The battle for 45th Street | Morning Newsletter
And concerns about student loans resuming.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Expect some rain but it should clear up as the day progresses. Today’s high will be 74.
Philadelphia has the nation’s largest number of rowhouses. Although the city has taken steps to protect adjoining homes, an Inquirer analysis found that 50 or more are deemed unsafe each year because of construction or demolition next door.
Our lead story follows what’s happening to 45th Street, where a developer has been slowly taking over the block. It’s the latest installment of Crumbling City, an ongoing series about construction and safety in Philadelphia and its impact on residents.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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For the past six decades, Margaret T. Strothers cherished her small duplex on a West Philly block.
She bought it with her husband, James, and raised her daughter, Shani, there. When James died in 1993, Margaret stayed in the home. It was her retirement plan, with a rental apartment upstairs to supplement her schoolteacher’s pension.
By the end of 2017, that changed.
John Cassidy, a landlord who’s been buying up duplexes on the block, has been slowly knocking down neighboring homes and building student housing. But the block’s rowhouses were built as one structure and Strothers wasn’t sure her home could withstand being separated from her neighbors.
As Cassidy’s construction began, Strothers’ walls began to crack, her floors sank, and moisture seeped in.
Continue reading to learn what happened next to Strothers’ home and similar stories from her longtime neighbors.
What you should know today
Philadelphia’s first mobile pre-school will hit the streets of West Philly soon. The service, dubbed “El Busesito” is a specially equipped van that will provide mobile pre-school classes for low-income children.
The Phillies said former manager Charlie Manuel’s medical condition has improved on Sunday after he suffered a stroke the day before while undergoing a procedure at a hospital in Florida.
Temple University will honor historian and author Charles L. Blockson, the curator emeritus of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at the university, on Tuesday.
Meet Brian O’Neill, the only Republican member of Philadelphia City Council. He has represented Northeast Philly for 44 years and he’s competing for another term against Democratic union leader Gary Masino. The result of his reelection race could have large implications for Philadelphia’s Republican Party.
A South Jersey father and son have been sentenced to probation and convicted of federal charges for their roles in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
The preserved remains of a pickpocket who died in a city jail and then was accidentally mummified by a mortician has been on display at a Reading, Pa. funeral parlor for nearly 130 years. Generations of residents of Reading have only known him as Stoneman Willie. Next month, he will get an overdue burial with his real name.
The first student loan payments after the pandemic pause are due in October.
Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is tasked with looking out for 27 million people with federal student loans. He’s particularly concerned about long wait times for borrowers when they try to call their loan servicers.
Below is a snippet of an interview about his other worries.
What are you hearing from student loan borrowers right now?
Issues related to customer service, issues related to the calculation of their payment, whether their payment was properly processed.
For a student loan borrower who is restarting payments, it’s a huge source of anxiety because many of them are younger. Many of them are starting out in life. And if something goes wrong, they feel like they can kiss goodbye buying a home or getting an auto loan.
As you look into how servicers are handling this restart of payments, are there other aspects of this process that you’re keeping an eye on?
The biggest issue we’ve seen over the past decade has actually been in steering people. What sometimes has been good for the servicer is to get someone off the phone as quickly as possible. They won’t walk you through what your options are. The other thing I’m pretty nervous about is whether these servicers are paying and training people appropriately.
Read more for the full interview.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
The Pepperidge Farm factory in Denver, Pennsylvania churns out what percentage of the country’s Goldfish supply?
A) 50%
B) 34%
C) 25%
D) 20%
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
👀 Watching: Drew Barrymore will now wait to tape future episodes of her daytime talk show after she received intense criticism for doing it during the ongoing writers and actors strikes.
🍺 Tasting: This year’s Oktoberfest-inspired Philly beers.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
Hint: Eastern State Penitentiary
HASTENING HOWELL
We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if you’d like. Email us if you know the answer. Cheers to Mike McGuire, who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Belmont Plateau.
Photo of the day
That should get you caught up to start your day. I’m off to make my first cup of coffee. ☕ I’ll be back tomorrow.