Fairmount neighbors are over the noise | Morning Newsletter
💡 And Philly’s major street light overhaul
The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning. It’s Friday once again.
Clouds will dominate the sky, and some areas will see patchy fog and rain, with a high near 52.
The Fairmount Water Works, the National Historic Landmark on the east bank of the Schuylkill, serves as a popular event space. However, all of that noise is getting to be too much for nearby residents. Our main read highlights those neighbors who say they don’t want celebrations to end — they just don’t want to feel the party in their homes.
— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Neighbors say they can feel and hear the late-night events within their homes. And they say reaching out to city agencies hasn’t moved the needle.
Patricia Amberg-Blyskal, 69, moved to the condominiums at 2601 Pennsylvania Ave. in June 2022, only to learn several nights a week from April to late fall are punctuated by the tunes of wedding celebrations and the like coming from the Water Works.
Sometimes the noise carries over past midnight. Amberg-Blyskal said she has made calls on the matter, even measured decibels of the amplified music she says cuts through the busy Kelly Drive and Pennsylvania Avenue into the rest of the neighborhood.
But as one city agency punts her concerns to another, Amberg-Blyskal and others are left confused about the pecking order of noise enforcement.
In their own words: “It’s so hard for the average person who has a life, who has a job, to research this stuff and it’s really hard to figure out where to start and then get someone to act on it,” said Christina Willis, 46, who says she feels the vibrations from music in her rowhouse on the 2400 block of Aspen Street.
Who is responsible? Cescaphe, the business running events out of the Water Works, is skeptical that they’re the source of the problem, but said they’re committed to addressing noise concerns.
Keep reading to hear from more residents on what they’re experiencing, and what they plan to do next.
Philly’s largest energy conservation initiative to date is underway.
The Philadelphia Street Light Improvement Project aims to replace all old street lights with 130,000 brand-new LED lights. They are brighter, more energy efficient, and longer-lasting.
The cost: $91 million. But with the new lighting system using half the energy the old system did, the city estimates it will make back the money invested in a decade.
Key improvements: The move is expected to significantly reduce energy costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The city will also be able to track real-time data on outages and dim, brighten, and modify lights more easily. The project focuses on enhancing safety in areas of high gun violence and road fatalities by improving lighting.
But concerns remain: While research suggests benefits like reduced crime and enhanced traffic safety, concerns arise over the brighter, bluer light potentially being a nuisance, health hazard, or contributing to light pollution.
The Inquirer consulted with experts across fields to delve into the pros and cons of LED street lighting. Keep reading for more on how the upgrades could affect different facets of the city.
What you should know today
A U.S. Marshals task force arrested a man in Kensington early Thursday accused of shooting his girlfriend to death during an argument two days before Christmas.
On Monday, SEPTA plans to launch a multi-rider feature allowing up to five people to ride on one SEPTA Key card at the same time, an amenity that Philadelphia-area transit customers have long sought.
A onetime member of the Philadelphia Proud Boys admitted in court Thursday that he tussled with officers struggling to keep rioters at bay during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
A Pennsylvania mortgage relief program to help homeowners catch up after the pandemic will reopen in March after being closed for more than a year to resolve a backlog of applications and a series of internal problems.
Patricia Wellenbach, president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum, announced that she will resign in early 2025.
New Jersey poison center physicians are raising new alarm about the drug tianeptine, which has been linked to seizures, cardiac arrest, and other adverse effects in at least 35 state residents since June.
A new rebellious species has landed in the Philadelphia Zoo, and they’re trying to save humans.
The chef behind Philly’s hottest supper club plans to open a restaurant by the end of the year.
Lionel Messi could be back in Philly next month when the Linc hosts an Argentina-El Salvador game.
🧠 Trivia time
Nearly 43 million people visited Philly in 2023 — but tourism officials hope more are on the way.
How much money did city visitors spend last year?
A) $5.5 billion
B) $6.3 billion
C) $7.8 billion
D) $9.2 billion
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we're...
🐎 Playing: The Inquirer’s new interactive game Horse 95 to see if we can beat the horse.
🍺 Toasting to: Philly Bierfest this Saturday.
🗓️ Celebrating: The contributions of Black Philadelphians at events across the city this Black History Month.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: This point guard just made his homecoming debut with the 76ers 🏀
WELLY YORK
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Ginny Katsourides who correctly guessed Thursday’s answer: Philly Fashion Week.
Photo of the day
That’s all for now. Thanks for starting your morning with The Inquirer. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you again with the latest news on Sunday.
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