Letters to the Editor | April 14, 2024

I am a Philadelphia public transit rider — along with thousands of other workers, students, seniors, and folks attending cultural activities and sporting events. Like SEPTA drivers, we riders don’t feel safe. Brian Pollitt, in his recent op-ed advocating for the state to deploy the National Guard to SEPTA, delivers a compelling case for how using the guard temporarily, along with the transit police, can help protect riders and employees (boosting ridership and service), while city officials step up to address the daunting challenges of homelessness, mental illness, and addiction. “Had enough yet?” Pollitt asks. The answer should clearly be yes. It’s time for the state and city to act decisively. In 2026, visitors will be flocking to our city and state to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence or watch World Cup soccer matches. They, too, will need public transit. Will it still be serving riders, or be buried in failure to act? What kind of Philadelphia will we be?

Christy Southergill, Philadelphia

Walk one block away from Market Street, along Arch Street at night from Chinatown to the Delaware River, and you see bustling activity on both ends of your walk except from Seventh to Fourth Streets. The problem is that our historic district and federal buildings are closed and barricaded. What would be a treasured public area in Europe is like a dead zone in the heart of our city. It is impossible to imagine a revival of East Market Street without a year-round revival of this area besides Welcome America week. Revival depends on people wanting to be there, which means entertainment, food, and shopping. We have Jefferson Station on one end, and we could run free ferries between Camden and Philly at our rebuilt Penn’s Landing, like what Amsterdam does along its river. We need to make our federal district the engine that revives East Market Street.

Walter Tsou, Philadelphia

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s directive for municipal workers’ return to the office was met with mixed reviews. Some city workers feel the commute is too time-consuming, tiring, or expensive. Others are concerned about finding adequate day care and paying for it. And yet others feel they can successfully do their jobs remotely. We feel for them, we really do. Those are all legitimate concerns, but it’s time to get workers back to the office. We applaud Parker for pointing out the need for equity among workers, and we love the idea of city workers doing their jobs from here in the city, where they can interact with residents, business owners, and workers alike.

Right now, city streets are a bit too quiet, empty, and devoid of people on weekdays. Some streets feel ghostly quiet. There are no lines at the street vendors. No crowds at the food courts. And we feel it at McGillin’s Olde Ale House, too, where there’s no wait for a table at lunchtime. This desolation is shuttering retail, closing mom-and-pop restaurants, and exacerbating the death spiral. Parker’s announcement about bringing municipal workers back to in-person work may have been met with some resistance, but it was met with cheers from our employees. We look forward to welcoming back Philadelphia city workers with open arms. We thank them for their sacrifices. And know that it’ll be an important first step in turning around the city we all love.

Chris Mullins Sr. and Christopher Mullins Jr., owners, McGillin’s Olde Ale House

I read about Councilmember Mike Driscoll’s proposed expansion of the mixed-income neighborhoods law, which, according to The Inquirer, requires that new developments of more than 10 housing units devote a fifth of their homes to below-market-rate homes. The new bill allows for taller buildings, more units, and fewer parking requirements. Great, I thought. The article then describes developers’ reaction to the current law. They claim that mandating affordable housing with few incentives would prevent almost anything from being built. I continue to be shocked at the need for vast profits on the part of developers. People are sleeping in the streets. People are struggling to pay rising rents. Kensington needs a helpful plan. How much profit do developers need? Let them try to do some real good in the world. Their pocketbooks will do just fine.

Janet Fishman, Philadelphia

The deplorable decision by the Bryn Mawr Film Institute to initially cancel the showing of the Israeli film The Child Within Me demonstrates a total lack of understanding of democracy. The Israeli government implements policies, like every other democratically elected government, that may cause strong opposition. In fact, millions of people in Israel have been vociferously demonstrating against what has been done in Gaza. The worldwide Jewish community, who did not vote for this government, is not in any way responsible. Whatever complicated nuances exist surrounding Jewish civilization, no other films concerning other countries with broadly documented abuses of human rights have been canceled. If the institute wants to avoid anger at its presentations, then it should state that films are an expression of culture, and make decisions about which are worthy to be shown based solely on artistic merit.

Sandra Choukroun, Penn Valley

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