Publications

Beginning Friday morning, SEPTA riders will be able to tap a credit or debit card or flash a smartphone wallet to pay for trips on transit trains, trolleys and buses — a long-awaited technological leap.

SEPTA riders can pay with credit or debit cards and phone apps starting Friday — really! (msn.com)

Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of #4 free at-home tests from USPS.com again. Here's what you need to know about your order:

• Limit of one order per residential address
• One order includes #4 individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests (COVIDTests.gov has more details about at-home tests, including extended shelf life and updated expiration dates)
• Orders will ship free starting the week of October 2, 2023

COVID Home Tests | USPS

By now you’ve likely heard of the contretemps that occurred earlier this week at Rittenhouse Square where three individuals displaying their artwork without a permit were asked by the Philadelphia Police to relocate to another part of the Square.

The individuals refused, and while the details of what subsequently transpired vary depending on the source, this much is certain: Rittenhouse Square is a public space, with numerous competing interests and needs, and it’s no simple task to adjudicate such complexity.

We whole-heartedly support the Police in this difficult effort, in particular Officer Troy Brickle, whose beat includes Rittenhouse Square.  We personally know Officer Brickle to be enormously professional and fair-minded, and thoroughly sensitive to the various contexts in play.  We are most fortunate to have him and the 9^th District Police Dept., and they have our total support.

Federal student loan payments will resume in October 2023. You will get your bill, with your payment amount and due date, at least 21 days before your due date.

Read below for more information.

Federal Student Loan Payments: What You Need to Know | Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity | City of Philadelphia

A funny thing happened in Center City after World War II. Streets engineers were trying desperately to find a way for the city to accommodate all the new cars that were on the road, driving in from the suburbs every morning. They even had the thought to rip up Rittenhouse Square and install a massive underground garage below the park and then plant some trees that were never going to get very big and call it an improvement. CCRA was founded to stop that idea, and it succeeded. (The engineers carried out the same idea a little later in Love Park, which was a new park and lacked a residential constituency.)

Meanwhile, architects were terrified by the volume and carelessness of the commuter traffic, and they started looking for ways to protect their buildings and the pedestrians who were walking to and from them. So they built castles and outlying fortifications to prevent errant motorists from mowing down people on the sidewalk. 

Those who remember what the west side of City Hall looked like before the new park went in will know what that looked like - granite, granite everywhere, nor any a place to sit.

When the architect Vincent Kling designed the Municipal Services Building, he was strongly influenced by these two conflicting impulses. On the north side, he built an access lane with a porte-cochere so visitors could hop out in the rain and not get wet. It's not clear who he expected to park the cars. And on all sides, he built fortress walls. 

People have been talking for a few years about fixing Tom Paine Plaza, the concrete desert hiding behind the parapet walls that surround his tower. And now we have an actual plan to civilize this space - replacing stairs with ramps, planting trees, and generally demilitarizing the zone. This is a good idea, and we should cheer the designers on.

This year’s program organizers, Galaei, take over downtown Philadelphia with Philly Pride 365, a day-long celebration bringing festive entertainment and a slew of community resources.

Pride 365 begins with the Pride “Love, Light and Liberation” March through Center City, departing from 6th and Walnut Streets and featuring music, speeches and a morning ceremony.

The march ends at the vibrant Pride festival in Philly’s Midtown Village neighborhood — affectionately known as the Gayborhood — featuring pay-as-you-go food, family fun and LGBTQ+ resources.

This year’s Pride 365 event takes place on Sunday, June 4, 2023.

Philly scored the No. 1 spot for walkability — a major accolade for a metropolitan city — in addition to the No. 3 nod for top budget destination in the country.

South by South Neighborhood Association (SOSNA) will be sharing details about its proposed Grays Ferry Triangle Gateway project during a virtual meeting on Wednesday May 24, 2023 at 7:00 PM. The project sets out to reimagine the Grays Ferry Triangle area with the goal of making it more pedestrian-friendly and improving traffic flow. 

We know there are aspects of the projects, like the permanence of the pedestrian triangle at 23rd Street and South Street, that both CCRA and Fitler Square Neighborhood Association residents support. We also know that residents have significant concerns with regard to the proposed reversal of 24th Street between Bainbridge Street and Lombard Street. 

This upcoming public meeting will be an opportunity to hear directly from SOSNA and the Philadelphia Streets department and ask questions about the design, plans, traffic study, and safety concerns. SOSNA shares on its website for the project that plans are subject to change based on neighborhood feedback. This is an opportunity to learn more, ask questions, share concerns and voice support for parts or all of the project. Register for the public meeting here. 

Images of 24th Street between Lombard and Bainbridge Sts. today.