PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police arrested three protesters Thursday morning as a group of Grays Ferry residents disrupted construction at the site of a proposed parking garage for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Dozens of law enforcement officers showed up at the protest, made up of about two dozen demonstrators who blocked the construction entrance to the site of the planned 1,000-car parking garage at 30th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue, which will service the CHOP facility on the other side of the Schuylkill River.
“Their mission is to heal kids, and they’re planning something that is gonna actively harm kids,” said Maggie Foster, who lives in the area.
She worries the added car emissions from a parking garage will further pollute air in the neighborhood, which is still dealing with the effects from the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery explosion in 2019.
“People are still suffering from the environmental injustice of the past, and now they want to continue it.”
Protesters are demanding that CHOP pause construction and engage with community members, as Alexa Ross said the demands of neighbors have gone unheard.
“Both CHOP and you can right away state their policy. We don’t do community benefits agreements and expect residents to accept that at face value when you’re saying by policy we don’t have fair negotiations with the community that we are impacting,” Ross said.
The three people arrested were protesting on the job site, while the rest marched on the sidewalk.
In a statement, CHOP said it remains committed to engaging with the residents of Grays Ferry to understand and address their feedback.
“We have held more than 20 community meetings with the Grays Ferry community, which has resulted in several community-requested initiatives, including a five-year grant funding for Grays Ferry nonprofits, financial contribution to the D. Finnegan Recreation Center, health education workshops, support for local employment, alternate parking options for Titan Street neighbors , and exploration of expanded pediatric clinical services in Grays Ferry. We take all concerns from residents incredibly seriously as we look to support CHOP’s growing patient and staff needs,” CHOP wrote.