PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two days into a massive, citywide clean-up, Philadelphia officials say they are already seeing results.
“Philadelphia, this is what we committed to,” said Mayor Cherelle Parker, standing on a stage in Bridesburg, set up amid 350 pieces of equipment currently in use for the first week of a 13-week effort to clean every block in Philadelphia.
“I watched people laugh at me, y’all. I watched them tell me that what we’re witnessing here today could not be possible. There’s nothing like proving people wrong when they don’t believe,” she said to hundreds of employees working on the clean-up.
In just two days, Director of Clean and Green Initiatives Carlton Williams said, crews had cleaned 50 blocks and scrubbed graffiti from 44 of them.
“They shut down nuisance businesses and nuisance properties. We cited them. They also cleaned out sewer inlets. They’re filling potholes,” Williams said.
The mayor says the goal is not only better quality of life. “This is how we’re going to make Philadelphians believe in our city again,” said Parker.
She says she’s convinced that seeing the workers and equipment in their neighborhoods, feeling the difference it makes when they’re done, will restore residents’ faith in the city and motivate them to maintain the improvements.
And Williams says there are signs it’s working.
“I can’t tell you how happy to see when the residents come out and start cleaning with us because it shows they’re being inspired by the work we’re doing.”
Rich Lazer of the Philadelphia Parking Authority says 200 abandoned vehicles have already been hauled away from the area already.
“It’s a lot of coordination with Streets, the Police Department, and we’ve hired additional folks and brought in additional equipment.”
The mayor reveled in her vision of a cleaner, greener city taking shape.
“I just learned what that machine was down the street. I didn’t know that that was the machine you use to fill potholes,”
Other equipment in use includes flatbeds, front-end loaders, sweepers small enough to ride on sidewalks or big enough to knock down weeds as they clear debris, and compactors branded with one of the mayor’s favorite aspirational phrases: "One Philly, a united city."
“We’re going to make good on that promise.”