[ a million stories ]
A few months ago, we reported on the neglected railroad that runs along Lehigh Avenue and then into North Philly, and which has become a drug-ridden, trash-strewn wasteland and the scourge of those forced to live between it and the open-air drug markets of Kensington [Cover Story, "The Waste Land," Isaiah Thompson and Anthony Campisi, March 10, 2011]. Access was made particularly easy by the absence of fencing at many places along the tracks, which are owned by Conrail. City agencies, meanwhile, seemed flummoxed by the situation.
We're pleased to report that there's been some movement. The city's Managing Director's Office has taken up the charge, affirms Deputy Managing Director Bridget Collins-Greenwald. She has helped coordinate cleanup efforts with Conrail and community groups that have included clearing brush that obscured the goings-on and the removal of hundreds of tons of garbage and untold number of needles. Visit our blog, citypaper.net/nakedcity, for photos of the efforts.
