Now that the timer has started for Philadelphia City Council on 76 Place, those of us occupying the press table will need baked goods.
By Denise Clay-Murray
If you’ve been a longtime reader of the SUN, you know that I also write about food, in addition to covering politics and the occasional community event.
Accompanied by the late Robert Mendelsohn, a photographer who was even more of a foodie than I am, I’d write restaurant reviews, stories about food and its cultural impact, and even showcase the occasional recipe. My favorite one was a story I wrote about the history of Thanksgiving’s most prominent pies: sweet potato and pumpkin.
While the nation’s political climate overall, and Philadelphia’s in particular, has kept me from going to the mostly Black-owned restaurants that I used to visit, I still try to make time to go into the kitchen and do my thing, something that my colleagues in the City Council press corps are about to learn.
How?
Because if the rollout of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s deal with the Philadelphia 76ers for the team’s proposed $1.3 billion downtown stadium and the reaction to it from City Council is any indication, we’re going to need coffee and snacks to keep up. So, I’m breaking out the muffin tins.
On Wednesday night, Parker showcased the plan during an event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center that, thankfully, included snacks.
I say that because it was long. Hella long.
Everyone who participated in the plan got up to speak and give a slide presentation. It started at 5:30 pm…and by the time I headed home, it was close to 9 p.m.
The showcase of the plan was the $50 million community benefits agreement that Parker has been propping up. It includes a fund to offset any impact from the construction, $3 million for SEPTA to alleviate traffic concerns — which isn’t nearly enough to help the struggling public transit agency — and money to shore up Chinatown so it won’t meet the same fate that Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown met when the Capital One Arena was built.
“I want Chinatown’s rich and vibrant community and proud history to not just survive, but to thrive,” Parker said. “We have the best Chinatown in the United States and I am committed to working together to support it. This is a chance for new partnership and growth based on \
mutual understanding and respect.”
Well, you’ll have to forgive some of Chinatown’s residents if they don’t quite buy that.
“It is outlandish that the mayor is unilaterally trying to impose a CBA on a project that lacks even the most basic studies on housing and rent costs, impacts on small businesses, livability, and transit access – issues that will impact the city for years to come, between multiple years of construction and long-term damage to traffic flow and access to emergency healthcare,” said Vivien Chang, executive director of Asian Americans United. “We are united in opposition to the arena and the rushed, haphazard process surrounding it.”
When Parker was asked about the opposition from Chinatown, Washington Square West, and the Gayborhood — the three neighborhoods most impacted by the stadium — she stood behind her position.
“Everyone has a right to their opinion,” she said. “Philadelphians are not a monolith. I was elected mayor of this city, and leading means making tough decisions, and what I did was make the most informed decision that would benefit the people of the city of Philadelphia, not just now, but for generations to come. And I’m ready to go to communicate that message to people across the city.”
The deal is only one part of the stadium process. Now here comes the part that’s going to lead to my buying stock in European butter.
For the next 30 days, Councilmember Mark Squilla, the councilman who’s had this arena, and the 12 bills needed to make it happen dropped into his lap, will be hearing from the district residents regarding the project.
(If he doesn’t know the feelings of folks in Chinatown, Washington West and the Gayborhood, I know a bunch of protestors and an angry drag queen who could tell him a thing or two.)
It’s also going to go to a committee on Council. The Committee of the Whole is my guess because an arena in Center City will have a citywide impact.
But that’s if the package of legislation is even introduced, something that can’t happen before Oct. 24 and may not even happen then, Squilla said in a press gaggle with Council President Kenyatta Johnson after Thursday’s City Council meeting.
“We still have to finish reviewing it, and I think still need to make sure that a lot of the concerns that we have heard are met in that legislation,” he said. We’ve met with all the stakeholders over 20 times, you know, in the last two years, and we’ll continue to meet with them, to hear their concerns as we move forward.”
“There’s challenges that we see, but I think there is also opportunity, and I think we need to look at that for both the city as a whole and the surrounding communities that will be impacted by it,” Squilla continued. “The concern to me is the people I represent. But this is a citywide project that impacts the city as a whole. So, we need to do both right. We need to look at the benefits and the challenges for the city, and we need to also look at the people who are most impacted by an arena close to their neighborhoods.”
Council President Kenyatta Johnson pledged his support to Squilla.
“I do applaud the mayor and her team and their efforts at least coming up with an agreement to keep the Sixers here in the City of Philadelphia and not in Delaware and not in Jersey,” he said. “But nevertheless, the devil’s in the details. And now the hard work starts with members of City Council.”
Like I said, the earliest the 76 Place legislation could be introduced is Oct. 24. Which means that between now and then, there’s going to be a lot of town hall meetings, protests, and Council meeting disruptions.
So, sit back and relax folks. We’re going to be here a while.
Good thing I have plenty of muffin recipes.
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