PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Jim Kenney delivered some positive news during a community cleanup event Saturday in Northeast Philadelphia. He expects there will be a fast acceleration of life returning to normal in the not so distant future.
The 11th annual Love Your Park Week kicked off in Tacony Creek Park. Volunteers participated in a big clean-up effort, and also planted new flowers and trees.
Last year, the event was held virtually because of the pandemic. At this year's event, Kenney stopped by with words of encouragement that life is slowly returning to normal.
"We all know how hard it has been this past year," said the mayor. "Sometimes we get depressed and sometimes we don't think we are going to see the end of it."
He said in-person gatherings and events such as this one will occur more.
"We are going to make some announcements next week on some further lessening of restrictions which I think everybody will be happy about," Kenney said.
"I'm really sorry that we had to do what we had to do and I know that there is a lot of consternation, and a lot of arguments and opinions about how much we should have shut down and how soon we should open all of that stuff. I think we did the right thing. We didn't lose as many people as we could have lost."
Kenney added his hope is that all kids will go back to in person learning in September.
"Colleges will have kids in regular classes again, high schools will too," he predicted, "and I think it's just a wonderful time to reflect on all of what we have been through and to work on what we can be going forward."