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CENTER CITY QUARTERLY Newsletter of the Center City Residents’ Association Vol. 11 No. 2 Summer 2020 Contents Town Square Town Square Maelstrom of Violence ..............................1 Maelstrom of Violence Engulfs Eat a Bite, Give a Bit .................................10 Food Pantry Pitches In .............................15 Center City around Protests CCRA Annual Meeting .............................18 over Floyd Murder Shop Talk Merchants Fund Emergency Grants ......2 By Bill West President’s Report The upheaval that started in Minneapolis on Monday, May 25, came to Philadelphia on Darkness and Light ....................................3 Saturday, May 30. It started at the Art Museum as a peaceful protest against the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, then moved to City Hall and the City Lit Municipal Services Building across the street, where it turned violent. Library Lift Installed ....................................5 Fine-Free Library ........................................5 Protesters attempted to dislodge the statue of Frank Rizzo but failed. (The fact that the city government had not followed through on a promise to move the Rizzo statue CCCulture is symbolic of the underlying entropy of our city’s government. The failure of the Summer Piano Festival .............................6 protesters to move the statue simply enriches the symbolism.) Virtual Programming at Rosenbach ...............................................7 The protests moved on to Walnut, Chestnut, and other streets around Rittenhouse Our Greene Countrie Towne Square, where they morphed into vandalism and arson. I’m told the violence extended Help Friends of down South Street as well. Rittenhouse Square ...................................6 I have not seen any of this with my own eyes. I wasn’t there. So I won’t go into any Dining Scene great detail here. But please do look carefully at the photographs on this page. This Fresh Fish Dinners .....................................9 happened. It happened to us. Top Ten Ways to Help Restaurants Survive Quarantine! ...........15 What it means, what the future holds, are questions for which we must pursue answers. But we know the underlying diseases of racism and heedless oligarchy. Spotlight On... Volunteer Kristin Davidson ......................11 People are saying this feels like 1968, and it does. I lived through 1968 and had hoped Neighbors Helping Neighbors ...............13 never to see anything like that again. Is it exactly like 1968? Of course not. But this is a turning point. We can see it on our doorstep. We need to come together and build What’s Going On CCRA Summer Calendar .........................17 a better society. CENTER CITY RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION 1900 Market Street, 8th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-546-6719 [email protected] www.centercityresidents.org People survey the damage on the 1700 block of Walnut, Julius Scissors, blocked off because of building fires set during the 2045 Locust. protests the night before. Center City Quarterly | Summer 2020 1 Shop Talk Merchants Fund Emergency Grant Helps Neighborhood Boutique Stay in Business By Bonnie Eisenfeld Ethan Nguyen, owner of M Concept, an award-winning boutique “The Merchants Fund,” Nguyen says, “has been instrumental at 1540 South Street, had big problems starting in January when in helping M Concept weather significant disruption from construction closed his entire block to vehicular and pedestrian construction and COVID-19-mandated closure. With the traffic. For two months he relied on social media to stay in touch Fund’s support, we are looking forward to welcoming with his customers. Then in March the COVID-19 shutdown customers back into our space soon.” occurred. He didn’t know how his business would survive. M Concept’s offerings include face masks and a gift-box service, Just in time, The Merchants Fund provided Nguyen with as well as clothing, jewelry and accessories. “Our clients love an emergency relief grant to cover rent and costs to get the uniqueness of our product selections that they cannot find e-commerce up and running. Now M Concept is taking anywhere else in the city,” Nguyen says. “Our studios can even online orders for same-day pickup or two-day shipping. Jill make a particular item to your specification in two weeks or Fink, the fund’s Executive Director, says, “His survival thus less.” far is a testament to his savviness, determination, and ability to adapt—the same qualities that will help M Concept weather Since M Concept’s opening in 2016, the boutique has won the current crisis.” two “Best of Philly” awards from Philadelphia Magazine and was listed among the top ten in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Now Nguyen is helping The Merchants Fund review “Best Shop in Philadelphia” list. https://mconceptshop.com applications for emergency relief grants for other small (215) 839-9154. businesses. “We’ve wanted to move towards a participatory grantmaking model and involve past grantees in decision- Since 1854, The Merchants Fund has provided support to making,” Fink says. “When the COVID crisis happened, we Philadelphia merchants and small businesses during times moved quickly from talking about it to making it happen.” of financial need and hardship. When businesses have been at their most desperate, The Merchants Fund has been able to According to Fink, The Merchants Fund has made 21 grants help ease that desperation. You can help The Merchants Fund as of May 8, and was in the process of reviewing 40 more help other small businesses by sending a tax-deductible applications. “As many merchants are hearing that they’ve contribution. https://merchantsfund.org/ been denied funding elsewhere, and the shutdown lingers on, we’re getting more and more inquiries and requests. That list grows as the funds dwindle. We expect that our current funds will be depleted by late May or early June.” Ethan Nyugen in front of M Concept, 1540 South St. M Concept gift box and face masks. 2 Center City Quarterly | Summer 2020 CCRA Board of Directors President’s Report Maggie Mund ................................................. President Dark Days… Donna Cordner ..................Executive Vice President Philippa Campbell ................................Vice President and Some Silver Linings Barbara Halpern ...................................Vice President Charles Robin ........................................Vice President By Maggie Mund, CCRA President Robin Sweet ...........................................Vice President As of this writing, Center City finds itself in Richard Gross .................................................Secretary the tense aftermath of a night of looting and Lauren O’Donnell ....................... Assistant Secretary destruction that came on the heels of an Matthew Schreck ...........................................Treasurer afternoon of peaceful protest against the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands DIRECTORS (term ending) of police in Minneapolis. Guy Aiman (2020) Susan Kahn (2022) Michael Bowman (2020) Douglas Mellor (2021) As we enter the second night of strict curfews, we Elena Cappella (2021) Harvey Ostroff (2021) recognize the pain caused by the police brutality Paula Cohen Buonomo Lea Oxenhandler (2020) in Minneapolis...and throughout the country. We (2020) Nathaniel Parks (2021) support peaceful protest everywhere to end this Jane Epstein (2020) Paul Rathblott (2022) violence against black and minority communities, Maggie Mund Michele Ettinger (2022) Nanette Robinson (2022) which runs counter to American values. Kate Federico (2022) David Rose (2022) CCRA President Ayanna Haskins (2021) Dawn Willis (2022) Please join CCRA as we call on Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Amy Jared (2021) Benjamin Zuckerman Outlaw to assure the city that, while peaceful protest will be encouraged, Richard Frey (2022) (2020) we need a plan that will prevent the violence and looting that rocked Center City last night. Today, the National Guard will be called in and OPERATIONS MANAGER Center City will be closed to vehicular traffic. Travis W. Oliver But from all this darkness glimmers of light have also emerged. We would like HOUSE TOUR CHAIR to thank our neighbors who have been out cleaning up the broken glass and other consequences of last night’s lawlessness, restoring the neighborhood to Kathleen Federico a semblance of order. COUNSEL Until the ugly destruction of recent days, and the racist acts that provoked it, Wade Albert I had intended to share some musings about life under lockdown. One of the unexpected pleasures of life in the COVID shutdown is becoming a tourist ZONING CO-CHAIRS (sit once again in my own neighborhood and city. As I walk, bike and run the on Executive Committee) streets of Philadelphia, I am observing things I have either overlooked for years or never knew about. Architectural details on buildings too numerous Janice Woodcock to mention, the wonderful spring flowers and turtles at the Kaskey Park Samuel Gordon BioPond at UPenn, the statue of Shakespeare in front of the Free Library, hammocks at the Navy Yard, and the historical markers about a slave PAST PRESIDENTS market at Penn’s Landing. Wade Albert Eugene Dichter Charles Goodwin Samuel Weinberg It’s all fascinating, and has given me a new appreciation of my city, which, Jeff Braff Wm. J. D. Jordan like any long-time resident, I have sometimes taken for granted. I am Adam Schneider Stephen Huntington eternally grateful. Vivian Seltzer Lenore Millhollen Pamela Rosser Thistle