednesday morning. Fairhill and Norris Square are separate from Kensington with a more central North Philadelphia identity; however, exactly where the neighborhoods separate is subject to much debate and there are people within both neighborhoods who identify with Kensington. Commercial revitalization in the form of businesses a community has use for is a powerful weapon. On March 21, 2021, SEPTA indefinitely closed the Somerset Station of the Market-Frankford Line (MFL). Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. Want a digest of WHYYs programs, events & stories? [10], By the mid-19th century, Kensington became one of the leading centers of the textile industry, particularly in carpet. In 2017, officials moved to raze a large-scale encampment known as El Campamento that had long existed, hidden out of sight along the Conrail train tracks. Safehouse, a nonprofit founded in 2018 with the purpose of opening the first supervised injection site in the country, sought a location in Kensington after their proposed South Philly location ran into opposition from neighbors of the site. Dozens upon dozens of people lived there. Its central to the neighborhood and offers an ideal place to shoot up and camp out. The Tracks, a mile-long wooded stretch of shipping railway cutting across the Badlands, is a section of Philadelphia long ago ceded by law enforcement to drug users. Those who do not frequent it rely on the medias interpretation and are primarily getting this message: Kensington Avenue is a barren wasteland where no happiness can find purchase. Two smiling beat cops dressed in crisp, pressed uniforms foot-patrolled the areas perimeter but steered clear of the crowds around Somerset Street. Philadelphia officials developed what they call the "encampment resolution" process in 2017 after the city swept a . The part of Kensington below Lehigh Street, or as it has been rebranded[citation needed] "Lower Kensington" or "East Kensington", is the part of Kensington most clearly experiencing gentrification. This Philadelphia neighborhood is said to have the largest open-air heroin market on the East Coast, with many neighbors migrating to the area for heroin and other opioids. Longtime neighborhood residents, business owners, and some elected officials have been pushing Mayor Kenneys administration to fix the untenable living conditions especially those brought by widespread homelessness. February 28, 2023 Police seek person who cut Comcast lines on Super Bowl Sunday, causing panic among Eagles fans Approximately 17,000 Xfinity customers in Fishtown and Kensington were affected by . [35][citation needed]. McKinney says the city could use regional support in creating a long-term solution for Kensington. It is not safe . [48], In 2011 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced the closures of three Kensington Catholic schools, as their student numbers had declined: Ascension of Our Lord, St. Anne, and St. Hugh of Cluny.[49]. This area is the aortic valve of the regions opioid crisis, where an estimated billion dollar drug trade draws thousands from all over the region into the post-industrial neighborhood. While Kensington is still the centralized location in Philadelphia for buying and using drugs, some community members, like Bingham, don't believe the neighborhood is the ideal place to get treatment and maintain recovery. Eyes on the Street brings new ideas and fresh voices into the conversation about Philadelphias changing cityscape. PHILADELPHIA - Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Ricardo Carrion, a.k.a. Addicts say the police came down hard on indoor drug establishments. In 2017 developers Shift Capital, in partnership with NKCDC, IMPACT Services Corporation, and the Philadelphia Department of Commerce launched the innovative Kensington Avenue Storefront Challenge. The city has a higher rate of violent crime than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. Mayor Jim Kenney is possibly one of the worse mayor in the Philadelphia history and does nothing to stop it. The town of Kensington was named for the area in London known as Kensington, which had been recently established as the residency of the British crown. Thats anywhere from three to six times the mere 100 emergency shelter beds that were available in June, WHYY News reported. Want a digest of WHYYs programs, events & stories? The area is known as the center of Kensington and was historically the commercial center of the neighborhood. Just before 5 p.m. the following day, in the 2100 block of North 20th Street, police found Dawson Johnson . Emerald Street, Tulip Street, Kensington Avenue, Frankford Avenue the city shut them down one by one, vowing improvement at every step of the way. Its mid-century decline due to deindustrialization paralyzed Kensington. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in late December 2019, heroin abuse in Kensington worsened. Folks are going to migrate to wherever they can go, McKinney said. History set Kensington up for a steady decline. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. Neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States, primarily white young urban professionals, H.W. Kensington development team seeks middle ground between gentrification and stagnation. And public homelessness ranks high on the list of concerns. The opioid epidemic has played a significant role in this problem, as it has in much of the rest of the country. The situation toward Allegheny Avenue grew even more intense after SEPTA briefly closed the Somerset El stop in January. Over the next two years, the city closed down four highly visible tent cities that grew along a series of underpasses. Mainstays such as Martins Deli, Four Sons Pizza, and Bentleys Place operate as they have for decades, plugging along, believing in the strength of their community. He adds that the department does the best it can to guarantee public safety and stop drug use with the resources it has, but that it cant lock up people without good reason. Fishtown, formerly a small subsection of Kensington, has transformed with a new population of more college educated white people as well as increased investment from real estate developers. During my three years managing commercial corridors for theThe New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC), on Kensington Avenue and several other business thoroughfares, I got to know the small business owners, civic associations, and other stakeholders working every day to revitalize the local economy. In addition to having a high rate of drug overdose deaths, 80% of Philadelphia's overdose deaths involved opioids, and Kensington is a significant contributor to this figure. ", "Philly, Conrail near deal on cleanup of Kensington drug encampment", "Mother Jones leading a protest, circa 1903", "Today in labor history: Mother Jones leads march of miners' children", "Kensington: A Lot Of Heart Has Gone Into Revitalizing A Community", "Kensington: Rise and Fall of the Housing Market", "Kensington: Artists Make New Homes Amongst Longtime Residents", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: Clifton Mills, 1833 N. Howard Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: Clifton Mills, 1809-11 N. Howard Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: The Columbia Works, 155-59 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: The Decorating Plant of Gillinder & Sons' Franklin Flint Glass Works, 1700-06 N. Howard Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: Frankford Avenue Baptist Church, 2437-49 Frankford Avenue, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: Harbisons' Dairies, 2041-55 Coral Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Kensington's historic milk bottle flashing refurbished look", "Kensington's giant milk bottle gets historic designation", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: Kensington Hospital for Women, 128-40 Diamond Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: Peter Woll & Sons, Curled Hair & Bristles, 173 W. Berks Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places: Second Associate Presbyterian Church, 1527 N. Front Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: The Star Carpet Mills, 1801-03 N. Howard Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: Weisbrod & Hess' Loading Room, Condenser & Storage/Boiler & Wash House, 2117 E. York Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA", "Gentrification disproportionately affects minorities", "How Fishtown, Philadelphia Became America's Hottest New Neighborhood", "Philly residents in areas affected by overdoses want a say in talks over a supervised injection site", "SEPTA To Indefinitely Close Somerset Station In Kensington To Develop Safety & Security Strategy, Repairs", "Kensington protests closing of SEPTA's Somerset El station, a lifeline for a battered neighborhood", "SEPTA closing Somerset Station temporarily to fix elevators, confront safety concerns", "SEPTA to Reopen Somerset Station on Monday, April 5 | SEPTA", "Safehouse drops South Philly plans, looks to Kensington after judge suspends launch", "Safehouse vows to take more community input on supervised injection site plans", "Kensington neighbors dismayed by ruling on supervised injection site", "Who We Are - NKCDC - Community development should benefit residents", "Three Catholic schools closing in Bucks County", "As the pandemic surges, 'no one deserves what's brewing in Kensington. This has made it hard for police to quell the trade. Agraduate of Temple University, he has produced award-winning journalism on local politics, criminal justice, immigration According to NeighborhhoodLink, an online source for demographics, geography and economic statistics, the average house value in the 19125 zip code of Kensington is now at $43,500. Just a few blocks away, the Kensington Storefront, a collaboration between Impact Services, NKCDC, Mural Arts, Prevention Point Philadelphia and The Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS), transformed an abandoned Cricket Wireless Store into a hub for arts-based community events, trainings, and meetings. Kensington Independent Civic Association), This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 14:40. A new phase of the Wayne Junction revitalization plan is underway. That camp was cleared, and another formed. There still is no answer for the full number of people out here, McKinney said. Get your daily rundown of Philly happenings in less than 10 minutes, Philadelphia local news: Neighborhoods, politics, food, and fun, Get Philly smart with BPs free daily newsletter. The Avenue runs 3 miles through what is now a dangerous and crime-ridden neighborhood. Not by the thousands who call it home and certainly not by the merchants who, every day, open their businesses. From there, drug dens sprung up across the neighborhood and allowed for gangs to breed in the area. Kensington mostly lies under the 180th State Representative District, being represented by Jose Giral. The city's violent crime rate is higher than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. The most conservative boundaries of the neighborhood, shown in the map below, are Front Street and 5th Street to the west, the Amtrak train tracks to the North, Trenton Avenue, the Trenton Avenue train tracks, and Frankford Avenue to the east, and Cecil B. Moore Avenue to the south. You have to bring services to addicts, offer them treatment. This is not a one and done, and well keep doing the work.. Philadelphia, PA (February 26, 2023) - After noon on Sunday, February 26, a serious eight-vehicle collision with injuries took place in Philadelphia. Central Kensington, or "the Heart of Kensington" as it is called in a recent Impact Services neighborhood plan,[6] stretches along Kensington Avenue from Tusculum and Somerset Streets to Tioga Street (see Impact Services plan[6] for a more accurate map). Though Kensington addicts seem to think so, the police department pushed back forcefully against this notion. Read the news of the day in less than 10 minutes not that were counting. "You can't buy, use, and recover in the same neighborhood," Bingham said. Also alarming is Philadelphia's drug overdose rate. According to Philadelphia Police, the accident happened at 3300 Kensington Avenue in the Kensington section of Philly. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Addictions a medical problem; cops dont want to deal with that. They paint a picture of a poverty zoo. Its a scene that will look familiar to viewers of HBOs The Wire, an episode of which, titled Hamsterdam, showed Baltimore police effectively legalizing drugs within an established zone of an infested neighborhood. Kensington has several medium and small sized parks and playgrounds which offer a variety of uses for visitors. [8] People suffering from addiction and/or homelessness concentrate around the Somerset and Allegheny train stations, in nearby parks, and on residential streets, angering long-term residents. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, What happened Today, October, 05, 2021. kimgary 266K subscribers 348K views 1 year ago Most dangerous street in Philadelphia Kensington. McNeil Laboratories began with the purchase of a pharmacy in the area in 1879 by the company's namesake. During the hunt for the strangler, the area was flooded with cops. They're visible within seconds of exiting the subway: injections in broad daylight, tent encampments, legions of trash and squalor. Police said the victim is a 43-year-old man, who was stabbed multiple times. As momentum grows, more and more entrepreneurs are looking at Kensington Avenue as a viable corridor for their businesses. The New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, WHYY thanks our sponsors become a WHYY sponsor. [39], The proposal to open a supervised injection site in Kensington has faced backlash from residents, despite the area's prevalent public drug use. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. When resources are limited, you get to a point as a police officer where you ask yourself, Why am I doing something ineffective? says former Maryland State Police officer Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of criminal-justice professionals who favor drug-law reform. Kensington was previously known for its large working class Irish Catholic community and was the site of the Philadelphia Nativist Riots in the 19th century. Several men rush to be the first to make a dollar selling her a syringe. The white residents fled to the suburbs and people of color and limited means moved in. Housing justice advocates have criticized the citys treatment of encampment residents in both Kensington and Center City, alleging that officials fail to provide adequate long-term housing options after shutting down their living sites. [40] In Kensington, most residents have opposed the plans and organized against the site being located in Kensington, including leaders of five civic organizations in the area. City housing officials say 300; police estimated over 650 people this summer. Probably for. Kensington Hospital for Women, 128-40 Diamond Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA. Peter Woll & Sons, Curled Hair & Bristles, 173 W. Berks Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA. Second Associate Presbyterian Church, 1523-25 N. Front Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA (185254). The citys violent crime rate is higher than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas.1 Also alarming is Philadelphias drug overdose rate. City personnel help to clear an encampment on the 3200 block of Kensington Avenue, raze a large-scale encampment known as El Campamento, after SEPTA briefly closed the Somerset El stop. ', "Trapped by the 'Walmart of Heroin' Housing Alliance of PA.org", "Philadelphia's Kensington Avenue: Heroin, Prostitution, and No Police", Police arrest 'Kensington Strangler' person of interest, "9 people shot outside bar in Philadelphia: report", "9 shot outside bar in Kensington: Philadelphia police", New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Graduate Hospital / Southwest Center City, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kensington,_Philadelphia&oldid=1140536041, Articles using NRISref without a reference number, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using infobox settlement with possible area code list, Pages using infobox settlement with no coordinates, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022, Articles with failed verification from June 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. On the night we visited, police cars cruised past, their lights flashing, but never stopped. Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. The majority of the neighborhood is renter occupied, 55.6% overall, and up to 66.3% in one tract. Eight months ago, the Kensington Strangler was stalking and murdering addicted prostitutes who worked the Avenue. It has always had the El train that runs straight through Kensington. The School District of Philadelphia operates public schools. Many died there. Through it all, I consistently found myself impressed in awe of the merchants on Kensington Avenue and hopeful for their entrepreneurial futures. Those of us who work and have worked in this community are routinely disappointed by these narratives, and the merchants on Kensington Avenue have their livelihood betrayed by them. The generally accepted boundaries of the neighborhood[citation needed] are Front Street and 5th Street to the West, the Amtrak train tracks to the North, Trenton Avenue, the Trenton Avenue train tracks, and Frankford Avenue to the East, and Cecil B. Moore Avenue to the South. Philadelphias District Attorney Seth Williams risked backlash from hardcore law-and-order types when he recently stopped criminally prosecuting minor marijuana offenses. In 1903 Mother Jones organized a "Children's Crusade" of children from the local mills and mines to protest against child labor. But we cant do this until the federal government changes its stance on prohibition., Lt. Ray Evers has a harsh retort for Franklin and his reform-minded law-enforcement ilk. [4] It was also the birthplace of the K&A Gang, currently known as the Northeast Philly Irish Mob, an Irish American organized crime network. Kim Gary shared a video drive-through of Kensington that will leave you speechless that city Democrats are ignoring the real problems in their city. The decision has saved the city millions, and won cheers nationwide from drug-law reformers. Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks floor seat tickets. Prevention Point Philadelphia, a public health organization providing harm reduction services to Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Man stabbed to death in Kensington, attacker seen running away Police: Man dead after shooting in Kensington 2 people shot in separate incidents in Philadelphia overnight Police seek suspects. The Free Library of Philadelphia operates the McPherson Square Branch at 601 East Indiana Avenue,[50] and the Kensington Branch at 104 W Dauphin Street. Its how we live. These are bakeries, daycares, artist spaces, and coffee roasters; businesses selected to draw foot traffic and fill much-needed service gaps.