PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA riders and Kensington residents say they are finding an increased level of homelessness and drug activity at the Allegheny El stop within the past week.
Complaints about that stop have risen since SEPTA closed the Somerset station indefinitely for repairs and improvements.
Related
Kensington resident Tim McCloskey recently shot a video showing maskless crowds littering, engaging in aggressive behavior and starting small fires on the sidewalks and streets near the Allegheny station.
"I'm from down here, and I see a lot of crazy stuff, and it’s just gotten crazier even in the last week," McCloskey told NBC-10.
"It’s just been chaos since they shut the Somerset stop down. As many problems that there were at Allegheny two weeks ago, it’s double [at Allegheny], because all of the people from Somerset have moved up here, and now it’s double the amount of the regular crowd."
McCloskey is asking for city officials to come to the station and see what he calls "chaos" for themselves.
"I challenge them all just to take the El one day and get off at the Allegheny stop in the middle of the day, and have lunch at one of these places right here," McCloskey said. "Have lunch and then go back on the hill, and then see what it’s like."
Other residents say that walking from Somerset Station to the Huntington or Allegheny stops is dangerous.
Some say when the Somerset Station reopens, they suspect homeless and people with drug addictions will return there still.
SEPTA says it is working with the city, elected officials, the community and others to took for solutions to the substance abuse and homeless issues plaguing the city.