This windsurfing board was one of the better scores a few years back. (Photo by West Philly Local)

Since some of our readers will be moving this spring-summer while others will be diving headfirst into dumpsters and dashing to curb alerts (it’s “Penn Christmas” time y’all!), here are a few things to know:

• If you want to get rid of your old mattress, please be aware that the city has a new mattress disposal policy. All mattresses and box springs should be put in plastic mattress disposal bags before you place them curbside for a pickup. You can buy mattress disposal bags at most major retailers and home improvement stores and on Amazon.com. Seriously, they’ll leave it if it’s not bagged up.

• TVs and computer equipment are considered hazardous items and will not be collected curbside (we’ve seen a few of them sitting on the curb though). Unless you find someone who wants your TV or computer, you can bring them to one of the Sanitation Convenience Centers or read below about PennMoves options.

Mattress disposal bag.

• Furniture can be left curbside for a pickup, up to two items per week.

• If you are holding a yard/porch sale please post an announcement about it on our Classifieds page and we’ll share it in our social media.

• If you are putting some decent stuff curbside or see something that may be interesting to your neighbors, feel free to send us a tweet, preferably with a photo (@westphillylocal) or put a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #westphillylocal (use that for Twitter too). We’ll spread the word. Also let us know if you score something particularly awesome or unusual. We’d be happy to spread the good news.

• Last but not least: There’s still no word on the annual PennMoves sale, but it looks like it will not happen, just like last year, and all the gently used items collected from students will go to local Goodwill stores. This year, PennMoves is also working with Philabundance to collect non-perishable, unopened food items, and Goodwill will accept all electronics, both functional and not, as they are teaming up with Vintage Electronics, an e-waste recycler. Off-campus residents may bring their items to Penn’s campus to one of the pickup location sites. For more information on what items are accepted and where you can drop them off, visit this page.

Philippe Holland.

A group of West Philly residents are demanding answers about the shooting of an unarmed pizza delivery driver, Philippe Holland, who was critically wounded by two undercover officers near 51st and Willows in April.

The residents, many of whom live near where the shooting happened, are calling for the public release of results from the investigation into the shooting, according to a letter signed by dozens of residents and sent to local media on Monday.

The officers fired 14 times at Holland, striking him in the head, neck and leg. Holland, who is from Upper Darby, is recovering at a hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Many of the same neighbors started the “Fund for Phil” soon after the shooting to help raise money for Holland and his family.

Local residents who are interested in signing the letter should contact Patty Bulack of the 48th Street Neighbors group at: pbulack — at — gmail(dot)com.

Here is the letter in full:

We are residents of the West Philadelphia neighborhood where the 18th are concerned with the safety of our neighborhood and are grateful for the efforts of the Philadelphia Police Department and its officers to keep us and our neighborhood safe. We work hard at creating positive relationships with local public representatives, and with law enforcement, and hope that the outcome of this conversation will lead to an improved relationship, rather than broken trust.

We are writing in response to the shooting of Philippe Holland on April 22, 2014 at 51st and Willows by two undercover police officers. What we believe about the case is as follows:

• Philippe is a pizza delivery man, a job that is dangerous in a neighborhood such as ours where muggings are frequent.
• Police were responding to a shooting in the neighborhood, and suspected that Philippe was the shooter.
• Philippe fled in his car and was driving his car in the direction of the officers.
• In response, officers fired fourteen shots, despite police procedure that directs officers to not shoot at a moving vehicle.
• Three shots hit Philippe, placing him in critical condition.
• The officers who fired the shots were not in uniform, making it unclear who they were to anyone on the scene. We are concerned about that and wish that to be addressed. We believe that police should be clearly identified so as to help bring a situation under control, when they do so in a professional manner. Plainclothes officers have less at their disposal to identify themselves, which is important to do especially in situations where civilians may be distracted or panicked.
• We also question why relatively new officers were assigned to undercover duty in this case.

Given the subtleties that are introduced into their role by being undercover, it seems more prudent that veteran officers be prioritized for assignment to this kind of duty.

We are deeply troubled and disappointed by the actions of the two police officers involved. Many of us could find ourselves in a similar situation, and we are troubled that someone going about their job could be so severely injured by our local law enforcement. We are appreciative of the willingness of our local police to put themselves in danger for the sake of our collective safety. However, the response of the officers in this particular situation made us feel unsafe and we want to make sure this never happens again. Moreover, while the safety of our neighborhood’s residents is important to us, so is the safety of anyone who visits our neighborhood. We value living in a place where diversity thrives and desire it to be open to anyone regardless of race, gender or class. This incident undermined both our safety and our values.

In light of that, we request the following from the 18th Police District:

1. Information about the incident, the investigation and the final outcome: We cannot build trust with our local police force if we have no insight into the procedures that lead to a particular choice made by an officer, all of the details of an event and the reasons for the consequent disciplinary action or lack thereof. Similarly, we cannot trust that the investigation is being carried out justly, without knowing all of the details. Because of this, we request that upon completion of the investigation, the outcome of the investigation and all information relevant to the case be released and made available for community review.

2. Proper discipline for the police officers involved: We are aware that an investigation of this incident is currently underway and we appreciate that the Philadelphia Police Department is this incident seriously. We would like to reiterate the importance of properly disciplining the police officers involved.

Lastly, we want to note that we are aware of the ongoing review of the Philadelphia Police Department by the Department of Justice and of upcoming release of the findings. We plan to attend the public meeting and share our requests with the Department of Justice as well.

We appreciate your time in reading this letter and look forward to your response.

Regards,
Patty Bulack
Jamie Gauthier
Mariya Khandros
Algernong Allen
Barbara Tilley
Susan Heyner
Aravind Joshi
Sue Gerber
David Krueger
Amara Rockar
James Beck
Adam Weaver
James Beadle
Marcy Morgan
Chad Ostrowski
Tom O’Malley
Carolyn McCoy
Bruce Dorpalen
Jason Sandman
Liz Spikol
Nati Passow
Brian Spooner
Irene Plantholt
Steve Plantholt
Molly McGlone
Tina Horowitz
Fran Berge
Michael Froehlich
Bob Behr
Nancy Juergens
Jessi Roemer
Josh Block
Maryte Papadopoulos
Yanni Papadopoulos
Regine Joseph
Stacey Holiday
Lee Garner
Tim Emmett-Rardin
Jo-Ann Fishburn
Kimya Jackson
Margaret Ferrigno
Pamela Kane
Amy Kietzman
Karena Thurston Valentine

Here’s a sweet way to support a local library! This Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you can buy some ice cream at the 40th Street Ben & Jerry’s location and help the Walnut West Library across the street. Ben & Jerry’s will donate 20 percent of the proceeds toward the library and its summer programming from all sales between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. on these days.

So stop by the shop located at 218 S. 40th St, enjoy some treats with your family and friends and also meet the wonderful folks from the Friends of Walnut St West Library who are behind this cool event.

Photo via bicyclecoalition.org.

Here’s a community recreation opportunity this Sunday for Mother’s Day: the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is inviting bikers of all levels to free rides here in West Philly, as part of CycloFemme, a Global Women’s Cycling Day celebration. Three rides are scheduled and they all begin and end in Clark Park and are followed by a picnic. The starting time is 10:00 a.m. Here are more details from the Bicycle Coalition website:

• FREE – but please RSVP!

• Meet at Clark Park in West Philly on May 11 (Mother’s Day) at 10a.m.

• 3 ride levels: Beginner, Intermediate, and Fast-ish, All will be “no drop” – no one will be left behind. You can choose which one you want to do that morning if you’d like! 1-1.5 hrs of riding.

• Exact route TBD, but the slow ride will stay in West Philly, on bike lanes and paths, and the faster routes will head over to the Schuylkill River Trail.

• Picnic to follow! All levels of riders are invited to return to Clark Park for a picnic after the rides. There are lots of options for grabbing food near Clark Park: Milk & Honey Market, Fu Wah Deli, Green Line Cafe, and more!

• Helmets required!

• All genders are welcome to come ride with us, to celebrate women & cycling together!

Click here to RSVP. For more information, call 215-242-9253.

The “Love Your Park” week kicks off tomorrow in Philadelphia and everyone is encouraged to participate in cleaning, greening and celebrating neighborhood parks. Some fun events, as well as park clean-up and beautification projects will be happening in some West Philly neighborhoods, too. In addition, the Spruce Hill Community Association is organizing the annual May Fair at Clark Park this Saturday, so we hope many of our readers will stick around and join their friends and neighbors at this annual celebration of the Spruce Hill community. Guests are welcome!

Details for local events in the next few days are below. More great events are scheduled for next weekend (stay tuned). NOTE: Volunteers are wanted for some of tomorrow’s projects.

Spruce Hill May Fair, Clark Park (43rd and Chester)

Saturday, May 10, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The annual Spruce Hill May Fair features live music from local bands, food from some of the best trucks, and a raffle with terrific prizes. There will also be many local artists and craftspeople with gifts for graduations and Mother’s Day, plants on sale by the UC Garden Club, used books for $1 each, and groups and organizations offering information about their causes. Kids can enjoy a big inflated obstacle course, a bounce house and other games. Raffle items include gift cards from local cafes and restaurants, a 60″ Samsung Plasma TV, a free weekend night at Homewood Suites, free yoga classes and more! For more information and schedule for the music groups, click here.

Planting Extravaganza!, Cedar Park (49th and Baltimore)

Saturday, May 10, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Volunteers are needed for planting trees, perennials and annuals throughout the park. The tools will be provided. The garden beds are composted and mulched so all is ready to go. If you can lend a hand for an hour or so, please RSPV:  tatemch@aol.com

Work Day at Clark Park (45th and Regent)

Saturday, May 10, 9:00 a.m.

Help is needed with spreading some mulch and other work. And you can spend the rest of the day at the Spruce Hill Community Association’s Mayfair. Meet at 9 a.m. by the shed, on 45th St where Regent Street ends, south of Chester. Snacks will be served. The event is organized by Friends of Clark Park.

Art in the Park, Malcolm X Memorial Park (52nd & Pine)

Monday, May 12, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

The Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation presents Art in the Park, a FREE arts and crafts traveling class. All ages are welcome! For more information, visit: www.philavisualarts.wix.com/camp

Neighbor Kate Krauss, one of the organizers of “Fund for Phil” set up to help Philippe Holland, the pizza delivery driver shot by police near 51st and Willows on April 22, has sent us an update on Philippe’s condition, the fund and a couple of other important messages:

“Philippe has been transferred to a rehab hospital in Newark, New Jersey. He read the original card we sent for the first time three days ago and was very touched. His mother says that she can’t even find the words to express how grateful she is. So let’s keep this going–we will continue to collect money at Mariposa through June.

We have $969 in the PayPal account, so today is a great time to try to reach $1,000… Here is the link: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/send-money-online [please enter “FundforPhil – at – Gmail.com”].

[Bindlestiff Books owner] Alexis Buss has already collected about $400 at Bindlestiff Books…”

We also hear that a Channel 3 news reporter is coming to Bindlestiff Books (4530 Baltimore Ave) tomorrow (Thursday) at 11:00 a.m. to do a little spot on the neighborhood’s response to the shooting of Phillipe Holland and those who donated money are welcome to stop by.