Results tagged “benfranklinparkway”

Well then, this might be the video for you.

The CNN Election Express Bus awaits action near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Don’t know about you, but when we think about driving in the city we start to get slight palpitations. Part of it could be that we’re used to walking and Septa; the thought of paying exorbitant amounts to park in UCity on a Friday night convinces us that the El isn’t so bad after all. Plus, there’s storage: when we were living on the outskirts of Center City a parking spot would have cost 2/3 of our rent. Don’t get us started on the exhaust fumes, particularly those from the ancient chariots some of us have to drive around in because after parking costs we can’t afford an upgrade. But there are times when having a car is a necessity, even in the city. You need one to escape the heat and exhaust for the cool ocean breeze in the summer for instance, or to do an IKEA run. And so a balance must be struck.

Remember how Rick's Steaks was fighting to stay in the Reading Terminal Market? Well, the fight continues. A recent court ruling dismissed most of Olivieri's claims against Reading Terminal, but Olivieri's lawyer says they're still confident things will go Rick's way at the trial this summer.

The Ben Franklin Parkway at 18th Street.

...there's still no building in the world quite like City Hall. Photo by author, SkyscraperSunset.com, September 24, 2007....

Yesterday was Unity Day in Philadelphia, the 28th occurrence of this yearly event celebrating families and community pride, featuring dozens of free musical performances. Unfortunately, Unity Day also means lots of road closings: MLK Drive, Kelly Drive around the art museum, and the Ben Franklin Parkway from Eakins Oval to 20th were all closed until 9PM. Hope you found your way to where you needed to go anyway...

Organized by FightHunger.org, pedestrians the world over will be putting their feet to pavement to help raise funds and awareness for the number of children who go hungry; which Walk the World estimates to be about 300 milliion. Their goal: to end child hunger by 2015.

In Phillyist's on-going quest to find interesting things to do with our post-mortem remains and our long-standing philosophical debate on whether or not there's an afterlife (what, you think we sit around the office arguing about cheesesteaks all the time?), writer Mary Roach has become somewhat of a, well...she's our goddess and we just worship at the alter of Mary. And now we get to worship her in person: Mary Roach is speaking in Philadelphia this week.

By now you've seen them on every street corner in Philly. You've avoided them like the plague. You've sidestepped them, waved them off, and glared at them when they tried to shove a flyer at you. That's right: Philadelphia has been invaded by Jews for Jesus.

We spread ourselves across the Ben Franklin Parkway on Saturday, all for you. Well, we kind of wanted to be there, but we also wanted to give you the scoop on what we saw at and what we thought of Philly's big cultural event. Live 8 went off without a hitch, seemingly, but it wasn't perfect. We give you the good, the bad, and the SEPTA. Below are 8 key questions on Live 8 with responses from Phillyist staffers and contributors. We'll update this post as more of us check in with our experiences. 1. Security and personal safety: did you feel that health services and police officers were plentiful? Did you feel safe at Live 8?

John Carroll, Editor: The big red balloons for health tents were a nice touch. There could have been a few more, maybe, since they seemed like a hike at times (especially if you're hurt). Fortunately, I was fine throughout the day. The police were in groups along the perimeters, which wasn't ideal, but aside from being trapped in a crush of people early on in the concert, I was safe for most of the day.

Jessica Haralson, Love and Sex:My post-9/11 spidey sense tingled as I sashayed onto the Parkway at 7 AM with only a sparse sighting of police officers and no security checks; although the no-fly zone was comforting, I couldn't help but feel that a bomb could have gone off with little ado during the whole she-bang. The alcohol-fueled brawls that popped up around me during the day did little to mitigate my fears either. The police were there - but at the perimeter. What could they have done?

Jeff Siti, Arts and Entertainment:There were alot of police but they didn't have much to do though. No one was causing any problems.

Maria Tessa Sciarrino, Contributor:I was surprised at how safe i felt at Live 8, especially when a fight broke out right in front of me at the Easkins Oval South Fountain. I'm not quite sure what caused the incident but everything's fine one moment and the next, fists are flyin'. Cops who had been placed atop the fountain to monitor the area were there within seconds to clear up the situation. 2. How were the crowds? Did you have enough space to feel comfortable throughout the day?

John: As I mentioned previously, I got caught in a crush of pushing, angry people. I think the blankets and chairs really made movement difficult at spots along the Parkway, but aside from a few jammed areas (and a little lake behind the first video screen) I had an adequate amount of space throughout the day.

Jessica:The crowds were oppressive, as was to be expected. The complete lack of crowd organization, however, was not. Without a multitude of barricades, security, or logistical planning, the battle for space was an unregulated free-for-all that resulted in rolled eyes and ruffled feathers. When Al Sharpton heralded John Street's "incredible organization" during the evening fireworks, it was only the kindest that didn't boo.

Jeff:I didn't try to get too close the stage. The further back you got the more room you had. It was much better a few hundred yards down the Parkway.

Maria: Space was fine, it was everyone who felt it was OK to bring along a lawn chair that bothered me. Considering how crowded it was, especially up towards the front, the furniture caused more problems. I tripped over several of them.

Wagers are being placed as to whether or not the museums, businesses, and residences along the Ben Franklin Parkway and surrounding areas will survive Live 8. Some of us are betting on looting, perhaps a plague of locusts, and some of us just think the crowd will erupt into a swarming crowd of miscreant arsonists. Whatever the case, we can all assume that the Parkway will be awash in urine. City officials are guesstimating a crowd of one million. We at Phillyist hear Managing Director Pedro Ramos plans to put out only 300 port-a-potties. Like it's not enough that the city subways smell like a zoo and the Parkway is a major
homeless destination, now we have to deal with Keith Urban and Jay-Z fans urinating against the Please Touch Museum and into the Logan Circle fountain? Not to worry, though -- beloved mayor, John Street, has made this pledge to Philly residents: "The Live 8 concert will happen on July 2, and at 8 a.m. on July 3, I
will be on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and it will be clean. Do you
hear me? It will be clean." Mayor Street may be standing amongst the rubble of what used to be the main branch of the Philadelphia Library, but hey, it'll be clean! Considering only 400,000 people [max] can fit between the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Love Park, we're not sure where one million people are going to congregate. Or relieve their bladders. Good news for those living in Center City and the Art Museum area. On a positive note -- if there's looting, I think we can all count on the Franklin Institute's giant heart being passed around the crowd like a giant beach ball. Who wouldn't want to see that? Then again, perhaps Live 8 will come off without a hitch, 300 port-a-potties will be plenty, and a good time will be had by all. We'll keep our fingers crossed.