Messages in support of Rocco on the City Kitties Facebook page.

The West Philly feline rescue group City Kitties is still hard at work trying to save at least one cat still inside the Windermere Court Apartments. A brown tabby named Rocco had been spotted in the basement. A demolition worker apparently captured Rocco, but the cat was able to break free and is back on his own. City Kitties is now reporting that crews had seen Humbert in the basement, not Rocco. Humbert was rescued this morning (see below). So the hunt for Rocco continues. If Humbert can make it out, there is no reason to believe that Rocco can’t.

Rocco has achieved rock star status on the City Kitties Facebook page, with fans cheering him on. City Kitties have set up humane traps in an attempt to rescue Rocco. City Kitties writes:

“Rocco is a front-declawed brown tabby with white paws, wearing a purple collar. No photo available at this time. If you see a cat matching this description, please contact City Kitties immediately. Rocco lived on the 1st floor, east end of the building.”

Humbert was rescued from the Windermere this morning.

Meanwhile, another Windermere cat has been reunited with his owner. Humbert was found this morning, some 37 days after the fire. His two sisters, M2 and Sadie, were rescued earlier.

City Kitties provides a complete guide on how to help the cats and voice your concern on their website here.

Here is an excerpt from the guide:

You can help by donating food (canned or dry), old towels or blankets, and bleach (for cleaning traps) to Project MEOW. Email projectmeow@gmail.com or visit their facebook page for details. Become a City Kitties foster home so that we can help as many of these cats as possible. Please do NOT place cat food in the area around the building, as this will discourage cats from entering the traps.

Milton Street announces his candidacy for mayor under the El at 52nd and Market Streets. (Photo by Lindsay Lazarski for NewsWorks).

Two stories caught our eye this morning.

• One was Milton Street’s announcement for mayor from aboard a rented pick-up truck at the El station at 52nd and Market. WHYY‘s Dave Davies went to the announcement and noted that Street’s announcement in the heart of West Philadelphia drew little attention from passersby. One woman, upon hearing that Street was announcing his candidacy, told Davies: “Milton Street? He is? Oh my god,” said one woman. “Oh my god — that’s my opinion.” Street, the brother of former Mayor John Street, has an interesting history in Philadelphia politics and business. A 2006 Philadephia Magazine article helps fill in some background.

• A second story from the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Tirdad Derakhshani tells the story of Benjamin Neiditz, who came to the rescue of the Penn Museum earlier this month to create two mummies who stood in for the mummies that were supposed to be part of the museum much celebrated exhibit “Secrets of the Silk Road.” The real mummies had been ordered to remain in their crates by the Chinese government, sending museum curators scrambling to find replacements. Neiditz, the exhibit carpenter, has experience making mummies. “I had a blast making these mummies,” he says of the two papier-mâché dummies he created using photos of the originals.

Windermere Court residents lined up into the night last night to try to get some of their stuff back. Most of them didn’t get much.

Residents were asked to make a list of things they wanted from their apartments. In some cases they drew maps of where things like documents were. The catch was that all of the stuff had to fit into two large garbage bags. The building’s management assigned a handful of demolition workers to search the nearly 100 apartments for items. Residents were escorted a couple at a time through a locked fence into the building courtyard to retrieve what the crews could find.

As we reported yesterday, residents have filed a class action lawsuit against the buildings owners and management.

The demolition of the Windermere is scheduled to begin today.

We wanted to share some video we shot late yesterday of people’s stories of getting their belongings back and the fairly humiliating process they had to go through. Here it is:

5:15 p.m.: We have put several calls into the fire department to clarify the number of people taken to the hospital. They have not returned phone calls. The building has been boarded up and a restoration crew is on site to assess the damages.

9:45 a.m.: Firefighters have brought the fire under control. They are not yet speculating on a cause. The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that two people have been hospitalized.

The fire was reported at 7:38 a.m. and the fire department declared it under control by 8:07. The building provided transition living services for people with disabilities.

8:14: A multi-alarm fire has engulfed a single story building at 4536 Spruce St. Thick smoke was pouring out of the windows and some of the residents of the building, which is run by Transition to Independent Living Inc., were being carried out on stretchers. We’re still trying to get better idea if anyone is seriously injured.

Two residents of the Windermere Court Apartments have filed a class action lawsuit against the building’s owners and management.

The suit claims that the tenants of the building at 48th and Walnut suffered economic losses and emotional distress because of the “negiligence, carelessness and/or recklessness” of the building’s management company, Windermere Court Management Corp., and its owners, David and Sam Ginsberg. Specifically, the suit alleges that the building was not equipped with proper fire detection and suppression equipment – things like smoke alarms and sprinklers – and that the management failed to inspect the building regularly to ensure that it complied with fire codes.

The plaintiffs in the case are Theodore Schall, who lived in an apartment very close to where the Jan. 10 fire began, and John Brendan (J.B) Farley, who has been a key organizer of the recent protests to allow residents to enter the building to retrieve their pets and belongings.

All the residents of the building have been named int he lawsuit and it is their choice whether to opt out.

As the lawsuit was filed today, residents lined up at the building to be given garbage bags with belongings from the apartments. Each resident who arrived at the building today was asked to list the items they wanted from their apartment. The items had to fit in two large garbage bags. Residents were escorted one-by-one through a gate to claim their belongings.

The demolition of the building is set to begin tomorrow.

Protesters stand near a backhoe on Monday to prevent it from being used to begin demolition of the Windermere Court Apartments. (Photo by Daniel Brown, Wide Eyed Pictures)

The story of the Windermere Court residents and their fight to get back into their building has touched a nerve with many of us. It has gone from a story about saving pets and belongings to a story about justice and the struggle of regular people against a large bureaucratic machine.

There are no street demonstrations today, but the rally is continuing. The demolition was put on hold until tomorrow, but residents have still not been granted permission to enter. Maybe now is a good time for reflection as we wait for more news. Filmmaker Daniel Brown and his production company Wide Eyed Pictures has produced a wonderful documentary on the experience of Windermere Court residents. Please pass this around as it does a great job in helping people understand what is at stake here.

Here’s what Daniel wrote:

I’m so worried about the animals in there. Of course I’m worried about  peoples personal possessions – photo albums, home videos, etc. But to  know that there are living, breathing pets in there who have their own  feelings and emotions – it just kills me. That’s the drive for me to shoot this.

When I go back Wednesday I plan to focus more on the undamaged areas.  I feel the first video shows a lot of the damaged top, and I want people to understand how much of the building is still intact.

What you can do to help:
Write or call the Mayor’s office and register your complaint about the scheduled demolition. The city is reportedly the driving force behind the building being torn down so quickly.

Here is the contact info:
michael.nutter@phila.gov and phone number is 215-686-2181.

Here is Daniel’s piece: