A participant in the gathering at Malcolm X. Park that resulted in several dozen police officers clearing the park out Saturday night told CBS3 that the event was peaceful and that cops overreacted.

Joseph Clifton says in a video posted on CBS3’s website (see below) that people gathered for a video shoot and cookout. He said the city had issued a permit for 300 people.

Clifton said as many as 30 police officers initially responded to ask organizers to turn music down. Soon after, more police arrived and cleared the park. Cell phone video that Clifton shot shows police lined up shoulder to shoulder with batons drawn, walking through the park. Several blocks around the park were closed and a police helicopter circled the park for about an hour.  Continue Reading

Bartram’s Garden has a chance to get awarded $200,000 after it was selected as a finalist for the Philadelphia Foundation’s Key to Community grant. The historic garden and arboretum located at 5400 Lindbergh Blvd. in Southwest Philadelphia is competing in the Community & Civic Engagement Category with their project titled “Reclaiming Local History and Championing an Inclusive Future in Southwest Philly.”

The grant will be used to directly support the neighborhood residents within the following initiatives:  Continue Reading

                     Spotted Lanternfly

The Woodlands Cemetery will be closed all day tomorrow, Tuesday, June 25 for tree work related to spotted lanternfly management. The USDA will be on the grounds performing the work.

Despite the gates being closed, The Woodlands staff will be in the office on Tuesday, so if anyone is visiting family buried there, please call 215-386-2181 for assistance.

The Spotted Lanternfly is an invasive species native to East Asia. It causes serious damage to trees. It was found in Pennsylvania in 2014, and has since spread to 14 counties, including Philadelphia. These 14 counties are now quarantined to stop the spread of the Spotted Lanternfly, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. A few adult lanternflies were spotted at The Woodlands last summer, according to executive director Jessica Baumert, and nymphs were spotted this summer.

For more information about the Spotted Lanternfly and what to do if you spot it, check out this Spotted Lanternfly Alert.

Squirrel Hill Park, the controversial gated pocket “park” at 48th and Chester, is still open after being “liberated” earlier this month and renamed “People’s Park.”

Residents have been asking for years what it would take to open the park to the public. A group started a few years back to work through the legal entanglements. They event sent out a survey. But members of the Black and Brown Workers Cooperative showed what it took: vision, temerity and a pair of bolt cutters.

The Cooperative posted a video (see below) of the opening of the park a couple of weeks ago. The video now has nearly 20,000 views and the park is still open.  Continue Reading

Fall is here, so it’s time to celebrate harvest, get spooked, show off your costume, and engage in more fun fall and Halloween-themed activities. In this post, check out Fall events, including events for the whole family, happening at two historic places in West and Southwest Philly – The Woodlands Cemetery and Mansion (40th and Woodland) and Bartram’s Garden (5400 Lindbergh Blvd).

HollyWoodlands
Friday, Oct. 12
6:00 –  9:00 p.m.

HollyWoodlands presents Buffy The Vampire Slayer on the big screen in the Hellmouth of The Woodlands. Showings begin at sundown. Watch three episodes of the 90’s cult classic, and come dressed in your Buffy Best for a costume contest before the showing. $5 suggested donation. For more information, go here.  Continue Reading

Mayor Jim Kenney speaks on Thursday at the opening of the Trolley Portal Gardens near 40th and Baltimore. (Photo by West Philly Local).

As trolleys screeched by, Mayor Jim Kenney was among the dignitaries who spoke Thursday at the opening of Trolley Portal Gardens, the public space near the trolley stops at 40th and Baltimore. Kenney, whose mayorship is defined by balancing the “old” Philadelphia of open fire hydrants and block parties and the “new” Philadelphia of “eds and meds,” said the new space balances both.

“This is the ‘old’ Philadelphia and the ‘new’ Philadelphia,” he said. “This is where we’re going.”  Continue Reading