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. Kensington homeless encampments are set for Aug. 18 clear-out. Many 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. 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. 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. Why is there so many trash on the streets of Kensington Avenue - Quora Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, What happened - YouTube At stake in all this, is the soul of a place where Philadelphians have made a living, shopped and socialized for generations. There is no hands-free zone' in the city of Philadelphia, and there never will be, says public-affairs officer Lt. Ray Evers. These 4 nieborhoods are very simialer as far as their economic situations. At A and Indiana, an anxious crowd gathered, their eyes filled with the weary desperation that is so emblematic of addiction. 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. Many progressives endorse the idea of allowing addicts to get high in certain sections of cities without fear of arrest. Now home to fifty-one residents, this former source of blight is transformed to a beacon of hope. 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 This train starts at Bridge st. From Frankford , Juanita, Kensington and Fishtown. [7] Police, after a year and a half, removed these encampments causing its residents to spread up Kensington Avenue. In his first budget, the Mayor worked closely with City Council to fund bold anti-poverty initiatives. Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. Most encampment residents had moved out from the former site before Wednesday morning. 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. Please give today. It has always had the El train that runs straight through Kensington. Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter and stay in the know. Some people cleared from the street sought out permanent housing or treatment, he said but most of the population wouldnt leave an area where they had easy access to drugs. August 18, 2021 / 5:22 PM / CBS Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- City officials broke up a homeless encampment in Kensington Wednesday afternoon, with outreach teams tearing down the. The problem is, no one seems to want to write about the good. The city's violent crime rate is higher than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. 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. PHILADELPHIA - Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Ricardo Carrion, a.k.a. 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. In Philadelphia's Kensington district, home to one of the largest open-air drug markets in the United States, crowds of sellers and buyers flock to corners as if there never were a pandemic. The adjacent Fairhill and Norris Square neighborhoods are more separate but may be included in Kensington; Fishtown and South (Olde) Kensington were previously included but have developed new identities with gentrification. The intersection of Kensington and Allegheny Avenues (commonly referred to by Philadelphians as "K & A") is a major transportation and retail hub in the Kensington neighborhood, as it is served by the Frankford Elevated portion of the MarketFrankford Line which, running on top of Kensington Avenue, dominates the intersection. 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. Each program mixes interviews with guest travel experts, your call-ins with questions and comments, and music. 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. The case was dropped in July. 'There still is no answer': Philly cracks down on Kensington [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. At least four people were transported to the hospital and about eight vehicles were involved in the crash. 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. Parts of it were once called the 'Badlands' and it is hell on earth. The camp was cleared, the people chose new spots in the neighborhood to overrun with used needles, overdoses, and trash. The city has a higher rate of violent crime than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. The majority of the neighborhood is renter occupied, 55.6% overall, and up to 66.3% in one tract. Some residents of Kensington wont go out without driving, not wanting to walk through the neighborhood despite living there. Neighbors raised alarms about addicts bringing violent sex crimes to the blocks where families live. Kensington mostly lies under the 180th State Representative District, being represented by Jose Giral. Welcome Van Life Wanderer! Commercial revitalization in the form of businesses a community has use for is a powerful weapon. Clifton Mills, 1833 N. Howard Street, Kensington (185263). civic associations and business alliances, which instills hope that development will be inclusive. And public homelessness ranks high on the list of concerns. Once it hit rock bottom, the need for an outlet brought more people in. Mark Squilla is the Councilmember for District 1 and Maria D. Quiones Snchez is the Councilmember for District 7. They were en route to more serious crimes going down to the west in the Badlands. Thats anywhere from three to six times the mere 100 emergency shelter beds that were available in June, WHYY News reported. It happened just after 12 p.m. Sunday on the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue. It was a scene that rivaled the aftermath of a storm, its victims caught up in forces that leave many hungry, homeless and hopeless. It happened just after 12 p.m. Sunday on the 3300 block of Kensington. [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]. However, heroin and fentanyl is without a doubt the most popular drugs. All About Max Winkler. This street wears its heart on its sleeve, triumphs, and failures on full display. The few other businesses Chinese take outs and Irish pubs have missing persons signs hung in the windows. It is part of the River Wards section of the city, a group of neighborhoods close to the Delaware River in North Philadelphia. Along with having a high rate of drug overdose deaths, 80% percent of Philadelphias overdose deaths involved opioids2 and Kensington is a big contributor to this number. Along with having a high rate of drug overdose deaths, 80% percent of Philadelphias overdose deaths involved opioids2 and Kensington is a big contributor to this number. There is a common criticism that officials would never let this happen in whiter, more affluent parts of the city. The increase in violent crime, homelessness, and out-of-control drug use in Kensington are far greater threats to residents of Philadelphia. Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. 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. 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. The white residents fled to the suburbs and people of color and limited means moved in. Soon, it too will house a commercial tenant and NKCDCs new offices. The Decorating Plant of Gillinder & Sons' Franklin Flint Glass Works, 1700-06 N. Howard Street (1876). 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. They paint a picture of a poverty zoo. [Meta] Sticky Comment. Subs and Xany bars, subs and Xany bars, chant men in cockeyed baseball caps while pacing the corner, searching the crowd for potential customers. 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. Kensington Drug Boss Convicted at Trial for Supplying Crack and Heroin Compared to the infamous Skid Row in Los Angeles, Kensingtons homeless problem doesnt seem as bad. The killer is referred to by the media as "The Kensington Strangler". 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. [10], By the mid-19th century, Kensington became one of the leading centers of the textile industry, particularly in carpet. 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. Emerald Street, Tulip Street, Kensington Avenue, Frankford Avenue . Before the Act of Consolidation, 1854, the Kensington District included portions of the neighborhoods known today as Olde Kensington, East Kensington, West Kensington, and Fishtown, with its northern border at Lehigh Avenue. 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. Progress, even the slightest measures, can have enormous impact. Afaik other neighborhoods declined with crack, but Kensington was notable for pills and opiates. Neighborhood residents have raged against City Hall for years over the litany of woes from drug dealing to missed trash collection. 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. Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. SEPTA City Bus routes 3 (on Kensington Avenue, running underneath the "El") and 60 on Allegheny Avenue, with route 5 nearby on Frankford Avenue, also serve the K & A area. Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. kimgary 263K subscribers Subscribe 24K Share 3M views 1 year ago Most dangerous street in Philadelphia Kensington. I n the underworld of Philadelphia, beneath the elevated subway line along Kensington Avenue, tears were as prevalent as needles. Addicts can be found in the woods along the Tracks openly cooking and shooting drugs in broad daylight, a daily occurrence that indicates this is territory clearly forsaken by the law. (2021 Crime Rates And Crime Stats), Is Pittsburgh Safe To Visit? Since Mayor Jim Kenney took office in 2015, encampment closures in the name of public health and safety have been a near constant in Kensington. But a day later, and not far away, on the 1700 block of West Atlantic Street in North Philly, there was bloodshed and death. 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. Sections of the neighborhood are frequented by a significant number of people experiencing drug addiction and/or homelessness. 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. 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. Looks not far from K&A, the intersection of Kensington and Alleghany Ave. Neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States, primarily white young urban professionals, H.W. To the east of Kensington, Port Richmond and Olde Richmond are each predominantly white neighborhoods. NKCDC is working on the redevelopment of the Orinoka Civic House. The drug market is so strong in Kensington and the joblessness and institutionalized racism so engrained, the community struggles while the state flounders with resolutions. The shooting happened on the 3100 block of Kensington Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Kensington Blues is a photography series by Jeffrey Stockbridge, 36, that documented the struggles and the dark reality of local residents.