PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia block captains received information and encouragement at a rally Saturday at the Please Touch Museum in West Philly.
Mayor Cherelle Parker made some promises to the block captains gathered at the annual event. “I'm going to make Philadelphia, the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all,” she said, before asking for their help.
“I can’t get it done alone. I'm only one person.”
Parker also highlighted the challenges of some of Philadelphia’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
“The same people who, the only thing they want to talk about is that Philadelphia's the poorest big city in the nation,” she said, “that same group of people don't think that people who come from where I come from want clean neighborhoods.”
Managing Director Adam Thiel says it’s important to keep each block clean, well lit and generally beautiful. “There's actually a lot of research around the importance of clean and green spaces … [they’re] safer spaces.”
However, Parker refused to take questions afterwards about exactly how she plans to make the city safer, though Thiel did address Wednesday’s mass shooting of eight Northeast High School students.
“It's been a very difficult week and we know that this is a difficult challenge that our city continues to face … This is a huge, complex issue. There’s no two or three simple answers to that question and it’s not just the city of Philadelphia,” Thiel said.
“The mayor had a convening with some young people, different organizations from all around the city to talk about how, collectively, we can address the gun violence scourge and how we can make the city safer.”
At this event, block captains were given resources for recycling and community engagement projects. Nashid Sabree says being a block captain promotes neighborhood pride. “You want it safe, clean and you just want a peaceful environment,” he said.
Sharon Harvey says, as a block captain, she tries to encourage her neighbors to get to know each other and be aware of who is on the block.
“We are so busy with work, because it’s a one parent household,” she said, “but now you need to have more supervision.”