[5] The current greater Kensington area roughly coincides with the former Kensington District, Richmond District, Aramingo Borough, and Northern Liberties Township. Re: Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave. Building a Philadelphia that works for every neighborhood with a focus on equity, opportunity, efficiency, and inclusion. Video captures violent Philadelphia carjacking on Kensington Avenue; 2 At 4 p.m. on January 15, police found Jevon Gillette, 47, with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso and thigh. 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. Its mid-century decline due to deindustrialization paralyzed Kensington. 'There still is no answer': Philly cracks down on Kensington Dozens camp around trash bin fire in Philadelphia's 'Skid Row' [7] Police, after a year and a half, removed these encampments causing its residents to spread up Kensington Avenue. 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. Additionally, there is a large population of homeless individuals. The situation feels like its at a breaking point for some. 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. Suffice to say it is not a place to go at night. 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. 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. 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 . 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. [52], The neighborhood has gained nationwide attention and great notoriety because of extensive press coverage of its thriving narcotics drug scene, often described as the largest on the east coast. "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 . [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. Kensington has several medium and small sized parks and playgrounds which offer a variety of uses for visitors. [55] It is also known as an area of prostitution. 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. Kensington Avenue's ghoulish world of addiction and prostitution exists outside the law. 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. [34], Kensington is home to a large population homeless individuals, many of whom suffer from addiction. The part of Kensington below Lehigh Street, or as it has been rebranded[citation needed] "Lower Kensington" or "East Kensington", is the part of Kensington most clearly experiencing gentrification. 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 . Since then, drug activity and homelessness has intensified in the shadow of the El between the Somerset and Allegheny stops on the Market-Frankford Line. Whos got works? she calls out to nobody in particular. Kensington Avenue also benefits from the non-profit organizations operating there. Business for Good: Kensington Avenue Storefront Challenge Read more ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer by Alfred Lubrano Published Aug 5, 2021 Nobody rousts or arrests the line of addicts nodded out in full view in the gutter. 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. 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. Almost half of the neighborhoods residents live below the poverty line. Its central to the neighborhood and offers an ideal place to shoot up and camp out. Philadelphia, PA - Eight-Vehicle Collision Leads to Injuries on Stories About Kensington - CBS Philadelphia 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. Kensington's Recovery Plan - The Philadelphia Citizen 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. Despite what you may read, Kensington Avenue is open for business, and there are plenty of reasons to visit the Avenue. 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. It is similar to Central Kensington but is slightly quieter and has fewer crimes. civic associations and business alliances, which instills hope that development will be inclusive. Stop talking about Kensington Avenue like it's a wasteland On the night we visited, police cars cruised past, their lights flashing, but never stopped. It has always had the El train that runs straight through Kensington. The situation toward Allegheny Avenue grew even more intense after SEPTA briefly closed the Somerset El stop in January. 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. 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. 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. Representatives from these organizations economic development teams work hand in hand with business owners, residents, developers, and other stakeholders to strengthen the business community. Ironically, even some addicts on Kensington Avenue dont believe in legalization. Prevention Point Philadelphia, a public health organization providing harm reduction services to Philadelphia and surrounding areas. At first fentanyl was used as a cutting agent to lets dealers water down their heroin with a cheaper alternative to make more money. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, Here's What Happened Today, Tuesday, Sept 7, 20 . Despite lobbying council members and state representatives, no change has been made. Anything else is tantamount to poverty porn and disrespectful to the people who dedicate their lives to making Kensington Avenue a better place. This isnt a Kensington problem, he said. If you arrest a violent serial killer like the strangler, you know you made a difference. He once lived in the infamous Emerald Street encampment in Kensington, and saw how its closure in 2019 just shuffled people to other areas. Central Kensington, or "the Heart of Kensington" as it is called in a recent Impact Services neighborhood plan,[6] stretches along Kensington Avenue from Tusculum and Somerset Streets to Tioga Street (see Impact Services plan[6] for a more accurate map). initially postponed due to a lawsuit filed on behalf of residents. Kensington was founded by Anthony Palmer in the early 1730s. These 4 nieborhoods are very simialer as far as their economic situations. Palmer was an English merchant who came to Philadelphia by 1704 from Barbados. Parts of the neighborhood lie in the 177th or 197th Districts, represented by Joseph C. Hohenstein and Danilo Burgos respectively. Most dangerous street in PhiladelphiaKensington Philadelphia Drug \u0026 Crime ProblemsViolent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. 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. 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. A Google search for Kensington Avenue Philadelphia yields horrendous images of sad-eyed people slumped over in varying poses of despair. Postal service considers 19134 (Richmond Station) as the area known as Port Richmond. "[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. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you . Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. In the absence of a larger plan, he was certain those encampments would grow in the coming weeks. The neighborhood has long been a catchment for people from the suburbs, Delaware and New Jersey who suffer from addiction, and yet the city has been left on its own to clean up the mess. [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. [41] However, some residents and many harm reduction advocates in the area are supportive.[35][42]. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Documentary, June 23 - YouTube SBC News 188K subscribers Subscribe 5.3M views 7 months ago #SBCNews Documentary by SBC News covering Streets of. Different tactics are required for each site, depending on whether its public or private property, he said. Look, he says, junkies got rights, too. More by Max Marin. SBC News 188K subscribers Subscribe 10K 1.4M views 1 year ago #SBCNews. "Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a . gdpGdp They draw a diverse crowd: tight-pantsed hipsters and long-time residents alike enjoy the delicious food in equal measure. It has one of the largest rates of shootings in the city and is the scene of many murders. They eventually set up a new encampment under another railway bridge nearby. [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. This is Kensington Ave my friend. Neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States, primarily white young urban professionals, H.W. 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. 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. In recent years, Kensington has experienced increasing social issues primarily related to drug abuse. The conflict between clean residents and dealers can escalate, sometimes so high that a person once threw a Molotov cocktail through a residents window. would never let this happen in whiter, more affluent parts, New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC), Phillys hot podcast studio: How two longtime producers are growing the citys audio scene, Tax cuts, a new forensic lab, library service, hotspot help: Takeaways from Mayor Kenneys final city budget proposal, Meet the 10 entrepreneurs vying set up shop inside Philly rec centers, A real art project at Quinta Brunsons former school in West Philly mirrors the Abbott Elementary Mural Arts episode, Former Councilmember Bobby Henon sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for taking bribes, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. 550 Kensington Philadelphia Premium High Res Photos Neighborhood residents have raged against City Hall for years over the litany of woes from drug dealing to missed trash collection. 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. Multiple people injured after crash in Kensington. But this is an ongoing process. Despite research on the positive effects of these sites, the Trump administration blocked them from being established. 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. [57] Rodriguez confessed to the murders and was sentenced to life in prison in 2012. The drug overdose rate in Philadelphia is also concerning. The case was dropped in July. Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks floor seat tickets. 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. 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. Harrowgate is the furthest north, bordering Juniata and named for Harrowgate Park. Kensington was the birthplace of the K&A Gang, an Irish American organized crime association known for their distribution of methamphetamine in the 1980s. 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. 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). In 2017, the city cleared it out in an attempt to begin to tackle the cyclic issue of homelessness and drug use. The super brief history is Kensington was a thriving industrial area of factory workers until deindustrialization happened which left the neighborhood impoverished and jobless. Every day Jorge Rosario, 52, a resident of the Kensington section Philadelphia cleans the sidewalk along the 2700 block of Kensington Ave., Philadelphia. Stop writing about Kensington Avenue like its Mordor. The area is known as the center of Kensington and was historically the commercial center of the neighborhood. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave, Here's What Happened Today Folks are going to migrate to wherever they can go, McKinney said. They tried to institute safe-injection sites, where users can shoot up without fear of prosecution. Drug dealers at the corners. Its the hottest night of the summer, and on Philadelphias Kensington Avenue, underneath the elevated train tracks at Somerset Street, mills a crowd of addicts nearly 100 strong, the biggest ever to flock to this well-known drug corner. 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. 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. Public schools in Kensington include Kensington High School Complex, Jules E. Mastbaum Vocational Technical High School, Russell Conwell Middle Magnet School and John H. Webster Elementary School. Kensington, colloquially known locally as Kenzo, is a neighborhood in Philadelphia that belongs to or divides Lower Northeast and North Philadelphia. [10] Initially, employment focused around the nearby waterfront and the activities of fishermen and ship- and boatbuilders. 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. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Documentary, June 23-24, 2022. On Wednesday, Steve, a 30-year-old fentanyl user who declined to give his last name, said he sympathized with the residents plight. 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. Kensington, as most long-term residents view it, refers generally to the area consisting of Kensington, East, or Lower Kensington, West Kensington, and Harrowgate. Many died there. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed in the United States over the last two decades, and Philadelphia is no exception. Philadelphias police force is inarguably overwhelmed by the scope of the citys addiction problems. . Even the pandemic doesn't slow down Philadelphia's drug markets Philadelphia Kensington Avenue, What happened on Monday, June - YouTube In 1903 Mother Jones organized a "Children's Crusade" of children from the local mills and mines to protest against child labor. Some residents of Kensington wont go out without driving, not wanting to walk through the neighborhood despite living there. Its how we live. Adjacent neighborhoods are Northern Liberties (ZIP code 19123), Fishtown and Olde Richmond (ZIP code 19125), Port Richmond (ZIP code 19134). However, heroin and fentanyl is without a doubt the most popular drugs. 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. The Star Carpet Mills, 1801-03 N. Howard Street, Kensington (188082). Eight months ago, the Kensington Strangler was stalking and murdering addicted prostitutes who worked the Avenue. Fentanyl has devastating withdrawal effects, though. You cant walk down the sidewalk, he said. 'They Need Support': Philadelphia Officials Break Up Homeless This is not a one and done, and well keep doing the work.. Google Maps borders for Kensington show it including much of what is considered Fishtown and excludes West Kensington. The eyes of one woman in her 20s filled as she sobbed in the arms of a familiar woman, Marti Hottenstein, who pledged to get her off . Philly police release video, photos of person they say cut fiber-optic 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. To the east of Kensington, Port Richmond and Olde Richmond are each predominantly white neighborhoods. 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. Persuading the federal government to change its prohibition stance will prove difficult, considering how fiercely divisive the issue is among law enforcement. ', "Kensington residents ask: 'Why would you think this is acceptable for us? More recently fentanyl is being replaced with an animal tranquilizer called Xylazine or Tranq. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Multiple people were injured after a messy crash in the Kensington section of the city. [51] After Philadelphia Police forcibly removed a large encampment of these people from an abandoned railroad track by Lehigh Avenue, several smaller encampments formed under the tracks. Several men rush to be the first to make a dollar selling her a syringe. Strong community groups and nonprofits in Kensington have used the neighborhood's empty lots as an opportunity to create community garden spaces. Fairhill and Norris Square are separate from Kensington with a more central North Philadelphia identity; however, exactly where the neighborhoods separate is subject to much debate and there are people within both neighborhoods who identify with Kensington. Crack houses and shooting galleries were raided because women could easily get raped and killed there. Eyes on the Street brings new ideas and fresh voices into the conversation about Philadelphias changing cityscape. This has made it hard for police to quell the trade. 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. 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. 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. Kensington belongs to or divides Lower Northeast and North Philadelphia. The number of drug overdose deaths in the city . Max Marin (he/him) was Billy Penn's investigative reporter from 2018 to 2021. [35][citation needed]. Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter and stay in the know. 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. 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. 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. Between the two encampments targeted on Wednesday, half a dozen other spots continue to grow. 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. Were trying to make sure people are attaching to services rather than moving, Gladstein said. Kensington homeless encampments are set for Aug. 18 clear-out. Many While Kensington is still the centralized location in Philadelphia for buying and using drugs, some community members, like Bingham, don't believe the neighborhood is the ideal place to get treatment and maintain recovery. It is this sort of activism, buoyed by engaged (and zoning savvy!) The median yearly income of the neighborhood is $28,368, ranging from $18,516 to $77,979. When we can make the right connection for people, its really successful, Gladstein said. Mariska is a recovering attorney who gave up her professional job to discover new perspectives of life while traveling in a 2009 Ford Transit. Along with its teeming trade in illicit materials, Kensington is also a highly dangerous neighborhood. Neighbors raised alarms about addicts bringing violent sex crimes to the blocks where families live. 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. The opioid epidemic has played a significant role in this problem, as it has in much of the rest of the country. Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Ave Story, What happened - YouTube Answer (1 of 7): I live and minister here as a pastor. It is my sincere hope and belief that Kensington is arming itself against the forces of apathetic, tone-deaf gentrification. 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. A Google search for " Kensington Avenue Philadelphia " yields horrendous images of sad-eyed people slumped over in varying poses of despair. Upwards of 100 people camp out there every night and its not for stargazing. 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? [10], By the mid-19th century, Kensington became one of the leading centers of the textile industry, particularly in carpet. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. A new phase of the Wayne Junction revitalization plan is underway. Not by the thousands who call it home and certainly not by the merchants who, every day, open their businesses. 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 Though Kensington addicts seem to think so, the police department pushed back forcefully against this notion.