On South St., merchants fear financial aftershocks

When the flash-mobbers flooded South Street last weekend, Eugene Gray and Jabir Rahman weren't about to let them interfere with business.

Weighing a combined 400 pounds, the bruisers blocked the doorway to their Pimp My Tee Boutique, glowering at any teens who turned their troublemaking eyes their way.

"The kids know who to step to," said Rahman, who co-owns the boutique between 4th and 5th streets with Gray. "We're not the ones they're going to even try. We're big black guys."

But not every South Street merchant has "big black guys" on hand to guard against mischief-makers.

So, as fears fester among residents and tourists about where the next violent flash mob might appear, South Street merchants predict that paranoia will dent their business big-time.

"I got a lot of people saying, 'I'm never coming here again,' " said Michael Smash, a bartender at Woolly Mammoth, at South Street and Passyunk Avenue. "It's a sin for our city. And what about the local people? They're getting chased into their houses. Now they're going to go to the Royal [Tavern] or The Dive [about five blocks south of South]. Why come this way and get punched and kicked for no reason?"

Smash has tended bars on South Street since 1989. He's seen some rough Greek picnics and a Mardi Gras riot, but "I've never seen anything like this," he said.

Sal Kucuk, owner of S&H Kebab House, has seen his sales sink as unease grows about the underage inciters.

"I have customers who live a block away, on Lombard Street, and they won't cross South Street to come and dine," said Kucuk, whose eatery sits a few steps off South Street on Passyunk. "They call for delivery."

Still, some were heartened by the city's response this week, when the mayor and other authorities called a splashy news conference Wednesday to threaten severe sanctions for flash-mobbers.

While overwhelmed by the sheer number of last week's South Street flash-mobbers, Kucuk said that he was equally impressed by the rapid police response.

"The cops took care of it in 10 minutes," he said. "That's a great thing, to solve the problem that quick. It's definitely going to happen again, but remember when it happened last year? This year, they're going to be ready for it."