The narcotics trade has taken over much of Philly. Unfortunately, the 10 spots here represent only a fraction of the action.
A kid in a bucket seat raised high on the fat rear tires of a four-wheeled ATV eyes the corner boys slinging dope and crack around the Chinese takeout. Then he turns and looks at what he probably takes for a car full of cops facing him.
Smiling, he guns the engine, rolls out into the intersection of Fifth and Westmoreland, and pops a wheelie--his front tires arcing skyward, his long fluid body cutting a pose like that of a cowboy on a rearing horse, a kid too young to know better than to celebrate the lawlessness of wild, wild Westmoreland Street.
Drug dealing in Philadelphia has changed.
It's now a highly mobile enterprise: A hot spot might go quiet for a day, or even for several days, then come to life. Dealers employ pagers, cell phones and delivery services to stay on the move.
But it's still easy to find plenty of spots throughout the city where drug dealers work in the open air, making rapid hand exchanges with regulars and recreational enthusiasts alike.
Online crime-mapping stats posted by the Cartographic Modeling Lab at Penn also make it clear that drug markets, once concentrated in specific areas, have spread within neighborhoods and into virgin turf--most notably into the Northeast, where narcotics trafficking and violence hadn't previously been a problem. But the problems of this city were most evident during a 10-mile walk through the streets of North Philadelphia.
Trash was strewn everywhere, and shuttered factories cast shadows over the neighborhoods they once put to work. Kids lingered on corners during school hours--some selling drugs, others just hanging out, looking listless.
Any guns remained safely out of sight. Mayor Street has seized on handguns as the source of the city's violence. He even used the recent shootings at Virginia Tech to make his point, saying the day of the tragedy that "gun violence knows no geographic boundaries."
Street's six-sentence statement used the word "gun" four times, just in case anyone was missing his point. But activists, police and academics say it's time for the city to broaden its focus.
A month ago Jovonne Stelly was mourned as an innocent victim, a 28-year-old mother caught up in the city's epidemic of gun violence. Her boyfriend and brother were arrested for allegedly playing roles in the shootout that took her life.
What wasn't reported was that the men in Stelly's life had been arrested for drug offenses five times in the past 10 years. Police homicide Capt. Michael Costello says it's unclear whether drug dealing played a role in the shootout.
Not long afterward city police arrested a man for killing a would-be robber. The robbery victim allegedly had 30 packets of marijuana in his home. He also had a handgun, which he used to kill his assailant--who probably knew he was raiding a stash house.
Though guns played a lethal role in all these cases, it was the victims' occupation--drug trafficking--that demanded they be armed. So the police are being asked to deal with the symptom of a problem that is, at its heart, economic. And thus far there's been no police-oriented solution to the violence in Philadelphia.
Aaron Horne, a narcotics inspector, tells a story that typifies how police are responding to the wave of violence.
"We had a horrible shooting in the 12th Police District," says Horne, "and it's our policy to send a strike force team out right after that. But then, immediately afterward, we had two juveniles shot in the 17th District."
Horne split his strike force in two.
Similarly, for roughly three years now according to first deputy commissioner Pat Fox, police have designated certain intersections "priority corners."
These corners aren't named publicly, and a Police Department spokesperson refused to reveal them. PW has, however, obtained lists of the named priority corners over most of the past two years. PW also obtained an internal police memorandum, declaring these corners are named priorities in response to homicides, shootings, robberies and narcotics activity.
The lists show that while some corners are named a priority right after a shooting and then removed after a week or two, others linger on the list for more than a year.
Patrick Carr, a Rutgers University sociologist, has talked to drug dealers, and says city leaders should look for the "root causes" of the violence epidemic. He asserts that people involved in street crime are more likely to become victims of violence and five times more likely to own or have access to a handgun. And the dominant street crime, says Carr, is drug trafficking, which he calls "the major employer" in many neighborhoods.
"It's politically expedient," says Carr, "for the mayor, for the police commissioner to say Harrisburg won't pass gun laws. But what are the things that are really driving this? Why is there a vibrant narcotics trade? Demand--that's part--and also because there's nothing else for these kids to seize upon as a viable opportunity."
Carr's thinking recalls the kid on Westmoreland Street. The wheelie he performed was a teenager's attempt to call attention to himself. And isn't that what all kids want--the chance to see themselves as vibrant and powerful and living at the heart of things? In their quest to live this dream, many will turn to slinging product.
And many of them will die doing it.
What follows is a list of the city's top 10 drug corners.
This list should be considered as imperfect as the city that made it possible. More than a dozen worthy candidates don't appear here.
PHILADELPHIA
10) 1600-1900 W. Wingohocking St., Tioga.
9) Fifth and Carpenter sts., Pennsport.
8) 52nd and Market sts., West Philadelphia.
7) A and Westmoreland sts., Fairhill.
6) Bridge and Hawthorne sts., Frankford.
5) "The Box": 21st and McKean sts. to 23rd and McKean sts., north to 21st and Sigel sts. through 23rd and Sigel sts., Girard Estates.
4) 17th and Jefferson sts., Poplar.
3) Fifth and Westmoreland sts., Fairhill.
2) Third and Indiana sts., Fairhill.
1) Kensington and Somerset sts., Kensington.
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10.) 1600-1900 W. Wingohocking St., Tioga.
Residents here don't put out garbage cans or flowerboxes.
"The corner boys put their drugs in them," says a woman who goes by Ms. Mary. "You can get fined $25 by the city just for putting out flowers."
It's a small but important measure of how profoundly a flourishing drug trade devastates a neighborhood--creating city policies that favor chaos over order, ugliness over beauty.
This North Philadelphia corridor has been on the city's priority list for 16 months straight. Typically, this means a squad car will be parked there roughly 16 hours a day. But in three visits to the site last month, no squad car appeared.
Like so many neighborhoods in North Philadelphia, the landscape includes an abandoned factory.
"You're here today with the sunshine folk," says 57-year-old Tedd Woods. "You won't find us out at night."
A trio of young men walks by around 10:30 in the morning, hoodies pulled tight around their heads. Woods says they deal drugs.
"You're looking at kids that have nothing to do," he says. "If you had the opportunity to do productive things, you might not come out here and do stupid shit."
The locals say mostly weed and crack is dealt here. The first obvious deal of the day goes down at 11:04 in front of a corner grocer.
The buyer gets the package in his hand, then takes a few steps away before looking down to make sure he got what he paid for.
>> Poverty level, 2000 Census: 21 percent.
>> Priciest home: One house in the 1700 block sold for $37,000 in 2006; conversely, another home sold for just $8,000 in 2006.
>> Shootings in 2006: eight, all within a couple of blocks.
9.) Fifth and Carpenter sts., Pennsport.
"There is some open-air dealing, but South Philly mostly seems about delivery," says an undercover narcotics cop who's worked the area more than five years.
Why are open-air markets most prevalent in North Philadelphia? Activist sources say the unrelenting poverty, along with the tradition of open-air drug dealing, lends itself to a more brazen approach. South Philadelphia has more mixed-income neighborhoods, which helps keep drug activity on the down low.
One recent morning two men stood at one of the city's few remaining payphones at Fifth and Washington. They dialed numbers from a white sheet of paper, and engaged in eight separate conversations, each lasting only seconds.
A police patrol car sat nearby.
Fifth and Carpenter was named a police priority corner in August 2005, and according to documents hasn't been left off the list since.
When the men moved away from the phone they walked up to Fifth and Carpenter and met with a trio of men that had been standing in front of an abandoned building for 30 minutes.
The men spoke, then fanned out in different directions. Police say these movements are indicative of a delivery service.
"That's how they do it," says narcotics inspector Aaron Horne.
"That was probably a small operation," says narcotics Capt. Christopher Werner.
Horne says police surveillance protocol would likely require 10 officers to sit on that spot--with two cops to follow each suspect.
>> Poverty level, 2000 Census: 34.7 percent.
>> Priciest home: $230,000, with several others going for more than $150,000 in the last two years.
>> Shootings in 2006: According to The Philadelphia Inquirer's interactive online map--zero at the corner itself, though there were four scattered across the surrounding blocks.
8.) 52nd and Market sts., West Philadelphia.
"I'm gonna get high all day," shouts an attractive young girl walking west from 52nd and Market.
Her friend laughs and then stops short after seeing a stranger over her shoulder.
"Oh shit," she says.
"You here to bust me?" says the girl who was just hollering about getting high.
She pauses in the street, then cocks her head to one side. "Mmm," she says, looking at the stranger, "I wanna lick that bald head all up."
She gets a smile in response.
"Let me lick that bald head!" she shouts.
A few seconds later she and her friend disappear inside a door marked "WATER ICE." Whoever opens the door for them locks it after they enter. Over the course of an hour or so several people approach the door, knock and gain admittance. Each time the door is immediately locked.
What's going on?
"Who the hell knows?" replies Thomas Hannah laughing. "There's so much shit going on out here."
In a recent story in the Daily News, Hannah's bar, the Corral, was pinpointed by police as a major problem along the notorious 52nd and Market strip, which sits directly under the El.
"What can I do?" says Hannah.
He says dealers get arrested with drugs in his bar when they run inside to hide from the cops. He says a young man got shot after running inside his bar to escape assailants.
Drug transactions go on from 52nd and Market west to the corner of Lindenwood and at 53rd. Locals say there's no heroin--just crack and weed.
Some people seem to get special service. One man teeters off the stairs connecting the sidewalk to the tracks of the El and hands a brown paper bag to a young man. The young man, hoodie pulled up tight around his head, takes the bag, goes inside a nearby storefront, and emerges again within a few seconds. He hands the same bag back to the man, who immediately heads up the stairs.
In 90 minutes here, where the 16th, 18th and 19th police districts intersect, not a single police car passes by.
"I think the police need to do a better job," says Hannah, a retired Philadelphia cop with 20 years on the force. "They act like there wouldn't be a drug problem if this bar wasn't here. But come on, man! Look at it."
>> Poverty level, 2000 Census: 19.1 percent.
>> Priciest home: The block is virtually all commercial, but a row house with office space sold here for $120,000 in 2005.
7.) A and Westmoreland sts., Fairhill.
This has been a priority corner since January, but in March 2003 PW documented troubles here with a story about drug dealing in and around a takeout restaurant called Joy Chinese & American Food.
In that story police Capt. Thomas Nestel described the failure to stop drug dealing there "an embarrassment."
Now, with a patrol car parked at the corner, the dealers pick up and move to the nearby corner of Kip and Ontario.
According to Gregory Bucceroni, a captain with Men United for a Better Philadelphia, cries of "Wet! Wet!" alert passers-by to the opportunity to buy weed soaked in embalming fluid.
>> Poverty level, 2000 Census: 43.3 percent.
>> Priciest home: Most homes here sold for somewhere in the mid-20s to the 30s, but one in the 100 block of East Westmoreland Street sold for $65,000 in 2005.
>> Shootings in 2006: Three people shot within a block, and plenty more in the surrounding area.
6.) Bridge and Hawthorne sts., Frankford.
According to Jeff Deeney, a caseworker for formerly homeless families, this corner's been hot the last couple of months with hustlers selling crack and weed. Deeney's been chronicling the city's drug trade in a series of nonfiction shorts for the website Phawker.
"The neighbors I know live under an uneasy peace with the young boys on the block," writes Deeney of the Bridge and Hawthorne area, "making the necessary concessions that come with life around a crime-ridden corner."
He tells of a woman who used to park her van there until one day she went to the grocery store and was headed off by a kid from down the street. He told her not to move it.
Why not? she asked. That's my van.
"'No it ain't,' the kid told her, 'that's my stash spot,' and pointed to a bulging brown paper bag tucked behind the front tire."
At Bridge and Hawthorne drug dealers operating around a Chinese takeout scattered when a PW photographer took their picture.
Two days later the action was on a row home stoop in an adjacent block of Hawthorne, and at another row home a block away at the corner of Duffield and Bridge.
James, a retired ex-Marine who asked that only his first name be published, told of a conversation he'd had with a Middle Eastern grocer on Hawthorne. "He said this guy come in shot, the front of his chest all covered in blood. We hear gunshots here all the time. Pop! Pop! Pop!"
Because drug dealers take over the street at night, he stays inside. "I used to sit on the porch," he says. "But those guys around the Chinese store do more business than Rite Aid or Eckerd."
The area, located in the 15th Police District, is a good example of how drug dealing has spread toward the Northeast. As one undercover cop working the area says, "We've got activity in places we never had before. The whole corridor of Summerdale Avenue from the Boulevard to Devereaux is infested."
5.) "The Box": 21st and McKean sts. to 23rd and McKean sts., north to 21st and Sigel sts. through 23rd and Sigel sts., Girard Estates.
There may be less open-air drug dealing in South Philadelphia, but according to one undercover cop, drug sales are prominent at 20th and Dickinson, 21st and Reed, 23rd and Tasker, 24th and Morris, 21st and McKean, and 21st and Sigel.
"Otherwise," he says, "it's mostly about delivery services here. And mostly people are selling crack, though there is some weed."
Community activist Samuel Porter advises people to look at parts of South Philadelphia as opposed to individual corners. He outlines a "box" running from 21st and McKean to 23rd Street and along a corresponding line on Sigel Street.
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| 22nd & Mifflin |
In several trips through the area, the drug activity did seem scarcer and more mobile than in North Philadelphia. But fear among residents is just as palpable.
One senior citizen says he sees drugs being dealt and hears gunshots frequently. When asked for his name, he declines and amends his earlier comments. "I never see anything," he says. "I really don't."
A woman who wants to go by "A.D." and lives in the 2100 block of McKean says she long ago moved her furniture away from the windows to lessen her chances of being shot.
"Can you believe that?" she says. "I paid for this house but can't live in it the way I want."
She says drug dealers are always on the move. "They got cell phones, pagers, and they don't stay in one place for very long."
Near 7 p.m. she needs to go inside. "The sun's setting," she says. "And I'd like to see you again, so you should leave too before it gets dark."
>> Poverty level (21st and McKean), 2000 Census: 26.2 percent.
>> Priciest homes: One two-story row house went for $45,000 in 2001; another sold for $37,500 last June.
4.) 17th and Jefferson sts., Poplar.
This North Philadelphia block is legendary for "pancakes and syrup," a potent mixture of codeine-based cough medicine and Xanax.
Twenty-five years ago the brew was considered a specialty narcotic for drug dealers themselves because not everyone could afford the initial $60 price tag for a high. But in short order the drug was marketed in budget-sized $10 bottles.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website includes a description of the drug, comparing its high to that of heroin, and noting that from January to July 1987 the coroner's office received "19 fatalities due to this particular combination of drugs."
Rapper Beanie Sigel has called syrup his "twist." And the market for it is still alive and well. On a recent visit dealers were operating along a three-block stretch of 17th Street that encompassed West Master, West Jefferson and West Oxford. "You going to be high soon," one dealer said to an approaching customer, who reached out his hand to cop.
At the corner of 17th and West Master, a young man on foot slapped hands with a dealer. The dealer came away from the meeting with money in his hand, flashing green as he passed it to an older man who was making a show of holding all the cash.
At 17th and West Oxford a van rolled up and a thin hand reached out and handed something to one of the corner men, who then backed away from the vehicle. Then one of the other men walked up and passed something to the driver, who hit the gas and rolled away.
The number of shootings along this strip is surprisingly small, according to the Inquirer's map. But as one former dealer observed, "If you're running a business, you're going to avoid shooting right there. You're going to try to find the guy you're looking for when he's someplace else."
It could also be due to the age of the men dealing here. The sellers along this avenue appear to be the oldest of any corner on this list by far. The syrup is evidently still pouring through the hands of the old-heads who created it.
>> Poverty level, 2000 Census: 68 percent.
>> Priciest home: An apartment building on the block sold for $225,000 last year; a three-story row home sold for $41,500 in 2005.
3.) Fifth and Westmoreland sts., Fairhill.
People enter and leave the Chinese takeout on this corner in seconds, emerging without any sign of having purchased food or drink. One woman, her eyes sunken and face drawn, does come out with something balled tightly in her hand.
The drug market was open during four of five visits. Community activist Gregory Bucceroni says the menu here includes crack and heroin.
The existence of this particular drug market is perhaps most notable because it sits directly across the street from a Police Athletic League center at 3201 N. Fifth St.
The proximity to the police-affiliated center doesn't seem to dissuade the dealers.
>> Poverty level, 2000 Census: 56.7 percent.
>> Priciest home: Most go for half the price, but one home here sold for $62,000 last year.
2.) Third and Indiana sts., Fairhill.
This spot marks the entrance to a narcotics strip mall that runs all the way west beyond Fifth to the corner of Reese and Indiana. In six trips here over the last six months at least one of these corners was always in business.
The existence of drug dealing on Indiana has been well documented, starting with former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez's novel Third and Indiana, right through to multiple specials on Nightline.
A website that connects drug users nationwide refers to the Badlands, as this area is known, numerous times. (On the site, Philadelphia is tied with Baltimore for the top spot in an online poll of the most open-air dope spots.)
Here the streets are littered with trash, businesses are few, and the ones that do exist--including yet another Chinese takeout--often serve as sheltering spaces for the dealers.
How bad is it?
One day last month, as the temperature hovered in the high 40s, more than two dozen dealers worked these corners, the buzz of commerce equal to that of a farmers' market or a street bazaar.
The prospect of getting caught seemed so remote to the dealers and buyers that they didn't even bother to palm the plastic baggies in their hands.
Despite the overt open-air dealing here and the regularity of violence, Third and Indiana was named a police priority corner for just two weeks, both last July.
>> Poverty level, 2000 Census: 64.6 percent.
>> Priciest home: One two-story row home here went for $62,000, but most homes in this block went for far less--including a 2005 sale for $14,800.
>> Shootings in 2006: eight along this corridor.
1.) Kensington and Somerset sts., Kensington.
A man in boots and a denim jacket shakes a pill bottle at passers-by. Another man performs walk-up car service, doing a drug deal with two young men in baseball caps who roll up in a Civic.
This spot, under the El along heavily trafficked Kensington Avenue, has been a well-known heroin market for decades.
During a visit here last month it was easy to pick out the guy in charge of the street operation. A stocky dude in a hoodie, he never made a transaction himself. But guys who were making transactions continually drifted back to hand him money they'd collected.
After about an hour an older man arrived at the corner of Kensington and Somerset. He and the hoodie dude went for a walk, starting out north on Kensington, and were followed by a reporter. They turned east on Hart Lane, walking fast, and after momentarily disappearing from sight when turning north on Ruth Street, they emerged a few seconds later and followed another side street all the way back to Somerset.
They crossed back and forth as they walked, from one side of the street to the other, for no apparent purpose. And when they turned east on Somerset, retreating farther from the famous Kensington corner, the man in the hoodie nodded at another young man and ran his hand slowly over his head.
That man started toward the reporter, who'd been about a block behind the dealers and who now turned and started moving away.
Just then a young mother on the street cracked her son so hard the sound echoed off nearby row houses. The little boy's mouth opened, and for a few seconds he cried silently until he forced a wail up and out from his belly. His crying came in great sobs that arced high and reached impossible notes before crashing down in a series of low, guttural moans. Every time it seemed like he'd stopped, he'd start again. His crying--and the possibility of seeing a gun--chased the reporter all the way up the street.
�
Additional reporting by Anthony Porter.
Steve Volk (svolk@philadelphiaweekly.com) began covering the city's drug trade in 2002. This is the first in a series of stories on city drug corners.
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1. rome said... on Nov 29, 2008 at 12:44PM
“that is the block where shit is poppin money and guns the streets are littered w needles and the tears of mothers who have lost their children.souls are lost to those blocks and to the lure of easy money or cheap highs...just a thought...........rome”
2. Teresa said... on Oct 1, 2008 at 02:43PM
“That was a great story. I really enjoyed reading it. I grew up in Kensington, I would be afraid to walk down the very street I lived on which was "E" street by tioga. I wish I could take my children to see the house I lived in but I am scared for their safety”
3. Twitch said... on Mar 2, 2009 at 12:36PM
“kensington and somerset is pretty much just for works references to where to go...youll get beat for whatever youre lookin for if u dont know whats goin on.”
4. scarface said... on Feb 22, 2009 at 05:01AM
“I up the bid to 275 if its good it aint like it was in philly 10 years ago”
5. reds said... on Feb 4, 2009 at 04:21PM
“5 th and indy runs from 3rd and indy to 5th and indy and we keep peace i move mountains to stop the gun s”
6. guapo said... on Jan 31, 2009 at 10:38AM
“no one is going to give you shit. but i want a brick of smack for 230.”
7. smackhead said... on Feb 18, 2009 at 07:01PM
“Don King is some of the best shit out right now.”
8. HURDINFOOL said... on Feb 9, 2009 at 01:48PM
“i was down jasper and orleans yesterday, good stuff”
9. Q-deezy said... on Jan 5, 2009 at 12:19AM
“I know this deal all too well, I am from Port Richmond(the higher echelon of kensington), but recently moved to San Diego just to get my family away from the bullshit that surrounds this city. Out here in Cali , it is so different, very pleasant.”
10. billy Q said... on Jan 21, 2009 at 07:48PM
“im looking to get a pound of tree for 900-1000 dollars ”
11. missin kensington said... on Mar 17, 2009 at 01:33AM
“damn that neighborhood went down quick as hell, i remember going to hoagies plus,rambler field,the carnivals every year at harrogate plaza, swimming and ice skating at scanlon,shopping on K&A,roller skating every friday night at K&A roller rink and the dance they had saturday nights,playing freedom/halphies and kickball now it's a dump, so many houses are empty or falling apart, i remember walking down all those little streets off kensington ave and now i don't even wanna drive down there. Im only 27years old and it was fine when i graduated from 8th grade, thats not that long ago so all of you sellin "stuff" all i have to say is get a real job cause your the reason this whole city is a dump so next time someone you care about is robbed,killed,raped whatever it is, remember its all your fault”
12. Anonymous said... on Mar 26, 2009 at 07:11AM
“I am social worker who serves clients in nearly half of these areas. It's not just the kids that are desperate, it's adults and it is blatant. You are loosing this fight Philadelphia. The only roll models these kids see are older teens and young men who sell/deal or the old guys who work three jobs and are tired every minute of their lives.”
13. Anonymous said... on Mar 27, 2009 at 05:53PM
“The insane thing is that the cops, the residents, the dealers, the junkies all know what is going on and yet it's almost like nothing can be done. Police see you parked up waiting for your connect and it's business as usual. I mean the police obviously realize that trying to bother people doing hand to hand transactions will make no impact so it feels like the police are guarding you while you cop in the "badlands". It just amazes me how well documented the corners and the problem is but because it's in a poor black neighborhoods it doesn't really matter to anyone. It goes without saying that if this were in a white area, the whole situation would be over in less than a year and not continuing for decades. The "war on drugs" is just a war on blacks and latinos while the white drug users watch from the sidelines. I regret having added to this at one point but I realize now that we need to solve the drug problem and violence in a way we have never tried or even thought of before because the WOD doesn't work!”
14. Anonymous said... on Apr 19, 2009 at 02:45AM
“Philly is bad but i mean is it that bad? you'll find drug dealers in any city you go to, youll also find guns, murders, rapist, ect... so why is everyone talkin down about the city of brotherly love.. i mean latley it hasnt lived up to the name but the econmy is so messed up you cant make a buck unless you do something illeagel, im talking about the average philadelphian, my dad raises 3 boys has 2 cathloic school tutions, and worrks 5-6 days a week and still strugles, so what are we suppose to do
”
15. Anonymous said... on Apr 19, 2009 at 02:45AM
“Philly is bad but i mean is it that bad? you'll find drug dealers in any city you go to, youll also find guns, murders, rapist, ect... so why is everyone talkin down about the city of brotherly love.. i mean latley it hasnt lived up to the name but the econmy is so messed up you cant make a buck unless you do something illeagel, im talking about the average philadelphian, my dad raises 3 boys has 2 cathloic school tutions, and worrks 5-6 days a week and still strugles, so what are we suppose to do
”
16. Gratefull said... on Apr 22, 2009 at 05:16PM
“Reading this article brought me back to when i was in active additcion. I used to cop dope at fith and indy and things got bad. I know i did not want to die and i know i could not stop using, so i got some help. I've been clean for 14 months now and it was not easy but life is so much better today. No stress about how to find money or look for someone to rob, just a nice peaceful exsitence. So to anyone out there who thinks they can't do it, just give it a chance because going on until the bitter end is no way to live. So take it from this former junkie, there is a soulution.”
17. PApride said... on May 1, 2009 at 11:33AM
“I lived at 5th and Washington for 10 years. Its horrible. Way worse than Harlem, southside Chicago, Liberty City Miami, SE DC, or anywhere else I've been. Fix it.”
18. PApride said... on May 1, 2009 at 11:33AM
“I lived at 5th and Washington for 10 years. Its horrible. Way worse than Harlem, southside Chicago, Liberty City Miami, SE DC, or anywhere else I've been. Fix it.”
19. Anonymous said... on May 13, 2009 at 09:57AM
“Great Article!!!
If Philadelphia police officers would help and protect things could be alot better!! But its sad to say you have members of the Philadelphia Police force who takes advantage of there badge and are involved with drugs!!! They hide behind the badge black mail others so they aren't exposed! NUTTER try getting these crooked cops off the street!!! Philadelphia is horrible right now! Kids are doing the things they do because they have nothing else to do but get into trouble! How can u take away Libraries, Swimming pools, recreations centers???? WE need these things to keep our children active!!! Everything for the less fortunte children are taken away!!! Jobs, schools, recreation... everything needed your taking!! Im not making excuse but come on!! Then when they are arrested companies will not give them jobs so again there back on the corners trying to survive! I have questioned guys and asked you they have turned to the streets and I am always told because of there past their always denied jobs, finanicial aid for school, any and everything! Major NUTTER does nothing but bash the poor community!”
20. Anonymous said... on May 17, 2009 at 11:40AM
“It's a laugh reading some of these comments bashing the cops, the mayor, drugs, anyone or anything but the people who perpetrate the crimes. Y'all don't get it. It starts with the parents (or lack of parents), friends and relatives, who teach kids the wrong values, the wrong way to think and wrong way to deal with problems. We need to leave alone the stupid rap CDs, bullying and gangs, guns, empty materialism (name brand clothes, cars, cell phones, weaves, sports jerseys, electronics, etc.) taking offense and being offended (dissed and dissin'), always acting self righteous (better than thou), always trying to prove you're right and everyone else is wrong, holding grudges, getting revenge, not snitching, etc.
We all need to chill, everyone makes mistakes, even you and me. Once you start with that and cut each other slack then things get clearer and calmer. Stop looking to hate and stop hatin'. Philly could be the nicest, coolest, cleanest city in the world but too many people worried about stupid sh*t more than doing the right thing. Just because someone else is doing wrong and acting the fool doesn't excuse you for doing some dumb sh*t in reponse. We all have a part in the solution, acting ignorant is part of the problem not part of the solution. Be the person you think everyone else should be and help get out of the city the people who do dumb sh*t like shoot each other with guns. Stop lookin' for reasons to hate! Educate yourself with that and give a damn about your neighborhood and your city. One definition of mental illness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We need to bring the change ourselves starting with each one of us.”
21. PHILLYBAW said... on Jun 2, 2009 at 12:34AM
“5th & Washington is no way near as bad as Harlem or South Side Chitown...you gotta be fuckin kidding!!! there's a park and the PJ's....fall back you noodle!!! your probably from damn Jersey or some shit that comes to the 215 to cop your diesel.....5th & Washington....HA!! I bet you used to live on 5th & Hope too huh? fuckin clown......eat my dick up till you hiccup bitch...don't front like you know the city.....noodle!!!”
22. Anonymous said... on Jun 3, 2009 at 12:23AM
“any rock up in rawn st”
23. addict's mom said... on Jun 3, 2009 at 02:03PM
“my addict daughter started taking the bus to west philly when she was 16. after dropping out fo school, she spent most days in west philly. she started with special K, a cat tranquilizer. she has done alot of drugs since. as i write she is back in west philly addicted to heroin. she is now 31. she lost custody of her child. i am raising her. nothing is important to her but being and staying high. my daughter's mental growth stopped at 16. she is quite ill with hep c, constantly gets staph infection. her father's family is wealthy. she grew up living with him. sometimes money is the problem. right now her addiction is the problem. the longest she has gone clean is 9 months. she has spent two nine month bounds in del.co prison. childbirth, prison, family....nothing is important to her but drugs. thanks for reading i don't know what i expect by wrting this stuff sometime it feels better to get it out, thanks”
24. ahmed said... on Jun 4, 2009 at 07:25PM
“شات صوتي”
25. DAT BAW said... on Jun 14, 2009 at 01:27PM
“I grew up on 5th and westmoreland, played ball at the rec right there, and I seen a lot of drug deals go down, yna mean. The bottom line is that these young baws aint got no sense of purpose other than making fast money,trying to see who the toughest and who be throwing that shit on..I been there and done, so I know what it is, but the fact of the matter is that our country is getting weaker and weaker everyday and all we doing is making our neighborhoods even weaker. I aint even gone hold yall up, bottom line, we need to, as hold heads or whatever, raise these young bucks up right and stop being afraid to kick these kids dead in they ass when they fuck up..it's just that simple...it takes a village to raise a child. I'll get on yall later.”
26. JimG said... on Jun 16, 2009 at 09:44AM
“Great Article. Look I dont live down that way so I cant comment from experience, buit come on...The city is is debt and needs to cose such facilities as parks, rec centers, skating rinks, libraries etc...Although I wis there were other alternatives, I guess Nutter couldnt find any. Im sure they were a last resort. How can you possible say our kids need thgese things to stay out of trouble. If you need a rec center to raise your kids than you shouldt of had them in the first place. Not only that, but they just closed them recently. Did it help keep these punks out of trouble when they were open? No. be a parent and raise your kids and stop blaming everyone else. Show them something positive and stress education. You think sending them to a rec center with a bunch of other kids is going to teach them to be good people? Come on man.....”
27. ricano said... on Jun 18, 2009 at 10:20AM
“I have to say kensington & somerset is like no other block in the coty i believe...You got the junkies sellin there meds for dope...the diabetics sellin there needles for dope...and every type of race is on this block from blacks to whites...What makes it like none other to me also is when you see the white suburb boys getting off the El and being flocked by the dope boys llol”
28. Anonymous said... on Jun 22, 2009 at 10:54PM
“I think they didn't really bother to venture into some of the neighborhoods. Come on now. West Philly--who's gonna actually score at 52nd and Market and get anything worth a damn? Try Landsdowne Ave. for some DAY OFF or GUCCI.
And Somerset and Kensington isn't that bad. You can't really buy dope there. Just junkies with pills and needles, like someone else said. With needles all over the sidewalk.
You wanna talk real dope corners? Try 4th and Indy. Chucky is on time.
9th and Somerset. White Bear. New York. Drama.
8th and Cambria. Betty Boop Butt Naked.
If any junkies are reading this, please stay away from some stuff stamped MONSTER. Blue bags, red stamps. I don't know what it is, but it will make you sick. It's not drugs.
Also, the Lion King that was at 4th and Indy. Garbage.
Cricket=Garbage
OD, KO, Scissors (haven't seen in awhile), Rush Hour, Coca-Cola=Garbage (as well as anything being sold in those sandwich style zip baggies”
29. Anonymous said... on Jul 8, 2009 at 02:59PM
“still go there(kensington, somerset) when my buddy and i are low on suboxone but havnt had to go take the walk up. memories make your stomach turn with butterflies but feel impowered by thier distance”
30. TUFFLOVE said... on Jul 16, 2009 at 09:36AM
“For the people that say "Oh it aint that bad" Check this out.North Philly is the worst neighborhood's in the world, That's a FACT.It's far more dangerous in NP than some 3rd world countries.Also for all the addicts on here bragging about what dope is good and bad.Who Cares! Great you know where to score HEROIN!That's not cool! There are people reading this article are saying to themselves, "Well we know who brings our city down" It is you morons praising the names stamped on them blue bags. Have some respect for yourself and clean your lives up and stop asking:Is there any Rock around Rhawn Street?The guy who made that comment...Yo Cuz,! Check yourself straight in to Rehab or call BHSI.If you don't know BHSI. It's a free grant funded by the state of PA that helps addicts get clean for free if you do not have Health Insurance.Because the people that are blogging on this site about active drug using. The next thing your selling, is the computer that's sitting in front of you!!! TUFFLOVE”
31. Anonymous said... on Jul 26, 2009 at 10:38AM
“so where the good shit at now/ what stamps? havent beeen up there in a minute
”
32. brooklyn said... on Aug 11, 2009 at 12:21AM
“my best friend began chipping in her second year at drexel. we lived in farmount at the time, and she would go cop her dope behind the art museum. she would make me tag along even though she brought protection because as a white girl and a recreational heroin user, she felt really venerable. her dealer was a skinny white hipster who had an apartment on south street and sometimes he would intimidate her into buying more and more because he knew she wasnt getting hooked. eventually she took the shot that got her strung and before i knew it she had dropped out of school, spent her entire savings, spent all her parents money and started to steal. we had no choice but to kick her out of the apartment although we did set her up with some friends who were willing to give her a free room. that night, they called and asked if she was coming by and a few days later told us she never showed up. eventually we stopped looking and sort of assumed the worst. when the skinny hipster was shot to death”
33. Anonymous said... on Aug 11, 2009 at 12:25AM
“when the skinny hipster was shot to death we knew there would be no hearing or seeing from her again.
to think this problem only concerns the blacks and the latinos is just absurd. lots of peoples lives are ruined by heroin, because it doesnt know the color of your skin. all it knows is how to break the brain barrier while swimming in the blood stream.
since then i have lived in LA, portland, san fran, chicago, austin, minneapolis and now i reside in NYC. drugs don't know geography and end up wherever the demand is. the only solution is to have zero desire to slam dope, and if you do, then i hope you can handle the ride.”
34. Wicked Jester said... on Sep 1, 2009 at 02:06PM
“I agree with a lot of the comments. I love how I sweep the crack bags from in front of my house, where my children play, only to come back from work (because I'm too stupid to try and make money slinging rock) and sweep up again because the nasty-ass smokers broke their pipe in front of my house. You have landlords renting to dealers because they can afford the outrageously high rent, when those same apartment owners can drop the rent by a few dollars and but some positive people in their buildings.
We live in a broke-ass City. Politicians stealing money that is supposed to educate our children, yet the only lessons they learn are how to deal that dope or throw them dice. Shit, it's a shame when I hear kids being able to rap about "shooting a nigga" but they can't tell me how to spell "Nigeria", "Niagra", or even "Nile".”
35. Anonymous said... on Sep 6, 2009 at 09:56PM
“i have 19 months clean and going strong. everyone and their brother knows about inidiana. and its not just indiana. its like anywhere within 10 blocks of that corner is a spot. the entire fairhills section is one big dope/rock spot. that area feels like an alternate universe. i remember being there one day and making a realization that if something were to happen to me, if i were to get jumped, stabbed, shot or whatever, not one person would help me. people would just go in their homes and close their doors. they wouldnt even call the police or an ambulance. its the scariest neighborhood ive ever been to. and ive been to just about every spot listed on this list except frankford and 23rd/ mk kean.
i was one of those white kids jumping out of nice cars copping dope, rock weed whatever. we thought it was so cool to be able to cop in the city in the worst parts. we were so stupid and immature. sometimes i do miss the thrill and danger.”
36. G said... on Sep 16, 2009 at 04:01PM
“It will never stop, Kensington is a Zombie Land and everyone knows it...u either doing or making...weed, wet, coke, pills, dope, crack whateva u want u can get...we now have perverts running around tryna snatch kids...That is the Hades of the city u betta believe.....G'”
37. BayAreatoPhilly said... on Sep 24, 2009 at 11:33AM
“Things will change, and it's up to all to initiate action within oneself, in your homes and then take it to the street to pass the baton to your neighbors. We've got to violently love one another and violently rebuild the crumbling infrastructure of our home, Philadelphia. Drug dealers can try their best to make my streets their trade center and we'll see how long that'll last. The people shall have the first and last word, and I know we will prevail. I'm not giving up hope that this bull will cease. I'm going to see to it. Never giving up hope w/ the power we as a people have to take something that's been abused and destroyed, and turn it into our favor and recreate it to something even Greater. We can do it Philly, we can do it.
From an optimistic realist from the lovely Bay Area of California, now residing in NE Philly... I know that change is soon to manifest.
These dealers will be ousted, condemned and dealt with, and their time will run out very soon.”
38. Anonymous said... on Oct 3, 2009 at 12:12PM
“Yeah, Kensington and Somerset is hilarious. I grew up near there. I used to cop at Helen and Somerset, which is right down the street. Parts of the mostly white neighborhoods east of Kensington and Front are a very good reminder that drugs and crime aren't just a racial problem, but a class problem.
There have been drug corners along Cedar Street between York and Lehigh (in a traditionally working-class neighborhood) for years, especially before the gentrification. Guys selling in front of the laundromat, coke dealers at the bars. And shit, fuck the gentrification...dope peddlers are on corners further west, where hipsters are buying houses for 250 gs.
With Kensington and Fishtown being gentrified, along with parts of North Philly, poor (white, black, whatever) people are getting pushed into the Northeast. It used to be that anyone from Fishtown or Kensington with a decent job moved to Mayfair. Now? Eh.”
39. Clean addict said... on Oct 5, 2009 at 05:26PM
“Everyone cops and otherwise know the deal. Its like a sick dance between cops and users. The Truth is as long as there is the phenomena of "craving" it will never stop. As long as the Dealers (some of them users themselves) get money and it looks more attractive than 3 jobs to pay rent alone it will never stop! I have first hand experince from every location on this list and others not mentioned. I am very lucky to know I need help and can not do it alone. I've done this for 16 years and i'm only 24! With speratic sobriety. I am struggling to stay on the clean streak I am on now to never use again one day! I now live in the western suburbs of the city 45 min. away and its even bad out here and my craving just to be in the city is still outrageous but I really dont want to and am doing everything I can to stay clean and sober. I just pray that someone can get something from what I wrote. I thank god everyday for this gift. if you need anything just email me.”
40. sdff said... on Oct 30, 2009 at 07:53AM
“my best friend began chipping in her second year at drexel. we lived in farmount at the time, and she would go cop her dope behind the art museum. she would make me tag along even though she brought protection because as a white girl and a recreational heroin user, she felt really venerable. her dealer was a skinny white hipster who had an apartment on south street and sometimes he would intimidate her into buying more and more because he knew she wasnt getting hooked. eventually she took the shot that got her strung and before i knew it she had dropped out of school, spent her entire savings, spent all her parents money and started to steal. we had no choice but to kick her out of the apartment although we did set her up with some friends who were willing to give her a free room. that night, they called and asked if she was coming by and a few days later told us she never showed up. eventually we stopped looking and sort of assum
ed the worst. when the skinny hipster was shot to death”
شات صوتي
”
41. The Sham Squad said... on Nov 15, 2009 at 09:56PM
“oxxxxxxxyyyyyysssss haha alls i need is a jaun a norter and a grater and a pack of blaffs and im good for the night. The ol heads in the sham know what im talkin bout. U need to get a list of top spots for the burbs. Horsham all day got them jauns on deck 50 a pop .they lovin em out here makin all types of loot”
42. anthony, peralta said... on Nov 18, 2009 at 01:48PM
“i liked this story :) i waz very intersted in this:) :) :) :) :)
”