The whole city, its always a battle for space, and any open space is going to get filled., Love Philly? From there, drug dens sprung up across the neighborhood and allowed for gangs to breed in the area. A loan from a Community Development Financing Institution (CDFI) or a Storefront Improvement (SIP) or In-Store grant from the Department of Commerce carries the capacity to transform a block and breathe life into a business. With such a high concentration of drugs in Kensington, many state and local officials have focused on the neighborhood in an attempt to address Philadelphia's problem. Subscribe to SBC News: https://www.youtube.com/c/SBCNewsYouTube?sub_confirmation=1#SBCNews The camp was cleared, the people chose new spots in the neighborhood to overrun with used needles, overdoses, and trash. Philadelphia, PA (February 26, 2023) - After noon on Sunday, February 26, a serious eight-vehicle collision with injuries took place in Philadelphia. City housing officials say 300; police estimated over 650 people this summer. The drug overdose rate in Philadelphia is also concerning. Since then, drug activity and homelessness has intensified in the shadow of the El between the Somerset and Allegheny stops on the Market-Frankford Line. On January 4, 2016, Jim Kenney was sworn in as the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia. Commissioner [Charles] Ramsey does not support it; no one in this department does. McNeil Laboratories began with the purchase of a pharmacy in the area in 1879 by the company's namesake. [39], The proposal to open a supervised injection site in Kensington has faced backlash from residents, despite the area's prevalent public drug use. Were trying to make sure people are attaching to services rather than moving, Gladstein said. On the night we visited, police cars cruised past, their lights flashing, but never stopped. They were en route to more serious crimes going down to the west in the Badlands. Police said the victim is a 43-year-old man, who was stabbed multiple times. The few other businesses Chinese take outs and Irish pubs have missing persons signs hung in the windows. Kensington Avenue also benefits from the non-profit organizations operating there. Most dangerous street in PhiladelphiaKensington Philadelphia Drug \u0026 Crime ProblemsViolent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. 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. Even more concerning are the fetishizations of the corridor, which go something like this: Yes its bad, but it can be fun to visit because its bad. 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. Anything else is tantamount to poverty porn and disrespectful to the people who dedicate their lives to making Kensington Avenue a better place. "PR," age 41, of Philadelphia, PA, was convicted at trial of all counts with which he was charged, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute crack and heroin, arising from his leadership role in supplying a drug . 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. McPherson Square, the park at the heart of the neighborhood, is home to at least 80 to 100 people every night, said Bill McKinney, executive director of the New Kensington Community Development Corporation who lives nearby. The dualities are stark; Kensington is still an avenue of pain and trauma, ground zero for the opioid crisis, prostitution, and poverty. Evers confirms that there were coordinated efforts to empty Kensingtons shooting galleries during the stranglers killing spree, and he says this brought crime rates in the neighborhood way down. This street wears its heart on its sleeve, triumphs, and failures on full display. He once lived in the infamous Emerald Street encampment in Kensington, and saw how its closure in 2019 just shuffled people to other areas. GDP . The number of drug overdose . Persuading the federal government to change its prohibition stance will prove difficult, considering how fiercely divisive the issue is among law enforcement. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed over the last two decades in the United States and Philadelphia is no exception. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue, What happened today, Aug, 2021. kimgary 267K subscribers Subscribe 5.3M views 1 year ago Show more 1.9M views New Orleans Tourist Traps and Things to. But Meyer, a 35-year-old whos spent years bounding between rehab and the streets as he battles his addiction, said it felt like deja vu. Natalie Raitano is a fitness instructor and former actress who is most famously known for her role on the show V.I.P. Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. Kensington, colloquially known locally as Kenzo, is a neighborhood in Philadelphia that belongs to or divides Lower Northeast and North Philadelphia. The problem is, no one seems to want to write about the good. 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 . Or theyre just going to go to the back streets.. neighborhood street scenes in kensington, philadelphia, pa - kensington philadelphia stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images Discarded needles are seen at a heroin encampment in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 7, 2017. Parts of it were once called the 'Badlands' and it is hell on earth. Like many corridors, there are destination spots for Philly foodies. 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. Heriza became interested in Kensington after seeing a 2018 article in the New York Times magazine about the drug epidemic in the neighborhood. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. Philadelphias District Attorney Seth Williams risked backlash from hardcore law-and-order types when he recently stopped criminally prosecuting minor marijuana offenses. The area is densely residential, but crime rates are highest in this part of Kensington and, because of relocation actions taken by Philadelphia's Police,[7][8] it has the highest concentration of homeless and opioid addicted residents. [36] The closure, which happened without consulting with residents and lacked advanced notice,[37] was ostensibly to repair elevators that had been damaged by human waste and trash and concerns about safety for workers. [58], In 2022, multiple gunmen fired approximately 40 rounds into a crowd from a black vehicle near Kensington Avenue and East Allegheny hitting nine people. 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. Along with its teeming trade in illicit materials, Kensington is also a highly dangerous neighborhood. Kensington Independent Civic Association), This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 14:40. Philadelphia's most dangerous street.Problems with Drugs and Crime in Kensington Ave, PhiladelphiaIn Philadelphia as a whole, violent crime and drug abuse are major issues. The decision has saved the city millions, and won cheers nationwide from drug-law reformers. In the absence of a larger plan, he was certain those encampments would grow in the coming weeks. 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. Port Richmond has a historically Polish population but is becoming more mixed, and Olde Richmond, an area just north of Fishtown, is experiencing similar gentrification. Yet the city has promised zero tolerance for encampments before, and the crackdowns have not yielded a long term solution. Kensington has always been a rough area since before the 70s. Then they, like Kensginton, began to decline further. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, (Short Clip #53) Monday, Sept 6, 2021. Folks are going to migrate to wherever they can go, McKinney said. [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. What sort of reprieve Wednesdays action will offer neighbors and business owners remains unclear. 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. With such a high concentration of drugs in Kensington, many state and local officials have focused on the neighborhood in an attempt to address Philadelphia's problem.#SBCNews Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, Here's What Happened Today, Tuesday, Sept 7, 20 . 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. Answer (1 of 7): I live and minister here as a pastor. Max Marin (he/him) was Billy Penn's investigative reporter from 2018 to 2021. Most encampment residents had moved out from the former site before Wednesday morning. This section of Philadelphia is considered the center of opioid drug use and the city and community are working to bring the crisis under control.Read more ANTHONY PEZZOTTI / Staff Photographer [38] However, the decision to close the station "indefinitely" led hundreds of Kensington residents to march from Somerset Station to Allegheny Station in protest, recreating the longer trip many of them had to take to access the MFL since the closure. Its mid-century decline due to deindustrialization paralyzed Kensington. The drug is even cheaper to produce and procure than fentanyl and is more dangerous in the sense that Narcan is not effective against overdoses. That camp was cleared, and another formed. It has one of the largest rates of shootings in the city and is the scene of many murders. Many progressives endorse the idea of allowing addicts to get high in certain sections of cities without fear of arrest. NKCDC is working on the redevelopment of the Orinoka Civic House. Kensington is home to a large population of Hispanic Americans, mainly Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and African Americans. McPherson Square is the heart of Kensington. 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. (2021 Crime Rates And Crime Stats), Is Pittsburgh Safe To Visit? The city's violent crime rate is higher than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas.1 Also alarming is Philadelphia's drug overdose rate. There is also a charter school, Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School. Kensington belongs to or divides Lower Northeast and North Philadelphia. Subs are Suboxone, a pill containing buprenophine, a drug that eases the pain of heroin withdrawal. Last year alone, Kensington Avenue was approved for over ten SIP grants to renovate commercial facades, which, when complete, will literally change the face of the corridor. Of the non-Hispanic or Latino population, 19% is White, 15.1% is Black or African American, 3.6% is Asian, and 2.2% identify as two or more races. Speaking as someone coming from this field, it can be unforgiving and thirsty work, defined by small victories and glorious defeats. Mark Squilla is the Councilmember for District 1 and Maria D. Quiones Snchez is the Councilmember for District 7. ', "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 March 21, 2021, SEPTA indefinitely closed the Somerset Station of the Market-Frankford Line (MFL). 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. Is the city now looking the other way when it comes to heroin users? 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). Through it all, I consistently found myself impressed in awe of the merchants on Kensington Avenue and hopeful for their entrepreneurial futures. It happened just after 12 p.m. Sunday on the 3300 block of Kensington. Each program mixes interviews with guest travel experts, your call-ins with questions and comments, and music. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of drug overdose deaths in the city increased by 50%, with more than twice as many deaths from overdoses as homicides. Ever since the strangler, addict Will Sims says, we do everything out in the open and the cops are cool with it. Several other addicts out here concur: The reason for all the bustle is that Kensington Avenue has become a drug-bust-free zone. A Google search for " Kensington Avenue Philadelphia " yields horrendous images of sad-eyed people slumped over in varying poses of despair. This is a regional problem that Kensington is very graciously dealing with., Nice to see you. Progress, even the slightest measures, can have enormous impact. The United States Post Office operates the Kensington Post Office at 1602 Frankford Ave.[47] The U.S. To the east of Kensington, Port Richmond and Olde Richmond are each predominantly white neighborhoods. Thats anywhere from three to six times the mere 100 emergency shelter beds that were available in June, WHYY News reported. Despite research on the positive effects of these sites, the Trump administration blocked them from being established. Corridor vacancy, lower costs of real estate, and dedicated community groups and entrepreneurs make for an attractive location. [Kensington] presents a prime opportunity for a heroin maintenance program where addicts could get heroin legally, safely, and free of cost so they dont commit robberies and other crimes to support their habits. Knowing Kensington Avenue like I do, I am distressed by its predominantly negative and fetishized depiction in the media. Kensington Avenue's ghoulish world of addiction and prostitution exists outside the law. Close to the I-95, and a stones throw away from the scenic Delaware river, Kensington is a neighborhood in northern Philly with quite the reputation. But the Tracks, like Kensington Avenue, resemble a libertarian utopia gone wrong. Clifton Mills, 1833 N. Howard Street, Kensington (185263). Commercial revitalization in the form of businesses a community has use for is a powerful weapon. These merchants do not need your pity, they want your business, and they deserve to be taken seriously. Agraduate of Temple University, he has produced award-winning journalism on local politics, criminal justice, immigration This summer, the Philadelphia Police Department canceled seven blocks in the area due to safety concerns. The number of drug overdose deaths in the city . They tried to institute safe-injection sites, where users can shoot up without fear of prosecution. link to Whatever Happened To Natalie Raitano. It happened shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday in the area of Fairhill Square Park at 4th Street and Lehigh Avenue. 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. It happened just after 12 p.m. Sunday on the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue. Addicts say. Not everyone who takes advantage of the trade on Kensington Ave lives nearby, though. Shes comparatively clean cut, probably from the suburbs or middle-class Northeast Philadelphia, whose residents with a taste for heroin are drawn to Kensington for its freewheeling addiction-bazaar atmosphere. Representatives from these organizations economic development teams work hand in hand with business owners, residents, developers, and other stakeholders to strengthen the business community. Soon, it too will house a commercial tenant and NKCDCs new offices. Even Dr. Oz took the time to show us a Kensington Avenue as a hellscape. These articles tell an intentional narrative, one which has no room for hope. 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. There is a common criticism that officials would never let this happen in whiter, more affluent parts of the city. The cap will be home to nearly 12 acres of parkland and seamlessly connect Old City to the Delaware River waterfront at Penns Landing. Palmer laid out his town and sold parcels to many of the shipwrights and shipbuilders who were outgrowing their riverfront lots in present-day Old City, Southwark, and Society Hill areas. I cant just arrest someone for hanging out on a stoop looking like theyre high on drugs., Even if Philadelphia hasnt officially decriminalized drug use in Kensington, the citys addicts are well aware that this is a place where they can get high without police harassment. Google Maps borders for Kensington show it including much of what is considered Fishtown and excludes West Kensington. It is craft fully omitted, in lieu of the salacious and the tragic. Philadelphia is known for its rich history, cheesesteak, and love for the Eagles. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you . 2913-15 Kensington Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19134 (215) 634-5272 Prevention Point Philadelphia is a harm reduction center that provides syringe exchange services, free medical care, linkage to drug treatment, housing services, HIV/HCV testing, free meals, mail services, medical care, legal services and overdose prevention, and reversal training. 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. The city sees hope in this kind of intervention. Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. Harbisons' Dairies, 2041-55 Coral Street (1895). Afterward, the city repaired a single section of iron fencing in a feeble attempt to seal the area, but enclosing structures at multiple other access points had collapsed. During our visit, addicts casually moved in and out, bringing and injecting their Badlands-bought heroin. Additionally, there is a large population of homeless individuals. This should not be ignored, and is, in fact, impossible to avoid.
