Horse-drawn carriages
The horse carriage ban that almost was
The original draft banned all horse-drawn carriages, but the city’s Law Department felt it was too broad
Loading Zones
It’s a load of bait-and-switch at City Council
“It is a rare event in Philadelphia when 25,000 people that live on the Pine and Spruce corridors are collectively screwed in public, in the City Council’s chambers, in broad daylight,” said FOPS board member Ken Luongo.
Cherelle Parker
Nonprofit launches to fight City Hall on no-stop bike lanes
The other shoe has dropped, with an all-too-predictable thud, on city streets. In order to patch its idiotic law that prohibits even momentary stops in bicycle lanes, the city is proposing to create loading zones by eliminating 5-6 parking spaces on every block between Front and 22nd
Bicycle Lanes
Nonprofit launches to fight City Hall on no-stop bike lanes
The other shoe has dropped, with an all-too-predictable thud, on city streets. In order to patch its idiotic law that prohibits even momentary stops in bicycle lanes, the city is proposing to create loading zones by eliminating 5-6 parking spaces on every block between Front and 22nd
Culture
The bike testimony City Council did not hear
Locked out, that’s what I was Thursday morning, locked out. Locked out of what, you ask? Out of the City Council meeting that was going to hear testimony on the insane idea to ban even momentarily stopping in bicycle lanes, a subject I wrote about it last month. Council
Bicycle Lanes
No stopping in bike lanes? Are you crazy, Kenyatta?
Well, they are at it again, pinheads proposing legislation that would do minimum good with maximum harm. Even for Philly, this one’s hard to believe. It’s a bill from Councilmembers Kenyatta Johnson, once a moderate, and Jamie Gauthier, a happy progressive, to prohibit stopping in bike lanes. Sixteen
Mark Squilla
Nickel and diming means you pay 15 cents per paper bag
Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying nothing is certain except death and taxes. (He was talking about the viability of the new Constitution.) He overlooked the government's ability to give loyal citizens a not-so-royal hemorrhoid. It was not so long ago our august City Council — along
Fire Safety
Fire sprinkler retrofit is high cost, low benefit
What we have here is a solution in pursuit of a problem. A bill in a City Council committee would require the retrofitting of all high-rise residences in Philadelphia with automated water sprinklers at great cost with virtually no safety benefit. If residents of high-rises won’t benefit,
Anti-Semitism
Philly’s Palestinians organize a Kristallnacht
Thursday will be the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, during which the Nazis went on a two-day rampage throughout Germany, smashing Jewish stores, buildings, and synagogues. Streets everywhere were filled with broken glass. It was the harbinger of things to come. Those things included
Culture
Welcome to “Jerry Blavat Way”
Legendary DJ Jerry Blavat entered the gates of heaven in January at 82. Down on earth Wednesday night, Philadelphia named a portion of Broad Street “Jerry Blavat Way.” Broad is the city’s main artery, and for six decades, Jerry was the city’s musical heart. A two-hour dance
Drugs
The DOJ, down and dirty
Is the Department of Justice playing Philadelphians dirty, as was claimed Wednesday afternoon? More on that in a moment. Federal law prohibits places that sell or enable the use of illegal drugs. That’s why, last year, an appeals court ruled against Philadelphia’s attempt to open a “supervised injection
Halloween
What will Henri David do without Halloween?
Saturday is Halloween, and for the first time since 1968 it will happen in Philadelphia without a major party hosted by Henri David. Just one more piece of fun that has been destroyed by COVID-19. Halloween will still live, in attenuated form, but what about Henri, once celebrated as