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. [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 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's river ward identity puts it in contrast with the neighborhoods to its west. Addictions a medical problem; cops dont want to deal with that. Over time black and Hispanic street dealers took over larger portions of the drug trade, especially heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine. The government has shown attempts at trying. 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. 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. 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. Xany bars are 2mg Xanax pills, the strongest dosage, often used with Suboxone to give users a heroin-like half-consciousness. Crack, meth, heroin, oxycodone, weed, percocet, PCP these are all the usual suspects around Kensington Ave. They're visible within seconds of exiting the subway: injections in broad daylight, tent encampments, legions of trash and squalor. Two emergency shelters closed along Kensington Avenue within the last year. 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. Forgotten by whom? 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. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. Watch on Most dangerous street in Philadelphia Kensington Philadelphia Drug & Crime Problems Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. 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? [32][failed verification] The majority of its population is Hispanic or Latino (59.9%), consisting primarily of Puerto Rican and Dominican Americans. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed in the United States over the last two decades, and Philadelphia is no exception. There is a common criticism that officials would never let this happen in whiter, more affluent parts 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. Addicts say. Crack houses and shooting galleries were raided because women could easily get raped and killed there. You cant walk down the sidewalk, he said. 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. 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. A recent piece chronicles the authors adventures day drinking in forgotten Philadelphia. Some merchants, like Widdy Darts, a 108-year-old dartboard manufacturer, have been that way for a long time. 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. On Wednesday, Steve, a 30-year-old fentanyl user who declined to give his last name, said he sympathized with the residents plight. Kensington has several medium and small sized parks and playgrounds which offer a variety of uses for visitors. 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. 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 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. 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. But about 15 people remained around 8 a.m., many shielding their faces from news cameras as outreach workers helped them fill plastic bins with their belongings. My name is Mariska and I'm living my best life while living the van life. This energy is not relegated to existing businesses. Neighborhood residents have raged against City Hall for years over the litany of woes from drug dealing to missed trash collection. Progress, even the slightest measures, can have enormous impact. But a day later, and not far away, on the 1700 block of West Atlantic Street in North Philly, there was bloodshed and death. Clifton Mills, Building 4, 1809-11 N. Howard Street, Kensington (185263). Opioid abuse has skyrocketed in the United States over the last two decades, and Philadelphia is no exception. WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. There is also a charter school, Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, Here's What Happened Today, Tuesday, Sept 7, 20 . Stop writing about Kensington Avenue like its Mordor. The drugs are just too cheap and too accessible. This lack of message parity is harmful to the corridor. 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. Gun shots are heard at night. Kensington and Somerset. The camp was cleared, the people chose new spots in the neighborhood to overrun with used needles, overdoses, and trash. Youre out there talking to junkies with a couple ounces of drugs in them who cant be trusted to make a lucid statement.. It happened shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday in the area of Fairhill Square Park at 4th Street and Lehigh Avenue. Strong community groups and nonprofits in Kensington have used the neighborhood's empty lots as an opportunity to create community garden spaces. Kensington Blues is a photography series by Jeffrey Stockbridge, 36, that documented the struggles and the dark reality of local residents. At stake in all this, is the soul of a place where Philadelphians have made a living, shopped and socialized for generations. Just before 5 p.m. the following day, in the 2100 block of North 20th Street, police found Dawson Johnson . The majority of the neighborhood is renter occupied, 55.6% overall, and up to 66.3% in one tract. Tony Rogers, a recovered heroin addict and reformed career criminal who warmly calls the motley crowds on Kensington Avenue my old tribe, says, In 20 years of using back here, I never once saw a cop come on the Tracks unless they chased somebody in here.. Protestors demanded a clear reopening date for the station, safer conditions for SEPTA workers, addiction services, services for homeless people in the area, and more. 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. 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 . Any given day, a walk down Kensington Avenue yields ample reminders that the neighborhood is the "aortic valve of the region's opioid crisis," as Billy Penn's Max Marin recently put it. 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. Kensington, as most long-term residents view it, refers generally to the area consisting of Kensington, East, or Lower Kensington, West Kensington, and Harrowgate. Nobody rousts or arrests the line of addicts nodded out in full view in the gutter. 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. He once lived in the infamous Emerald Street encampment in Kensington, and saw how its closure in 2019 just shuffled people to other areas. It is known for pawn shops and check-cashing joints. Over the next two years, the city closed down four highly visible tent cities that grew along a series of underpasses. WHYY offers a voice to those not heard, a platform to share everyones stories, a foundation to empower early and lifelong learners and a trusted space for unbiased news. 'Savage Sisters' care for those with addiction in Kensington, Philly firefighters rescue dog from house fire in Kensington, A group in recovery helps those battling the same addictions, Kensington teacher-turned-baker makes school sweeter, Man, woman in critical condition after being rescued from rowhome fire, Police searching for suspect after deadly Kensington hit-and-run, 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 who attacked, robbed mechanic inside repair shop, 3 shot outside Kensington elementary school; dozens of rounds fired, 2 men found shot in the head inside Kensington home, Police: Woman shot by boyfriend in Kensington, 2 men shot after confrontation turns violent in Kensington, Crime Fighters: Man gunned down while washing car; killer at large, Suspect in custody after baby wounded in shooting, Suspect identified in shooting that left baby wounded. Addicts duck into vacant lots on the Avenue after returning from dope corners a couple of blocks away and, barely concealed by high weeds, casually cook and shoot speedballs. Gladstein acknowledged the problem is too vast to contain with just targeted actions like the one Wednesday morning. Answer (1 of 7): I live and minister here as a pastor. The super brief history is Kensington was a thriving industrial area of factory workers until deindustrialization happened which left the neighborhood impoverished and jobless. Adjacent neighborhoods are Northern Liberties (ZIP code 19123), Fishtown and Olde Richmond (ZIP code 19125), Port Richmond (ZIP code 19134). The increase in violent crime, homelessness, and out-of-control drug use in Kensington are far greater threats to residents of Philadelphia. (2021 Crime Rates And Crime Stats), Is Pittsburgh Safe To Visit? Neighbors raised alarms about addicts bringing violent sex crimes to the blocks where families live. [34], Kensington is home to a large population homeless individuals, many of whom suffer from addiction. Eight months ago, the Kensington Strangler was stalking and murdering addicted prostitutes who worked the Avenue. A "person of interest" in the case, Antonio Rodriguez, was arrested in January 2011. The Decorating Plant of Gillinder & Sons' Franklin Flint Glass Works, 1700-06 N. Howard Street (1876). Compared to the infamous Skid Row in Los Angeles, Kensingtons homeless problem doesnt seem as bad. ', "Kensington residents ask: 'Why would you think this is acceptable for us? Agraduate of Temple University, he has produced award-winning journalism on local politics, criminal justice, immigration Philadelphia is known for its rich history, cheesesteak, and love for the Eagles. During my career I concluded we werent making a dent in drug addiction or related crime. Please give today. She has been living the van life for 3 years and has not looked back since. Its mid-century decline due to deindustrialization paralyzed Kensington. They declared a statewide disaster over the drug epidemic in 2017.

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