Philly residents call on city, Mayor Kenney to clean up Kensington
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia residents shut down Kensington and Allegheny avenues on Wednesday night to call attention to the worsening conditions in the neighborhood following looting, unrest and the ongoing global pandemic.
Demonstrators are now looking to city leaders for help.
"For three years, we've been meeting with the city hoping that they would clean this up," said Shannon Farrell, president of the Harrowgate Civic Association. "We've patiently waited and it's only gotten worse."
"It may not be the city's dumping ground, but come on it sure looks like it," said Dennis Payne.
"The city needs to do more, times two, but they cant keep shuffling them around like cattle," said Rosalind Pichardo with Operation Save Our City.
Some feel moving homeless addicts out isn't the answer.
"You can't keep taking people off from K & A and telling them they need to disperse. Where are they going if they're homeless?" said one resident.
Stopping by Wednesday's protest was District Attorney Larry Krasner, who acknowledged the growing problem of the city's epicenter of the opioid epidemic.
"It's worse now than ever," said Krasner. "Let's work together on something that's successful. Let's do something that saves lives and gets treatment."
RELATED: Councilmember calls on Mayor Kenney to help Kensington community
A proposed safe injection site has long been a source of controversy, coupled with a Hepatitis A outbreak last summer in the neighborhood.
"What real change can happen beyond the protest?" asked reporter Christie Ileto.
"It should have already happened. We've been waiting for three years for them to fix it and they haven't," said Farrell.
City Council members are also calling on Mayor Kenney to help the neighborhood and have added community hearings on this very issue.
