WHYY
By
Tents set up by people experiencing homelessness along Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood on the morning of June 16, 2021. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
About 100 people experiencing homeless continue to live on a quarter-mile stretch of Kensington Avenue near McPherson Square and the Allegheny Avenue transit station even as the Kenney administration says they have left the area.
Some people were living in tents and makeshift structures, but most were sleeping on the sidewalk Wednesday morning along Kensington Avenue. At the intersection of Kensington and Allegheny, police officers mixed with a smaller number of unhoused people and protesters there to publicly oppose a planned city sweep of the encampments.
WHYY
By
Outreach worker Kenneth Harris engages with a client outside Somerset Station. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
If you take SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line to Somerset Station and exit onto Kensington Avenue, you might run into someone like Kenneth Harris.
He’s an outreach specialist for Merakey, a social services agency that recently partnered with the authority to help people struggling with homelessness and addiction who take refuge in the transit system.
“I hate that somebody is stuck in that rut,” said Harris. “Active addiction is a horrible situation and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
New structures at the Somerset station aim to keep people from loitering at the exits and give riders a clear path. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Allegheny Station to close for 3 nights for cleaning and repairs, SETPA says
Published article
KENSINGTON - SEPTA said it will close the Allegheny Station on the Market-Frankford line for three nights over the weekend for cleaning and maintenance.
The closure of Allegheny Station will happen Friday-Sunday from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The station will be accessible during the day as workers continue repairs. The work at Allegheny Station is part of SEPTA s comprehensive commitment to address issues at stations where there are significant challenges with the vulnerable populations that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, SEPTA General Manager Leslie S. Richards said.
WHYY
By
Outside Allegheny Station in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. (Natalie Piserchio for NPR)
SEPTA will close Allegheny Station for overnight repairs for three nights starting Friday, April 23. The closures, lasting from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., are for deep cleaning and maintenance work.
“We know that it is an inconvenience and we will impact some people and some people’s work schedules as well,” said SEPTA general manager Leslie Richards. She said the choice to do it over the weekend was to “impact the least number of people during the work schedule.”
Also, on April 23 at 8 p.m. SEPTA will shut down the elevators at the station for repairs. No date has been set on when they’ll reopen yet.
WHYY
By
COVID-19 vaccine seekers interact with FEMA volunteers at the clinic at Esperanza in North Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Vaccinations are back on track at Philadelphia’s second largest mass clinic, at Esperanza Charter School, after hundreds of appointments were rescheduled due to Tuesday’s announcement that further administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be put on hold temporarily. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health heeded the Food and Drug Administration recommendation, made out of an abundance of caution after six incidents of serious but rare blood clots were recorded in people who received the single-dose shot.
The new FEMA-supported site in North Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood had just launched over the weekend with an aim to even out the racial and ethnic distribution of the vaccines. The site, intentionally situated in a majority Hispanic neighborhood with low vaccine turnout so far, had been administering the Johnso