A garden center is being proposed at the southeast corner of 51st and Baltimore.

An empty lot at the southeast corner of 51st Street and Baltimore Avenue may soon host a garden center. To kick start the project residents are invited to provide their input at the first community discussion tonight. One of the main topics discussed at tonight’s meeting, which will take place at Seeds Gallery (5011 Baltimore Ave) beginning at 6:30 p.m., is how to structure the project (i.e. co-op or private business).

Seeds Gallery owner Saba Tedla will lead tonight’s discussion along with the land owner Ryan Spak and community members can learn more about and share their thoughts on the following issues:

– What is the proposed lease term for the space?
– Who are the stockholders of this project?
– What can University City District/Cedar Park Neighbors do to support this effort?
– Private vs. public (co-op) structure garden center?
– Who has an interest to invest?
– What government /non-profit organizations can be involved with this project?

There is no more information available on the proposed garden center at this time as “things are just unfolding”, according to Tedla, and  many things will depend on the community input.

Photos by Dylan Moore.

UPDATE (6/12/2013): The Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll has been postponed until July, 2013 due to heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast for this Thursday, according to an announcement on the University City District’s Facebook page posted this evening. We’ll post more information about the new date as soon as we have it.

The Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, the highly-anticipated annual event celebrating local businesses where most things are just a buck, is returning this Thursday, June 13. The stroll begins at 5:30 p.m. (it is always a good idea to get there early to avoid the crowds) and a record-setting 35 businesses will offer $1 deals along Baltimore Avenue, between 43rd and 50th Streets.

Besides the long-time participants, like Milk & Honey, Dock Street Brewery and Firehouse Bicycles, there will be some newcomers who recently opened shops in the area, including Little Baby’s Ice Cream and The Green Tambourine. This Dollar Stroll also showcases new parklets at Fu-Wah and Little Baby’s Ice Cream and the new pedestrian plaza at 48th and Baltimore.

In addition to storefront businesses, food trucks and vendors such as Jimmies Cupcake Co., Sunflower Truck Stop and Lil Dan’s will also be selling $1 items along the avenue. Also, don’t miss live music and entertainment: XPN favorite, The Fleeting Ends will perform live at 46^th and Baltimore, along with fire artists and street performers such as the Give & Take Jugglers. There will be also giveaways, face painting and balloon artists.

If you can’t make it this week there will be only one more stroll this year, on September 12.

Check out the flyer below for more details on what businesses are taking part in Thursday’s Stroll and what they are offering. For more information about this event, visit: http://universitycity.org/baltimore-ave-dollar-stroll

Click to enlarge.

Proposed draft drawing of Babylon Bistro’s storefront.

Although West Philly’s home to several excellent ethnic restaurant spots, there’s still a void of one menu offering plates that satisfy a broad range of palates. And that’s a gap Aksum Cafe and Seeds Gallery owner Saba Tedla plans to close when she opens her second eatery, Babylon Bistro at 5021-5023 Baltimore Avenue in Spring 2014.

According to Tedla, Babylon Bistro will cater to neighborhood folk who like ethnic fare but also want their “basic American food” (think specialty sandwiches). The contemporary menu as envisioned will offer small and large plate portions much like Aksum, but will cover an eclectic variety of regions and concepts that serve a diverse community.

While a lack of a “range of selection of menu” was a common complaint Tedla heard in two community discussion forums she held in developing the bistro’s concept, another was the lack of brunch and breakfast options. To that end, she plans to open Babylon Bistro for breakfast daily, as well as offer brunch on the weekends. As for serving alcohol, Tedla said the idea is to operate a BYOB spot on the onset, and that pursing a liquor license is “a long-term objective.”

“As a resident of the neighborhood, I am focused on the business void of the community and the advantage is having a better understanding of the neighborhood business needs,” she said.

But Babylon Bistro won’t only check off the food boxes. The combined lower area of 5021 and 5023 Baltimore Aves will come to a sprawling 2,000 square feet, making the bistro the second largest restaurant in the immediate neighborhood and the first largest on the Baltimore corridor, said Tedla. She plans to implement an open floor plan in Babylon’s scheme with floor-to-ceiling bi-fold doors that’ll serve as windows—a chic décor that “completely opens the space” and can comfortably sit 75-100 patrons without much of a wait.

Although Tedla has a strong vision in mind for Babylon Bistro, she does note the menu and concept are still in the development stages, and will be fully fleshed out once a chef is identified. She is currently interviewing potential candidates, as well as pursuing other options.

Craig King of Ventures Abby Real Estate also plans to operate a restaurant at 5037 Baltimore Avenue, not far from Babylon’s pending home. While King hasn’t returned interview requests, we do know from Cedar Park Neighbors it will possibly be a 75-seat sit-down restaurant with weekend music entertainment.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Rendering of the new Baltimore Avenue Pedestrian Plaza provided by University City District.

Many folks are probably wondering what is going on at 48^th Street and Baltimore Avenue, so here’s what we learned: The three bumpouts now hugging the curbs of the intersection’s south side were the first phase in a new University City District project that’ll transform the glut asphalt into a pedestrianized plaza.

The second phase, which should start this week, will have stone barriers and terra-cotta style planters housing budding perennials installed around the bumpouts’ outer edges, serving as protection from oncoming traffic. A new crosswalk directly connecting the Gold Standard Café and the Calvary Center was also painted.

Once completed this spring, the plaza will shrink the vast, daunting gap of the 48^th Street and Baltimore Avenue juncture, shortening crossing distances, improving pedestrian safety, slowing vehicle speed, and “better [knitting] together Baltimore Avenue,” UCD’s Seth Budick told West Philly Local. The organization partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities and worked with the West Philly community to develop design plans, he said.

The local plaza development is one of two implemented by UCD, which received two grants under the City of Philadelphia’s recently-announced Pedestrian Plaza program that aims to convert excess street surface into usable pedestrian spaces. The first plaza, named Woodland Green, was finished last fall at 42^nd Street and Woodland Ave.

– Annamarya Scaccia

Rebels Closet owner Conway Armstead with Takiya Lipscomb, director of operations.

The intersection between subcultures has always been present in history. From skaters blasting alt-hip hop to punk rock kids skanking to ska, the line between underground movements is one forever blurred.

It’s this almost-inherent connection that drives Rebels Closet, the new clothing store that’s set up shop in True Planet Vintage Boutique’s former home at 4501 Baltimore Ave. With an emphasis on street-wear fashion, Rebels Closet’s aim is to serve as an artistic and fashion meeting point “for all those different [counter]cultures,” said owner and former West Philly resident Conway Armstead. Sought-after national street brands like Mighty Healthy and BGRT will hang from racks next to local designers like G.E.E.K (Good Energy = Quals Kreation) Clothing Inc. that offer “an organic, more cultural-type feel,” which, according to Director of Operations Takiya Lipscomb, will appeal to “the immediate neighborhood.”

“We are going to be having those brands that people look for and [are] very rare to find in Philadelphia,” Lipscomb said. “[But] we’re gonna have an element for people who love couture, for people who wear basics every day. There’s going to be something for everybody.”

Rebels Closet held a soft opening on Sunday to introduce the new space to West Philly residents, and “give them a taste” of what the store will carry once it officially opens at the end of the month. While a multitude of items are currently available for purchase, it is not a “full representation” of what’s to come, which includes a fuller men’s department and the launch of a women’s department, according to Lipscomb. Armstead said he is also open to meeting with local designers about potentially carrying their lines.

“Rebels Closet” mural designed by Philadelphia graffiti writer and Armstead’s good friend Satan (a.k.a. SN)

But Armstead wants Rebels Closet to act as much more than a place to buy new gear. He also plans to use the vibrant, artwork-laden shop as a cultural destination, possibly renting it out for poetry readings, album listening parties, and rolling art galleries.

“It’s really cool the fact that we can take everything off the floor and make it look like a completely empty space and funk it out to be whatever you want it to be,” said Lipscomb. “[We] want to do those types of things during First Friday and First Thursday events [and] just bring in something that draws in the artistic crowd.”

In the end, Rebels Closet is a symbol for grassroots revolution, in both name and space. It represents nonconformity and individuality—a drum beat for authenticity accented by the yet-to-be completed mural on the back wall brandishing its name. “Most of [the brands] you won’t find in larger chain stores. Even they have an organic, self-expressive attitude. That’s what the rebel thing is about,” said Armstead, who is present at the store every day. “It’s just a form of expression that might not be a popular statement or way of thinking but it is what it is.”

“Everybody is their own rebel, whether you’re a rebel for the earth, or a rebel against the machine,” added Lipscomb. “Everybody has a rebel in them and this can be your closet.”

Rebels Closet is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Apparel is available in sizes small to XXL , and ranges from $20-25 for t-shirts, $40 for sweatshirts, and $35-45 for shorts.

– Annamarya Scaccia
 

Have you been missing those one dollar samosas, mini burgers, pizza slices, craft beer, cupcakes, yoga certificates, theater tickets and other items that Baltimore Avenue Dollar Strolls bring to the neighborhood every summer? We have some good and bad news. Let’s start with good – this hugely popular event is coming back this summer and will again include tons of great $1 deals on Baltimore Avenue from 42nd to 50th Streets, from a growing number of participating local businesses.

The somewhat sad news is that there will be only two strolls this summer, down from four strolls in 2011. We hear that it’s a great effort and expenses to put this event together (the attendance grew to 20,000 visitors in 2012), with little revenue for participants, so the organizers had to make the decision to cut the number of the strolls for this year.

This year, the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Strolls are scheduled for June 13 and September 12, to ring in and close out the summer season. We’ll let you know more later about who will take part in these events and what they will offer.