We have four outreach teams out in Kensington every day. Multiple people injured after a messy crash in Kensington - 6abc [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]. As it is just north of Fishtown, higher income residents have been moving further up, increasing property values and rents. Business for Good: Kensington Avenue Storefront Challenge [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. Its how we live. Kensington is home to a large population of Hispanic Americans, mainly Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and African Americans. Kensington and Cambria. You have to do [legalization] right if youre going to do it, otherwise you create more problems, says Franklin of LEAP. Kensington Independent Civic Association), This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 14:40. One such is the cluster of businesses just off the Huntingdon Market Frankford Line stop, where two of Phillys best Vietnamese restaurants, Thang Long Noodle Restaurant and Caf Pho Gha Than Than reside. 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. 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. 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. Additionally, 65.8%, almost two thirds, of Kensington residents can be described financially as "poor or struggling" (defined by a Ratio of Income in 2020 to Poverty Level of under 2.00). The government has shown attempts at trying. 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 my sincere hope and belief that Kensington is arming itself against the forces of apathetic, tone-deaf gentrification. The city of Philadelphia has set a deadline of Aug. 18 for encampments of people living homeless on the sidewalks of Kensington to be cleared. Some merchants, like Widdy Darts, a 108-year-old dartboard manufacturer, have been that way for a long time. 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. 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. During the hunt for the strangler, the area was flooded with cops. 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. Commercial revitalization in the form of businesses a community has use for is a powerful weapon. Each program mixes interviews with guest travel experts, your call-ins with questions and comments, and music. When officials shut down the four bridge encampments between 2018 and 2019, Gladstein said 65% of people went into housing, and of those, more than half remain in housing today. The problem is, no one seems to want to write about the good. 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. 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. 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. Most dangerous street in PhiladelphiaKensington Philadelphia Drug \u0026 Crime ProblemsViolent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. Commissioner [Charles] Ramsey does not support it; no one in this department does. On January 4, 2016, Jim Kenney was sworn in as the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia. Subs are Suboxone, a pill containing buprenophine, a drug that eases the pain of heroin withdrawal. A quick search brings up a plethora of articles outlining the ongoing issues Kensington faces, the overdose rates and weekly deaths. Prevention Point Philadelphia, a public health organization providing harm reduction services to Philadelphia and surrounding areas. 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. 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. City data supporting those numbers was not readily available. [Meta] Sticky Comment. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue, What happened - YouTube It is craft fully omitted, in lieu of the salacious and the tragic. 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. 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. Words such hopeless and dystopian punctuate an endless scrawl of depressing articles. These 4 nieborhoods are very simialer as far as their economic situations. 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. Kensington Ave - Everything You Want To Know About Philadelphia's Skid Row Written by Mariska Lee in Pennsylvania Close to the I-95, and a stone's throw away from the scenic Delaware river, Kensington is a neighborhood in northern Philly with quite the reputation. Rethinking the Kensington drug crisis - WHYY civic associations and business alliances, which instills hope that development will be inclusive. 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. 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. They paint a picture of a poverty zoo. 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. [35][citation needed]. 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. NKCDC is working on the redevelopment of the Orinoka Civic House. 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. 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? Though Kensington addicts seem to think so, the police department pushed back forcefully against this notion. During our visit, addicts casually moved in and out, bringing and injecting their Badlands-bought heroin. 'There still is no answer': Philly cracks down on Kensington Yellowstone vs Zion: Which National Park Should I Visit? Opioid abuse has skyrocketed over the last two decades in the United States and Philadelphia is no exception. Most encampment residents had moved out from the former site before Wednesday morning. Kensington development team seeks middle ground between gentrification and stagnation. 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. It is this sort of activism, buoyed by engaged (and zoning savvy!) sekiyuji on Twitter: " Streets of Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021 SBC News 188K subscribers Subscribe 5.3M views 7 months ago #SBCNews Documentary by SBC News covering Streets of. Franklin oversaw narcotics operations around Baltimore for much of his 34 years in law enforcement and knows well the futility of locking up addicts en masse. We talk about our favorite travels in Europe, as well as travel anywhere in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. Its mid-century decline due to deindustrialization paralyzed Kensington. It is not safe . Police confirmed that a total of eight vehicles became involved in a messy collision in the [] Here's what Kensington's community organizations need from you Natalie Raitano is a fitness instructor and former actress who is most famously known for her role on the show V.I.P. The Columbia Works, 155-59 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA. Kensington Ave Phila : r/philadelphia - reddit Neighborhood residents have raged against City Hall for years over the litany of woes from drug dealing to missed trash collection. The majority of the neighborhood is renter occupied, 55.6% overall, and up to 66.3% in one tract. The situation feels like its at a breaking point for some. Re: Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave. Building a Philadelphia that works for every neighborhood with a focus on equity, opportunity, efficiency, and inclusion. This is probably one of the most drug infested streets in Philadelphia. At A and Indiana, an anxious crowd gathered, their eyes filled with the weary desperation that is so emblematic of addiction. Kensington Avenue's ghoulish world of addiction and prostitution exists outside the law. The right to shop locally in your community is enjoyed by most Philadelphia residents, and Kensingtonians are taking their corridor back. 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. 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. In the absence of a larger plan, he was certain those encampments would grow in the coming weeks. 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. Philadelphia deadly stabbing near Kensington park on 4th Street under In Kensington, drugs and violence complicate summer play - WHYY 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 Kensington has traditionally been known as one of the working class centers of Philadelphia. Kensington mostly lies under the 180th State Representative District, being represented by Jose Giral. Over the next two years, the city closed down four highly visible tent cities that grew along a series of underpasses. Strong community groups and nonprofits in Kensington have used the neighborhood's empty lots as an opportunity to create community garden spaces. The storefront challenge is a proactive answer to the inequity created by corridor vacancy. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave - Stormfront The opioid epidemic has played a significant role in this problem, as it has in much of the rest of the country. Please give today. 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. My name is Mariska and I'm living my best life while living the van life. 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. Kensington Blues is a photography series by Jeffrey Stockbridge, 36, that documented the struggles and the dark reality of local residents. The Avenue runs 3 miles through what is now a dangerous and crime-ridden neighborhood. 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. It is known for pawn shops and check-cashing joints. 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. This isnt a Kensington problem, he said. 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. Mayor Jim Kenney is possibly one of the worse mayor in the Philadelphia history and does nothing to stop it. 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. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave. Story A Google search for Kensington Avenue Philadelphia yields horrendous images of sad-eyed people slumped over in varying poses of despair. SBC News 188K subscribers Subscribe 10K 1.4M views 1 year ago #SBCNews. Views Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June 28 2021. Using proceeds from the sale of the Hope Farm estate (present day Port Richmond), which included three enslaved people named Abraham, Hannibal, and Phillis, 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 . [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. 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. They marched from Kensington to Oyster Bay, New York, carrying banners demanding, "We want to go to School and not the mines! Disinvestment and general neglect has led to high abandonment in some sections of the neighborhood, catalyzing several grassroots actions from its residents. Kensington was the birthplace of the K&A Gang, an Irish American organized crime association known for their distribution of methamphetamine in the 1980s. Welcome Van Life Wanderer! Construction is slated to start this week on Arguto Court, an adaptive reuse project featuring office space and a cafe. Mariska is a recovering attorney who gave up her professional job to discover new perspectives of life while traveling in a 2009 Ford Transit. Different tactics are required for each site, depending on whether its public or private property, he said. [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. Heriza became interested in Kensington after seeing a 2018 article in the New York Times magazine about the drug epidemic in the neighborhood. Kensington was founded by Anthony Palmer in the early 1730s. And public homelessness ranks high on the list of concerns. Then enter opiates. The Walmart of Heroin: Update on Drugs in Kensington Just before 5 p.m. the following day, in the 2100 block of North 20th Street, police found Dawson Johnson . 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. 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. Postal service considers 19134 (Richmond Station) as the area known as Port Richmond. However, the drug market remained decentralized, running through small groups of dealers that were harder to prosecute than, say, a crime syndicate. They're visible within seconds of exiting the subway: injections in broad daylight, tent encampments, legions of trash and squalor. Kensington Avenue also benefits from the non-profit organizations operating there. 0:00 / 25:40 Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave, Here's What Happened Today, Saturday, Sept 11, 2021. These sites have proven to avoid overdoses and connect users to long-term help. The drugs are just too cheap and too accessible. In his first budget, the Mayor worked closely with City Council to fund bold anti-poverty initiatives. The Star Carpet Mills, 1801-03 N. Howard Street, Kensington (188082). 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. 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. 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. On March 21, 2021, SEPTA indefinitely closed the Somerset Station of the Market-Frankford Line (MFL). Today, the neighborhood is full of decrepit two-story rowhouses and many abandoned commercial spaces: defunct factories and vacant lots. 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. This number is shockingly low compared to the overall Philadelphia average of $122,113 but is still better compared to previous years. Underpass: Drug Stories from Kensington, Philadelphia - LensCulture The shooting happened on the 3100 block of Kensington Avenue around 5:30 p.m. The New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, WHYY thanks our sponsors become a WHYY sponsor. In 1903 Mother Jones organized a "Children's Crusade" of children from the local mills and mines to protest against child labor. A silver Toyota pulls up to the curb and a heavy-set blonde hops out. [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. The situation toward Allegheny Avenue grew even more intense after SEPTA briefly closed the Somerset El stop in January. Kensington was featured in Nat Geos 2013 docu-series, Drugs Inc. in the episode about Philadelphia. Representatives from these organizations economic development teams work hand in hand with business owners, residents, developers, and other stakeholders to strengthen the business community. You can see people with there faces smashed. But Gladstein said many people remain shelter resistant for various reasons and the number of emergency beds near Kensington where people actively use drugs is limited. Were trying to make sure people are attaching to services rather than moving, Gladstein said. The opioid epidemic has played a significant role in this problem, as it has in much of the rest of the country. Learn more about Social Responsibility at WHYY. 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. initially postponed due to a lawsuit filed on behalf of residents. Photographer Reveals The "Addicted" Side Of Philadelphia | Bored Panda Emerald Street, Tulip Street, Kensington Avenue, Frankford Avenue the city shut them down one by one, vowing improvement at every step of the way. A new phase of the Wayne Junction revitalization plan is underway. 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. As for other encampments nearby, he said the city will need to post additional notice before staging more evictions. 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 Free Library of Philadelphia operates the McPherson Square Branch at 601 East Indiana Avenue,[50] and the Kensington Branch at 104 W Dauphin Street. These merchants do not need your pity, they want your business, and they deserve to be taken seriously. 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. But despite its joys, a neighborhood called Kensington made a name for itself as home to the nation's highest rates of heroin overdoses. Or theyre just going to go to the back streets.. gdpGdp 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. The dualities are stark; Kensington is still an avenue of pain and trauma, ground zero for the opioid crisis, prostitution, and poverty. [15][16][17], Listed on the National Register of Historic Places:[18], Kensington has a population of approximately 42,000 people according to data from ASC 2020 survey. The School District of Philadelphia operates public schools. Butterworth and Sons Company Building, Kensington Corridor Trust Community Garden, community development financial institution, Jules E. Mastbaum Vocational Technical High School, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania", "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Beatty's Mills Factory Building", "Coral Street Arts House - NKCDC - An income based apartment for artists", "Insane Surge in Philadelphia Gentrification", "PhilaPlace - The Kensington Riots of 1844", "Maps make you wonder, what is Fishtown? 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. Philadelphia is known for its rich history, cheesesteak, and love for the Eagles. 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. A 25-year-old woman was shot once in her left leg. On Wednesday, Steve, a 30-year-old fentanyl user who declined to give his last name, said he sympathized with the residents plight.