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    CLEAN 2000 S WATTS!

    The story of a block that fought back...

    and keeps fighting!

  • The 2000 S Watts Documentary

    The film that finally got our block the attention it deserves!

    For those who feel this is "Karen-ing," the unthinkable conditions of 2000 S Watts documented in this video put our concerns in perspective.

  • 3 Years of Progress on 2000 S Watts!

    Thank you to Councilmember Squilla, neighbors, and businesses who have helped clean up this residential block, improving quality of life and safety!

    Eliminated Open Trash

    • Snipes and Rainbow have brought their open trash indoors

     

    • Popeyes and Rite Aid have been vigiliant with keeping their trash in their enclosures

    Improved Ligthing

    • LED Streetlights Installed

     

    • Bright lighting installed behind the Dollar Value

     

    • Popeyes installed a bright motion light

    Repaired Infrastructre

    • Vacant McDonald's property owner installed new fence to secure against drug encampments

     

    • Verizon and Comcast have secured low hanging cables

     

    • Boost Mobile removed broken fence enclosure

     

    • Dollar Value repaired damged facade

  • Work Left to Do!

    Despite amazing progress, there is plenty left to address. We need your help!

    Better Lighting

    Rite Aid's illegel trash enclosure provides a dark area that invites drug crime originaitng from Broad & Snyder

     

    Rainbow's light behind the store no longer turns on

     

    The South end of the block can be brighter

    No More Trash!

    H&R Block is still leaving open trash outside 24/7

     

    Pediatric Dental Team leaves their open trash cans out 24/7

     

    The dark, unkempt areas at the South end of the block invites frequent illegal dumping

     

    Trash enclosures are often not kept clean, especialy after waste haulers leave a trail trash down the block during pick-up

     

    No More Needles

    Punks with Lunch and Philadelphia Prevention Point distribute needles around the corner. While meaning to protect the addicted community with packs of clean needles, used needles end up on our street and sidewalk. Vigilant needle cleanups are currently addressing this concern.

     

    Their activities also invite drug use in the dark, hidden spaces of our block.

     

  • Why This Matters!

    Do you feel safe when people are lurking in the dark areas on this block at night? 

     

    When a residential neighborhood is allowed to look like a landfill, people treat it that way. Open trash, dirty trash storage areas, and trash enclosures are illegal on a residential block. It ruins the quality of life. Illegal trash enclosures on our block also provide dark spaces that are a convenient haven for drug use.

     

    This is compounded by Punks with Lunch and the Prevention Point, operating around the corner with alarming practices. These organizations regularly distribute drug paraphernalia, including needles without requiring a 1-for-1 exchange and crack pipes. Their actions, while intended to support the safety of the addicted community, have resulted in unintended, dire consequences for our neighborhood.

     

    On days these organizations distribute paraphernalia, there is a clear uptick in drug dealers who openly sell to those receiving paraphernalia, fueling crime and antisocial behavior, such as theft and car vandalism, to sustain drug habits. This noticeable escalation in crime and visible drug use, including individuals incapacitated on our sidewalks, undermines public safety and degrades our community's quality of life, eroding the sense of security and community cohesion. It also leads to an increase in used needles littering our block, risking needle-stick injuries to children and pets.

     

    The goal is not to stigmatize or ignore the needs of individuals battling addiction but to ensure that efforts to help do not inadvertently harm 2000 S Watts residents.

     

    As drug activity in the vicinity of Broad & Snyder continues unchecked, it is up to businesses to be good neighbors and eliminate illegal trash operations and infrastructure that impact the right of way, reduce the quality of life, and diminish the safety of the families of 2000 S Watts. This won't stop every problem but it goes a long way to diminishing it. The progress of the past 3 years has greatly improved conditions on 2000 S Watts... but there is plenty left to do.

     

    If the city refuses to arrest and prosecute perpetrators of drug crimes, then it should enforce trash and infrastructure codes to mitigate the impact of drug activity.

     

    Read about our fight in the Philadelphia Citizen

    Who's still fighting for you: Counclimember Mark Squilla, South Philadelphia High School to enforce a drug-free school zone, and neighbors - thank you!

     

    Who have gone silent on the issues: State Senator Nikil Saval, State Rep Elizabeth Fiedler have stopped responding. Remind their volunteers next time they knock on your door.

     

     

  • Sept 4: Rainbow's manager melts down because neighbors asked her to clean up trash around her illegal dumpster

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    Success! Rite Aid has stopped leaving open trash and crates outside our front doors while Snipes and Rainbow have eliminated illegal dumpsters altogether.

    LATEST UPDATES

    November 20: Clean up day! Thanks to E Passyunk Crossing Civic Association and E Passyunk Business Improvement District for facilitating!
     
    September 21: CM Squilla reports L&I and Streets met to develop their "enforcement plan" on September 16.
     
    September 3: Thank you to PA State Senator Nikil Saval for visiting our block. With his office's support, we hope to start the process of citing businesses for illegal dumpsters and blocking the public right of way, which was supposed to happen after CM Squilla's and Trash Commissioner's Warren's visit on July 20.
     
    August 18: New LED streetlights were installed. the timing couldn't be better. The growing homeless encampment at Broad & Snyder is using 2000 S Watts as an annex. This is thanks to businesses illegally providing an infrastructure for them such as dumpsters and gates for cover to use the bathroom and do drugs. Rite Aid leaves cardboard and bins out 24/7, which the homeless pick through for their needs.
     

    August 14: The city hasn't delivered its "enforcement plan" as trash, human waste, needles, and dumpsters still line our street. Uber drivers refuse to drive down the block because illegal gates, built to the curb, are left often by the homeless who use them as bathrooms.

     

    August 2: Verizon tied up loose wires that were hanging from utility poles, greatly improving the appearance of our neighborhood.

     

    July 20: Thank you to Councilmember Squilla, The Streets Departments, L&I, and the East Passyunk Business Improvement District for touring 2000 S Watts with neighbors. The work of the above group, facilitated by the East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association, has already led to Snipes permanently removing their dumpsters!

     

    • Keith Warren said we could have new LED street lights in two weeks to help with safety!

    • L&I promised an "enforcement plan" to eliminate illegal dumpsters and enclosures blocking the public right of way.

  • Gallery

    You have to see it to believe that this is E. Passyunk

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    Trash Takes Precedent Over Wheelchairs

    Even if it's enclosed, dumpsters cannot block a public right of way

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    Behind Popeye's

    This dumpster blocks a right of way, is visible to residents, and constantly overflows. The Philly 311 app says this is “currently being investigated.”

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    Behind the abandoned McDonald's, now owned by USA Vein Clinics

    Illegal dumping, drug use, and human urination and defecation are common occurrences behind this neglected building

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    Trash and human waste behind the USA Vein Clinics-owned building

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    Residents had to remove this trash behind the vacant McDonalds

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    Constant trash and trouble behind this neglected building

  • Gallery

    (WARNING: graphic content)

    You have to see it to believe that this is E. Passyunk

    Rite Aid Trash Invites Trash

    Illegal enclosures and 24/7 trash on our sidewalk is an inviting setting for drug use

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    Snipes and Rainbow Dumpsters

    Snipes actually removed those dumpsters, ironically, because they were illegal. The Rainbow Dumpster persists

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    The Back of Popeyes, H&R Block, and Boost Mobile

    This trash doesn't look like it's in an opaque enclosure

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    I wonder if these needles behind H&R Block are tax deductible?

    This trash also doesn't look like it's in an opaque enclosure

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    Rainbow's Dumpster Welcomes You to 2000 S Watts

    What better way to welcome addicts and vagrants onto our block

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    Rite Aid's Filth Next to Children's Chalk

    Sad that the kids on our block have to play amongst this garbage

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    Makeshift Port-a-Potty

    courtesy of Snipes and Rainbow

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    We're Better Than This, Philly!

    This is no way any Philadelphian should "enjoy" their block; a family plays with Snipes and Rite Aid's dumpster as a backdrop

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    You Won't Believe What is About to Happen Next...

    Notice, children are currently present

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    Sex, Trash, and Videotape

    Rite Aid's dumpster and illegal enclosure (over 6 feet high, blocking a sidewalk) makes a great broad daylight love shack

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    And Then They Shoot Heroin

    Rite Aid must have expanded its pharmaceutical selection

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    All Philly P.D. Can Do is Tell Them to Move Along

    I talked to the police officers, who actually said the dumpsters are what attract this element from Broad and Snyder down our block! These two returned 15 minutes later

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    Dumpsters Take Precedent Over Wheelchairs

    According to the law, in a residential area, dumpsters aren't allowed to block sidewalks

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    Waiting Next to Overflowing Dumpster for a Car to Pass

    The sidewalks do not belong to the residents of 2000 S Watts

  • There was Relief... for a Moment

    Snipes removed two dumpsters!

    And it made an amazing difference on the McKean end of the block!
    No trash, human waste, drugs, or sex (a phrase I never thought I would have to write)
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  • But it was "inconvenient" for Snipes to follow the law

    2 weeks later, a Snipes dumpster returned directly behind their store next to a brand new Rite Aid dumpster that had arrived a few days prior. Emails to John Hernandez were ignored. I asked the Snipes store manager about the new dumpster who literally admitted she knows it is illegal, but that it's "too inconvenient" not to have a dumpster.

     

    Because the law and neighborly decency might be inconvenient is not reason enough to ignore either

    But you won't believe this!

    They had no plans for an enclosure because they couldn't be permitted for one because the back of their store wasn't zoned for such a structure! So, they're willfully breaking the law by getting a dumpster but can't hide it in an enclosure because it would be illegal to build one!

     

    I emailed Snipes COO, Brigitte Cooperman, who said she is working with the city and in the interim will put locks on the dumpster. How is the law going to suddenly change and allow Snipes to build an enclosure? How will just adding locks make their illegal dumpster compliant in the short term? It's incomprehensible that a business can knowingly break the law, harm its neighbors, and its COO responds with an empty plea for patience while they try to figure it out.... especially when they had it figured out 2 weeks prior and removed the dumpsters, instantly making the block brighter and safer!

     

     

    UPDATE: Snipes responded to a cease and desist letter by returning the second dumpster. After city intervention, the dumpsters were removed!

     

     

     

  • Follow Us on Twitter!

    Check out our latest updates @Clean2KSWatts

  • What to Do?

    • Contact city councilmember Mark Squilla with your concerns.
    • Call 911 to report any suspicious or illegal behavior you see at a dumpster, illegal enclosure blocking a public right of way, or vacant property.
    • Even if you don't live on 2000 S. Watts, we implore our E. Passyunk Neighbors to help us fight this fight. S Watts is not only a half block from Broad & Snyder but also from the shops and dining on E Passyunk Avenue; we can’t snap a finger and solve the systemic issues that plague Broad & Snyder but we can do little things that collectively mitigate problems and keep trash, drug use, and crime from taking over S Watts, encroaching on the vibrant businesses on E Passyunk.

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