civic associations and business alliances, which instills hope that development will be inclusive. Gladstein acknowledged the problem is too vast to contain with just targeted actions like the one Wednesday morning. 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. Philadelphia, PA - Eight-Vehicle Collision Leads to Injuries on 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. Along with its teeming trade in illicit materials, Kensington is also a highly dangerous neighborhood. Whos got works? she calls out to nobody in particular. [53][54] The intersection of Kensington Avenue and Somerset Street was listed number one in a 2007 list of the city's top ten recreational drug corners according to an article by Philadelphia Weekly reporter Steve Volk. Kensington, colloquially known locally as Kenzo, is a neighborhood in Philadelphia that belongs to or divides Lower Northeast and North Philadelphia. 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. Kensington, as most long-term residents view it, refers generally to the area consisting of Kensington, East, or Lower Kensington, West Kensington, and Harrowgate. Kensington has always been a rough area since before the 70s. Despite research on the positive effects of these sites, the Trump administration blocked them from being established. "Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue, What happened today, Aug, 2021. https://t.co/6BCbZ2KEZv via @YouTube these people are not crazy this how just living . In the early 19th century, Kensington transitioned to iron and steel manufacturing[11] and became home to a variety of factories, potteries, and machine works. It is known for pawn shops and check-cashing joints. Views Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. Two men nodded in a drug-addled stupor on a sidewalk on Kensington Avenue. Compared to the infamous Skid Row in Los Angeles, Kensingtons homeless problem doesnt seem as bad. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave. Story 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. City housing officials say 300; police estimated over 650 people this summer. Underpass: Drug Stories from Kensington, Philadelphia - LensCulture Impact Services and NKCDC collaborate with the shared goal to better the avenue that cuts through multiple neighborhoods. At 3525 Kensington Avenue, right in the middle of the block, Sherimane Johnson will open Naturally Sweet Desserts, a vegan cafe and bakery that will deliver all over the city and be open all day for local residents. 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. Juniata, the neighborhood to the north, and Kensington are similar demographically, yet the former is slightly wealthier and has more green space. (Instead of a paywall). [34], Kensington is home to a large population homeless individuals, many of whom suffer from addiction. 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. Look, he says, junkies got rights, too. 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. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, Here's What Happened Today, Tuesday, Sept 7, 20 . GDP . Jackie is missing. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed in the United States over the last two decades, and Philadelphia is no exception. [39], The proposal to open a supervised injection site in Kensington has faced backlash from residents, despite the area's prevalent public drug use. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you . Multiple people injured after crash in Kensington. They draw a diverse crowd: tight-pantsed hipsters and long-time residents alike enjoy the delicious food in equal measure. Kensington was founded by Anthony Palmer in the early 1730s. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Documentary, June 23 - YouTube As of right now, I dont think anyone is confident that theres any sort of larger plan that can account for each person.. Video captures violent Philadelphia carjacking on Kensington Avenue; 2 From there, drug dens sprung up across the neighborhood and allowed for gangs to breed in the area. 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.. The city has a higher rate of violent crime than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. Subs are Suboxone, a pill containing buprenophine, a drug that eases the pain of heroin withdrawal. Many of these residents dont have homes. City data supporting those numbers was not readily available. 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). More simply, some define Kensington as the triangular area bounded by Erie Avenue to the north, Front Street (and sometimes Fifth Street) to the West, and Trenton Avenue to the East. 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. 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. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. The Daily Beast spent a night at this open-air market for pills and needles, talking to users and prostitutes about whats come to pass for normalcy in Kensington: hard-core drug use without police interference. 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. 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. 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. Corridor vacancy, lower costs of real estate, and dedicated community groups and entrepreneurs make for an attractive location. Gun shots are heard at night. The Walmart of Heroin: Update on Drugs in Kensington 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. Xany bars are 2mg Xanax pills, the strongest dosage, often used with Suboxone to give users a heroin-like half-consciousness. Mattresses lie in the mud along the railway where prostitutes trick, and rapes and assaults are common. Its an environment, they say, that is more tolerant of drug use than ever. note Addictions a medical problem; cops dont want to deal with that. Kensington was founded by Anthony Palmer in the early 1730s. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, What happened - YouTube Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. The conflict between clean residents and dealers can escalate, sometimes so high that a person once threw a Molotov cocktail through a residents window. McKinney says the city could use regional support in creating a long-term solution for Kensington. This should not be ignored, and is, in fact, impossible to avoid. 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. A Google search for Kensington Avenue Philadelphia yields horrendous images of sad-eyed people slumped over in varying poses of despair. 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. In 1903 Mother Jones organized a "Children's Crusade" of children from the local mills and mines to protest against child labor. That camp was cleared, and another formed. More recently fentanyl is being replaced with an animal tranquilizer called Xylazine or Tranq. Mayor Jim Kenney is possibly one of the worse mayor in the Philadelphia history and does nothing to stop it. 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. Give your readers the whole story. This summer, the Philadelphia Police Department canceled seven blocks in the area due to safety concerns. Two emergency shelters closed along Kensington Avenue within the last year. All About Max Winkler. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Documentary, June 23-24, 2022. Im out here too, and I think its fucking insanity. Palmer was an English merchant who came to Philadelphia by 1704 from Barbados. The camp was cleared, the people chose new spots in the neighborhood to overrun with used needles, overdoses, and trash. [55] It is also known as an area of prostitution. Clifton Mills, 1833 N. Howard Street, Kensington (185263). Stories About Kensington - CBS Philadelphia 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. Kensington, Philadelphia - Wikipedia Dozens upon dozens of people lived there. If you arrest a violent serial killer like the strangler, you know you made a difference. kensington ave philadelphia - summer daytime compilation GDPGDP Clifton Mills, Building 4, 1809-11 N. Howard Street, Kensington (185263). 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. But despite its joys, a neighborhood called Kensington made a name for itself as home to the nation's highest rates of heroin overdoses. 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. The right to shop locally in your community is enjoyed by most Philadelphia residents, and Kensingtonians are taking their corridor back. Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. Since 2015, 295 people have been shot within a five minute walk of Kensington and Allegheny, a busy intersection at the heart of the neighborhood, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer analysis. Users flock to the scene. Thats anywhere from three to six times the mere 100 emergency shelter beds that were available in June, WHYY News reported. [59] [60]. A rail-thin woman with hollowed-out cheeks rushed from beneath the El tracks. Then enter opiates. They declared a statewide disaster over the drug epidemic in 2017. The dualities are stark; Kensington is still an avenue of pain and trauma, ground zero for the opioid crisis, prostitution, and poverty. Kensington and Somerset. Yellowstone vs Zion: Which National Park Should I Visit? The whole city, its always a battle for space, and any open space is going to get filled., Love Philly? Progress, even the slightest measures, can have enormous impact. Stop talking about Kensington Avenue like it's a wasteland This is probably one of the most drug infested streets in Philadelphia. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed over the last two decades in the United States and Philadelphia is no exception. Here's what Kensington's community organizations need from you [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. The Avenue runs 3 miles through what is now a dangerous and crime-ridden neighborhood. The influx of immigrants and low-income households many of whom were unaware of the drug situation, or were forced to ignore it due to the stark affordability has made little difference in gentrifying the area. Stop writing about Kensington Avenue like its Mordor. Even the pandemic doesn't slow down Philadelphia's drug markets These sites have proven to avoid overdoses and connect users to long-term help. At stake in all this, is the soul of a place where Philadelphians have made a living, shopped and socialized for generations. Postal service considers 19134 (Richmond Station) as the area known as Port Richmond. More by Max Marin. These 4 nieborhoods are very simialer as far as their economic situations. Kensington Ave - Everything You Want To Know About Philadelphia's Skid This isnt a Kensington problem, he said. The city's violent crime rate is higher than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. Jason Meyer watched from his wheelchair as city personnel tried to clean up the chaos near Kensington and Allegheny avenues on Wednesday morning. 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. 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. Philly's Kensington is a zombie apocalypse ignored by Biden on city visit "The blocks [where drug dealing takes place] never closed," said Christine Russo, 38, who's been using heroin for seven years. Business for Good: Kensington Avenue Storefront Challenge Over the next two years, the city closed down four highly visible tent cities that grew along a series of underpasses. 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. Many progressives endorse the idea of allowing addicts to get high in certain sections of cities without fear of arrest. In Philly, Will More Police Officers Reduce Gun Violence? Its mid-century decline due to deindustrialization paralyzed Kensington. Kensington Philadelphia News - 6abc Philadelphia Then they, like Kensginton, began to decline further. The stranglers final victim, a prostitute named Casey Mahoney, was murdered here. Eight months after Kensington's disaster declaration, progress is What sort of reprieve Wednesdays action will offer neighbors and business owners remains unclear. The panel was developed in part by Tony Heriza, a documentary filmmaker working on a film about the Storefront, an art and community services hub set up in Kensington by Mural Arts Philadelphia. There is no hands-free zone' in the city of Philadelphia, and there never will be, says public-affairs officer Lt. Ray Evers. People are hanging out everywhere, turning tricks and working petty hustles. While most of the large manufacturers have left, the area has many small shops and large renovated factories and warehouses for newer artisans to set up shop. The government has shown attempts at trying. Theres a significant number of people who commute to this space to pick up what they need, making the residual effects of the narcotic empire spread far and wide. During the hunt for the strangler, the area was flooded with cops. At least four hurt in eight-vehicle pileup on Kensington Avenue in The opioid epidemic has played a significant role in this problem, as it has in much of the rest of the country. Kensington is worst nightmare for family of runaway daughter Over time black and Hispanic street dealers took over larger portions of the drug trade, especially heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine. On January 4, 2016, Jim Kenney was sworn in as the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia. Prevention Point Philadelphia, a public health organization providing harm reduction services to Philadelphia and surrounding areas. 'They Need Support': Philadelphia Officials Break Up Homeless This Philly neighborhood is purportedly the largest open-air narcotics market for heroin on the East Coast with many neighboring residents flocking to the area for heroin and other opioids.4 With such a high number of drugs in Kensington, many state and local officials have zoned in on this area to try and tackle Philadelphias problem. SBC News 188K subscribers Subscribe 5.3M views 7 months ago #SBCNews Documentary by SBC News covering Streets of. Estimates vary between 300 and 650 people living on the street. Weisbrod & Hess' Loading Room, Condenser & Storage/Boiler & Wash House, 2117 E. York Street (189091). Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, (Short Clip #53) Monday, Sept 6, 2021. 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. 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 . Kensington is a primarily low income area after the loss of its industries in the 1960s during deindustrialization and the subsequent loss of much of its working class population to the suburbs. [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. 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. A new phase of the Wayne Junction revitalization plan is underway. Not everyone who takes advantage of the trade on Kensington Ave lives nearby, though. 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. 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. Who is Henry Winklers Son? Looks not far from K&A, the intersection of Kensington and Alleghany Ave. Looking to be close to Center City by both car and transit, young white collar workers have been moving to cheaper neighborhoods around downtown. The U.S. Re: Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave. Building a Philadelphia that works for every neighborhood with a focus on equity, opportunity, efficiency, and inclusion. Mariska is a recovering attorney who gave up her professional job to discover new perspectives of life while traveling in a 2009 Ford Transit. The white residents fled to the suburbs and people of color and limited means moved in. What happened to Kensington, Philadelphia? Are most of the - Quora Each program mixes interviews with guest travel experts, your call-ins with questions and comments, and music. They have attempted to clean up the neighborhoods, planting trees and replacing broken street lights. These are bakeries, daycares, artist spaces, and coffee roasters; businesses selected to draw foot traffic and fill much-needed service gaps. The New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, WHYY thanks our sponsors become a WHYY sponsor. 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. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue, What happened today, Aug, 2021. But users who buy in the Badlands come to Kensington to shoot up. Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021 Hate crime charges for Hatboro woman who launched racist rant against Amys Pizzeria, Temple faculty still deciding on no confidence vote, Philly City Council considers moving budget hearings to in-person. The United States Post Office operates the Kensington Post Office at 1602 Frankford Ave.[47] The U.S. 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. Documentary by SBC News covering Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave.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. Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. To the east of Kensington, Port Richmond and Olde Richmond are each predominantly white neighborhoods. While the moniker Killadelphia implies gangland warfare, Kensington is plagued by another culprit: the drug trade. A silver Toyota pulls up to the curb and a heavy-set blonde hops out. 550 Kensington Philadelphia Premium High Res Photos They gotta do something about it, and this is coming from someone whos homeless living on the street., Out on the Kensington Avenue this morning, where just north of K&A homeless outreach workers and police begin to clear out yet another encampment. Addicts say. This energy is not relegated to existing businesses. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed in the United States over the last two decades, and Philadelphia is no exception. The decision has saved the city millions, and won cheers nationwide from drug-law reformers.