A rail-thin woman with hollowed-out cheeks rushed from beneath the El tracks. That camp was cleared, and another formed. Yet the city has promised zero tolerance for encampments before, and the crackdowns have not yielded a long term solution. Some residents of Kensington wont go out without driving, not wanting to walk through the neighborhood despite living there. It is not safe . With the promise of rent subsidies and financial technical assistance from Shift and partners, nine new businesses will be opening shop on Kensington Avenue by this summer. The citys unrelenting heat wave has left them worse for wear, their exposed skin coated in a glaze of sweat, their tank tops and shorts smeared with street grime. Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. It happened Monday around 10:40 p.m. on the. Yellowstone vs Zion: Which National Park Should I Visit? 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. History set Kensington up for a steady decline. The original area of Kensington is now more commonly called "Fishtown," mainly because of the shad fishing that was one of the dominant businesses in Kensington in the 18th and 19th centuries. Eight months ago, the Kensington Strangler was stalking and murdering addicted prostitutes who worked the Avenue. 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. Weisbrod & Hess' Loading Room, Condenser & Storage/Boiler & Wash House, 2117 E. York Street (189091). The city sees hope in this kind of intervention. The drug overdose rate in Philadelphia is also concerning. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in late December 2019, heroin abuse in Kensington worsened. Within Kensington, various sub-neighborhoods including Kensington (the Heart of Kensington), Harrowgate, Lower Kensington, West Kensington. Kensington's river ward identity puts it in contrast with the neighborhoods to its west. As with all neighborhoods in the city, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources over time and are disputed among locals. I n the underworld of Philadelphia, beneath the elevated subway line along Kensington Avenue, tears were as prevalent as needles. Kensington was featured in Nat Geos 2013 docu-series, Drugs Inc. in the episode about Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police are searching for two suspects who are wanted in connection with a violent carjacking earlier this week. Police confirmed that a total of eight vehicles became involved in a messy collision in the [] Philadelphia is known for its rich history, cheesesteak, and love for the Eagles. 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. The opioid epidemic has played a significant role in this problem, as it has in much of the rest of the country. Kensington Avenue in North Philadelphia is infamous for drug abuse and prostitution. However, the drug market remained decentralized, running through small groups of dealers that were harder to prosecute than, say, a crime syndicate. "You can't buy, use, and recover in the same neighborhood," Bingham said. We have four outreach teams out in Kensington every day. 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. On Wednesday, Steve, a 30-year-old fentanyl user who declined to give his last name, said he sympathized with the residents plight. Welcome Van Life Wanderer! 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. I also undertook strategies to address chronic issues of blight and vacancy. "[12][13][14], Deindustrialization eventually took hold in the neighborhood in the 1950s, leading to a significant population loss, high unemployment, economic decline, and abandoned homes. 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. If BP helped inform you, join as a member today! Eyes on the Street brings new ideas and fresh voices into the conversation about Philadelphias changing cityscape. (2021 Crime Rates And Crime Stats), Is Pittsburgh Safe To Visit? Kensington has traditionally been known as one of the working class centers of Philadelphia. 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. Fentanyl has devastating withdrawal effects, though. Emerald Street, Tulip Street, Kensington Avenue, Frankford Avenue . Days before the start of the New Year, the 16-year-old girl from the Philadelphia suburbs disappears for the third time in four months as she battles a heroin addiction that . Now home to fifty-one residents, this former source of blight is transformed to a beacon of hope. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you . Kensington has many playgrounds within or adjacent to its boundaries including Nelson Playground, Waterloo Playground, Hissey Playground, McPherson Square Playground, Heitzman Recreation Center, McKinley Playground / McVeigh Recreation Center, Scanlon Playground and Ice Rink, Harrowgate Park Playground, Fairhill Square Park Playground, Eric Casiano Field, Mascher Park / Maguire Playground, Black Coyle and McBride Playground, Pop's Playground, Pop's Skatepark, Hagert Street Playground, Shissler Recreation Center, and Towey Playground. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Over the next two years, the city closed down four highly visible tent cities that grew along a series of underpasses. It happened just after 12 p.m. Sunday on the 3300 block of Kensington. The City of Philadelphia, Police and social services are along Kensington Avenue near Willard Street on Wednesday morning August 18, 2021, clearing the streets of homeless in the center of the opioid epidemic in the city. The number of drug overdose deaths in the city . Kensington has become a welter of crisscrossing needs and opinions, a civic puzzle no one's been able to solve. Kensington was the birthplace of the K&A Gang, an Irish American organized crime association known for their distribution of methamphetamine in the 1980s. This is probably one of the most drug infested streets in Philadelphia. 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. 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. Construction has started on Penns Landing park over I-95 highway trench. These territorial disputes happen in clear daylight, theres no concern for the repercussions. The avenue runs on a north/south slant and unofficially includes the neighborhoods of Kensington, East and West Kensington, Fairhill, Port Richmond, and Olde Richmond. [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. 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? Soon, it too will house a commercial tenant and NKCDCs new offices. 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. You have to bring services to addicts, offer them treatment. [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. Two smiling beat cops dressed in crisp, pressed uniforms foot-patrolled the areas perimeter but steered clear of the crowds around Somerset Street. The entire estate consisted of 191.5 acres of land, much smaller than the present-day Kensington area. The problem is, no one seems to want to write about the good. [10], By the mid-19th century, Kensington became one of the leading centers of the textile industry, particularly in carpet. [35][citation needed]. The stranglers final victim, a prostitute named Casey Mahoney, was murdered here. Between the two encampments targeted on Wednesday, half a dozen other spots continue to grow. Drug dealers at the corners. A 25-year-old woman was shot once in her left leg. They have attempted to clean up the neighborhoods, planting trees and replacing broken street lights. [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 isnt a Kensington problem, he said. A former bank will become a commercial kitchen and event space. Crack houses and shooting galleries were raided because women could easily get raped and killed there. 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. These boundaries have since shifted so that a large area north of Lehigh Avenue is now considered part of Kensington, while Fishtown is no longer considered part of the neighborhood. Dozens upon dozens of people lived there. This street wears its heart on its sleeve, triumphs, and failures on full display. But users who buy in the Badlands come to Kensington to shoot up. 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. Subs are Suboxone, a pill containing buprenophine, a drug that eases the pain of heroin withdrawal. Over the next two years, the city closed down four highly visible "tent cities" that grew along a series of underpasses. [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. "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 . Driven by a resident engagement process, this is a best practices model for how to equitably manage what could be a tidal wave of gentrification as Philadelphians continue to discover the under-the-radar appeal of the area. The right to shop locally in your community is enjoyed by most Philadelphia residents, and Kensingtonians are taking their corridor back. The median yearly income of the neighborhood is $28,368, ranging from $18,516 to $77,979. As for other encampments nearby, he said the city will need to post additional notice before staging more evictions. Neighborhood residents have raged against City Hall for years over the litany of woes from drug dealing to missed trash collection. Read more ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer by Alfred Lubrano Published Aug 5, 2021 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. They eventually set up a new encampment under another railway bridge nearby. Drawing from community informed strategic plans, they build relationships and provide support business by business. 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. It is this sort of activism, buoyed by engaged (and zoning savvy!) Worse, still, are the articles characterizing this commercial corridor as an adventurous destination for the open-minded shopper. [37] The station was reopened on April 5 with increased police presence. McKinney says the city could use regional support in creating a long-term solution for Kensington. Through it all, I consistently found myself impressed in awe of the merchants on Kensington Avenue and hopeful for their entrepreneurial futures. Kensington is home to a number of community development corporations working to improve housing conditions and economic activity in the neighborhood: Kensington is represented on the Philadelphia's City Council by Districts 1 and 7. Postal Service designates Kensington as ZIP codes 19125 (Kensington Station). The camp was cleared, the people chose new spots in the neighborhood to overrun with used needles, overdoses, and trash. All About Max Winkler. At A and Indiana, an anxious crowd gathered, their eyes filled with the weary desperation that is so emblematic of addiction. It has always had the El train that runs straight through Kensington. Adjacent neighborhoods are Northern Liberties (ZIP code 19123), Fishtown and Olde Richmond (ZIP code 19125), Port Richmond (ZIP code 19134). But arresting heroin addicts? Almost half of the neighborhoods residents live below the poverty line. Sections of the neighborhood are frequented by a significant number of people experiencing drug addiction and/or homelessness. Officers will issue code violation notices and try to prevent new spots from forming. The white residents fled to the suburbs and people of color and limited means moved in. WHYY provides trustworthy, fact-based, local news and information and world-class entertainment to everyone in our community. The square is home to the neighborhoods library, many of whose bookkeepers regularly run out with Narcan to help prevent overdoses. They declared a statewide disaster over the drug epidemic in 2017. You have to do [legalization] right if youre going to do it, otherwise you create more problems, says Franklin of LEAP. Learn more about Social Responsibility at WHYY. Philadelphia officials developed what they call the "encampment resolution" process in 2017 after the city swept a . He once lived in the infamous Emerald Street encampment in Kensington, and saw how its closure in 2019 just shuffled people to other areas. Who is Henry Winklers Son? A Google search for " Kensington Avenue Philadelphia " yields horrendous images of sad-eyed people slumped over in varying poses of despair. The storefront challenge is a proactive answer to the inequity created by corridor vacancy. Many now-users originally sought out street drugs due to injuries or post-surgery pains and couldnt afford the legal medicines to soothe their pain. 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 It is similar to Central Kensington but is slightly quieter and has fewer crimes. But since Januarywhen 22-year-old Antonio Rodriguez, a PCP-smoking petty drug dealer from the notorious adjoining Badlands neighborhood, was arrested and charged with the murdersaddicts say that police have retreated, leaving them to do their drugs in relative peace. The case was dropped in July. Representatives from these organizations economic development teams work hand in hand with business owners, residents, developers, and other stakeholders to strengthen the business community. Nobody rousts or arrests the line of addicts nodded out in full view in the gutter. 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. The United States Post Office operates the Kensington Post Office at 1602 Frankford Ave.[47] The U.S. 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. West Kensington is similar to Norris Square and Fairhill in that it has a similar demographic to most of Kensington while having a more North Central Philadelphia identity,[citation needed] but unlike the other two neighborhoods it remains certainly part of 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. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed over the last two decades in the United States and Philadelphia is no exception. While the moniker Killadelphia implies gangland warfare, Kensington is plagued by another culprit: the drug trade. You can do that in Amsterdam, Will Sims says, comparing hard-ass Kensington with what he perceives to be the touchy-feely Netherlands, but this is Philly, and Philly aint Amsterdam.. Users flock to the scene. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue, What happened today, Aug, 2021. "Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a . Kensington development team seeks middle ground between gentrification and stagnation. pic.twitter.com/yXU3zfzpGp. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. A silver Toyota pulls up to the curb and a heavy-set blonde hops out. Once it hit rock bottom, the need for an outlet brought more people in. Kensington Avenue also benefits from the non-profit organizations operating there. On January 4, 2016, Jim Kenney was sworn in as the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia. The super brief history is Kensington was a thriving industrial area of factory workers until deindustrialization happened which left the neighborhood impoverished and jobless. 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. Soon, thanks to this effort and efforts like it, they wont have to. 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. Juniata, the neighborhood to the north, and Kensington are similar demographically, yet the former is slightly wealthier and has more green space. City Managing Director Tumar Alexander, who oversees the police response in Kensington, said there will be a zero tolerance policy for new encampments on the two targeted blocks. Kensington has always been a rough area since before the 70s. But a day later, and not far away, on the 1700 block of West Atlantic Street in North Philly, there was bloodshed and death.
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