CENTER CITY QUARTERLY Newsletter of the Center City Residents' Association Vol. 2 No. 8 December 2012 Table of Contents Real Dogs of Philadelphia: A Neighborhood’s Real Dogs of Philadelphia: A Neighborhood’s Best Friend .................................1 Best Friend All Aboard SEPTA’s New Silverliner V .................2 By Virginia K. Nalencz President’s Report ....................................................3 More Than Just Child’s Play: The LEGO Club at Greenfield ....................................................4 Sa Va: For Women's Clothes Designed and Made in Philadelphia ..............................................7 Lane Fike Frank Furness, Bold and Creative ........................9 Another Winner: CCRA's 54th House Tour ......11 School Fair: Decision Assistance for Parents of School Age Children ........................12 Dedication of 9/11 Memorial on Schuylkill Banks ......................................................12 Celebration of Center City Living: Good Food, Great Auction Items and Music ............13 Ancient Sand Painting Recreated at Trinity Center for Urban Life ..............................14 What Is Chili? ...........................................................15 Looking Into the City’s Sacred Spaces ..........17 Documents and Underwear To Go: How To Be Ready for an Emergency ...............19 Schuylkill Banks: Riverfront Revival ................20 What’s the Next Chapter in the Life of Babette Josephs? ...................................................21 Win a Tree and Help CCRA’s Neighborhood Beautification Program .......................................21 Digital Ads on Newsstands? ..............................23 Dogs and their people (enjoying the new dog run in Schuylkill River Park, above) make their neighborhood safer and more cohesive. We Are All Preservationists ................................23 Open for Students: What do dogs want? Rufus the country dog may find all his heart’s desires along with, TPS's Early Education Center .............................25 and Rex in the city agree on the essentials: occasionally, too much excitement and Zoning Committee Report .................................27 a regular supply of food and affection, intermittent danger. Our neighborhood CCRA Neighborhood Winter Events ...............29 plenty of places to sniff, a bed to sleep on boasts lots of trees. Many different aromas. Rittenhouse Square Community Coalition ..31 (yours would be nice, but sometimes there And a spiffy refurbished dog park with Please Pass the Zucchini! ....................................32 are rules), a sheltered spot in which to turn separate runs for large and small dogs. On around three times before settling down for the other hand, there are skateboarders CENTER CITY a nap. Beyond these basic needs, city dogs, who approach from behind, honking horns, RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION like city people living in a place dense with shards from broken bottles near the curb. 1600 Market Street, Suite 2500 others of varying species and behaviors, Philadelphia, PA 19103 have particular preferences. One city dweller says of a walkable 215-546-6719 neighborhood, “Dogs probably like [email protected] In Center City West, according to walkers, avoiding the car as much if not more www.centercityresidents.org trainers and observant dog owners, a dog Continue on page 2 Real Dogs of Philadelphia: A Neighborhood’s Best Friend cont. than we do. They learn routes by smell, follow their instinct to please when they take and if they get in a car and then get out their walks safely leashed. Remember Lady Fran Levi somewhere, they can’t trace the route.” and the Tramp? The dog with a collar and Walks are even more enjoyable when a lead was one who was cherished and cared dog comes upon one of the neighborhood’s for; the dog given free rein was a dog at risk. signature canine amenities, the streetside water bowl outside a restaurant or shop. Anyone who strolls by the new bridge at Sometimes there is a hook on an exterior Schuylkill River Park will see dogs enjoying wall so that a dog may be safely tied up the view from above, a taste that reaches while the owner picks up a loaf of bread back to prehistoric times. When they learned and maybe some dog biscuits. to domesticate animals, humans employed The city dog (at rest, above) appreciates drivers who are willing dogs as helpers in herding. These watchful to wait to park near the curb he is using no matter how many On walks, Center City West provides dogs were bred to prefer a high perch, and cabs are honking their horns. social opportunities galore for pets and their descendants continue to appreciate a seeing any person of possibly ill intent, people, yet all this society may come at view like the one that sweeps up toward the admonishes his dog, “Now don’t you bite!” a price. Says a professional dog walker, Philadelphia Museum of Art and down past Says the well-prepared walker, “That “Especially around Rittenhouse Square, the South Street Bridge. One concern about person avoids you in double-quick time.” people just come forward to pet dogs bridges, especially the new bridge looming without asking. They take it for granted over the dog park, is that people may drop Most of all, dogs in the city build that the dogs are friendly.” The situation things from above, which would at the least community. A dog owner becomes part can be uncomfortable, even frightening, frighten the dogs and at worst harm them of a subculture in a neighborhood. People for the person who unthinkingly pets a and the humans with them. with dogs meet on the street, walk and talk, dog without seeking an introduction and sometimes sit in the park together for an discomfiting for the dog as well. Safety is a crucial element in a community, hour at a time. The conversation begins and a neighborhood feels safer when its with dog matters but moves outward to “Dogs really like to please people,” says streets are patrolled by dogs and those who range over whatever is happening in the a local pet trainer. People can help dogs walk them at all hours. Many dog walkers neighborhood, the city, the world. Dogs avoid occasions of sin, and keep the streets have stories of late-night encounters with and the neighborhood: best friends forever. clean at the same time, by closing garbage suspicious characters who veered away bags tightly when they set trash on the curb upon seeing Rex on his leash, even Rex- for the Monday morning pickup. Dogs can the-Chihuahua. One clever walker, on All Aboard SEPTA’s New Silverliner V By Kristin Geiger, Press Relations Officer, SEPTA-Media Relations Just two years ago, SEPTA’s brand new Silverliner V made its debut as train 1062 on the Authority’s Cynwyd Regional Rail Line at Suburban Station. Since then, these sleek and stylish trains can be seen traveling along any one of the 13 Regional Rail Lines that pass through Center City stations. Everyone from daily commuters to sometime rail travelers has taken notice. “I got to ride one of SEPTA’s new trains today,” Simone Williams said excitedly. “I’ve never seen anything like them.” Williams is a New York City resident who often travels to Philadelphia by train to visit her family. These fancy new trains are definitely something to be excited about. At first glance, you will notice its larger windows and electronic destination signs. When the doors, which are located at quarter points Kristin Geiger Continue on page 4 A SEPTA Silverliner V arrives at Suburban Station. Passengers riding it for the first time are in for a pleasant surprise. Page 2 Center City Quarterly | December 2012 CCRA BOARD OF DIRECTORS President’s Report Jeffrey Braff......................................... President I am writing this in the afterglow of three terrific neighborhood Wendy Weiss ................................Executive V.P. events: the Celebration of Center City Living (also commemorating Keith Cox .....................................Vice President CCRA’s 65th Anniversary and bestowing upon Inga Saffron the Fran Levi ......................................Vice President Lenora Berson Community Service Award) on October 10 at Maggie Mund ..............................Vice President Jared Klein...........................................Secretary Freeman’s Auction House; the School Fair on October 17 at the th Dane Wells ............................ Assistant Secretary Ethical Society and our 54 running of the Annual House Tour on Charles Robin ......................................Treasurer October 21. What a month! Walter Spencer ...................... Assistant Treasurer But we are not resting on our laurels. Due in large measure to the DIRECTOR (Term Ending) resounding success of the School Fair, and the efforts of Councilman Guy Aiman (2013) Kenyatta Johnson and his staff, we are on line to have a town hall Jeffrey L. Braff, CCRA President Steve Balin (2015) type meeting, open to all members, with newly installed School Kevin Dunleavy (2014) District Superintendent Dr. William Hite on Wednesday, December 12, from 6:00 p.m. to Kate Federico (2014) 8:00 p.m. at Tenth Presbyterian Church, at 17th and Spruce/Delancey. Watch for details in the Derek Freres (2013) weekly eNewsletter. Charles Goodwin (2014) Judy Heller (2014) And that is not all. Over the summer and through the fall, CCRA has been working with an Kim Jessum (2015) interfaith group of Rittenhouse Square houses of worship to create a holiday season Sacred Brian Johnston (Zoning Committee Co-Chair) Places Open House. This free event will