QVNA Magazine (July/August 2018) by Queen Village Neighbors Association

BEFORE THE BOOM July / August 2018

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Here’s What’s Inside July / August 2018

A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Eleanor Ingersoll writes about elections, zoning, plans for a memorial and getting new neighbors involved with QVNA.

THE STORY OF QUEEN VILLAGE INC. Through a series of interviews, Paul R. Levy tells the story of a 1960s nonprofit organization that rehabilitated homes in Queen Village.

15 16 18 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

THE OCTAVIA HILL ASSOCIATION Amy Shelanski describes the formation of the Octavia Hill Association, a Progressive Era housing rehabilitation program. OUR LONG INDUSTRIAL SLIDE This timeline explores the end of Philadelphia’s industrial age, the abandonment of housing and efforts to revitalize the neighborhood. BOOM VILLAGE Conrad Weiler recalls how the zoning process was used in Queen Village to maintain a diverse neighborhood, despite redevelopment pressures. GET TO KNOW YOUR COMMITTEEPERSONS Committeepeople serve as a point of contact between the voters in a voting division and elected officials and their political parties. SIGNS YOU MAY LOSE YOUR PROPERTY TO ACT 135 Edwin Rivera explains how the Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservation Act impacted one of his neighbors. KIDS AND VOLUNTEERING: HOW TO GET INVOLVED Hilary Young unveils local volunteer opportunities that will appeal to children of all ages. MORE THAN JUST MAY FLOWERS Donna Pancari provides tips for growing your own cut flowers in plots or planters during the spring, summer and fall. CHILDHOOD LEAD EXPOSURE Katie Lockwood, MD makes suggestions for reducing our children’s exposure to lead. SUMMER STREAMING 2018 Piers Marchant offers a solid handful of movies on major streaming services you can watch from the comfort of your own living room. A QUEEN VILLAGE TREASURE: HARRY AZOFF In this new series profiling neighbors, Marc Holmes III introduces longtime Front Street resident Harry Azoff. GLORIA DEI CHURCH (OLD SWEDES') Jim Murphy examines the history of Gloria Dei Church … and how it ended up at Wicaco. QUEEN VILLAGE REMEMBERS JOHN LIEDMAN Colleen Puckett shares memories of John Liedman, longtime Queen Village resident, developer and community activist.

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Contributors All opinions are of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Queen Village Neighbors Association. AMY GRANT is a web developer and graphic designer. She serves on the board of the Historic Gloria Dei Preservation Corporation. You can read her history stories at www.southwarkhistory.org. MARC HOLMES III is a retired broadcast journalist and EMMY award winning documentarian. He has taught at Tufts and Northeastern and, most recently, was chief of staff at a research institute at Temple. ELEANOR INGERSOLL is QVNA’s president and the chair of the Schools and Youth Activities Committee. She is also a member of the QVNA Magazine editorial board. PAUL R. LEVY is a former QVNA president who resided in Queen Village from 1976 to 1982. He now lives a block north on Pine Street and is the president and CEO of the Center City District. KATIE LOCKWOOD, MD is a pediatrician and blogger who resides in Queen Village with her husband and two children. All opinions are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. PIERS MARCHANT is a film critic and writer. Find more confounding amusements and diversions at his blog, sweetsmellosuccess.tumblr.com, or read his further 142-character rants and ravings at @kafkaesque83. JIM MURPHY is a freelance writer who focuses on Philly history. He also writes a blog for Old Pine Community Center and is vice president of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides. DONNA PANCARI is a ninth-grade English teacher. Along with her husband Kevin Parker, she edits the local food blog Farm To Philly, and gardens at the Southwark Queen Village Community Garden. COLLEEN PUCKETT was on the QVNA board from 1995-2005, where she served as riverboat gambling committee chair, vice president and president from 2001-2005. She was recently elected committeeperson for Ward 2, Division 26. EDWIN RIVERA has lived in Queen Village for 20 years. He has worked in product design and prototyping and now does 3D computer modeling. His interests include art and architecture. AMY SHELANSKI is a real estate agent who has resided in Queen Village for over a decade. She previously served on the QVNA board and is currently on the zoning committee and QVNA Magazine editorial board. CONRAD WEILER is an associate professor emeritus of political science at Temple University. He formerly served as the chair of QVNA’s zoning committee. HILARY YOUNG is a Queen Village mom and owner of Hilary Young Creative, a content and marketing service for small businesses. Cover image courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Print and Picture Collection 06 July / August 2018

QUEEN VILLAGE NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION

office // 417 South Street, Rm 22, Philadelphia, PA 19147 mail // P.O. Box 63763, Philadelphia, PA 19147 phone // 215.339.0975 email // info@qvna.org • web // www.qvna.org SERVING RESIDENTS, BUILDING COMMUNITY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Eleanor Ingersoll – President Melissa Donnelly – Executive Vice President Justin Fishman – Treasurer Elizabeth Grimaldi – Recording Secretary Dahvia Dalton Mark Grabarits Inez "Kandi" Green Jeff Hornstein Latasha McKnight Emily Perschetz Maria Roberts Kathy Conway (Emeritus) Michael Hauptman (Emeritus)

QVNA STAFF Lucy Erdelac - Interim Executive Director Jake Peterson - Office Manager

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QVNA MAGAZINE 2nd Place National Winner 2016 & 2017 NUSA Newsletter Competition Submission Deadlines September 2018 Issue Advertising: August 15, 2018 Editorial: August 10, 2018

EDITORIAL BOARD Amy Grant Eleanor Ingersoll Jim Murphy Peter Ross Amy Shelanski Duncan Spencer

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QVNA Magazine Volume 4, No. 4, is published bi-monthly (January, March, May, July, September, November) by Queen Village Neighbors Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Federal ID# 23-2025152). All contributions are tax-deductible.

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A Letter From The President Hello Neighbors, It’s been a busy stretch at the Association - from elections to zoning to playground construction. But it was also busy with the energy of new neighbors getting involved, taking on tasks and sharing ideas. In April, we held our first-ever General Meeting dedicated to the election of Committeepersons. The turnout was fantastic and candidates were able to break off in smaller groups to discuss their platforms with potential constituents. It was a great exercise in hands-on, grass-roots politics. Be sure to check out who your elected Committeepeople are for the next four years on page 21.

Eleanor Ingersoll, QVNA president

In early June, Mayor Kenney held an official announcement on the development of the Bethel Burying Ground Historic Site Memorial at Weccacoe Playground, located under the community building and part of the tennis court. The tennis court and community building will NOT be demolished until the Bethel Burying Ground Memorial is developed, funded and ready for installation. This decision is a result of the attendance and participation of 105 residents at the May 17th General Meeting, where QVNA brought together neighbors and representatives from Parks & Recreation and the Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy. Thanks to YOUR thoughtful comments and feedback, the city agreed to postpone plans for a fall demolition. (There are other variables to the project that will be vetted at community meetings beginning in the fall. Stay tuned.) Also at that same General Meeting, we talked taxes with representatives from the Office of Property Assessment. There was a lot of valuable information about deadlines for contesting tax hikes, which QVNA forwarded electronically to the community and posted on our website (qvna.org). Councilman Mark Squilla got valuable feedback that he took to City Hall for hearings on tax increases and Council’s ability to negate the most egregious. QVNA and the South Street Headhouse District (SSHD) held three public meetings for neighbors to learn about zoning issues involved with the proposed development at Bainbridge & Passyunk. Based on neighbor feedback at these meetings, the total height of the building dropped by one floor and the facade materials were tweaked. In total, the mixed-use development proposes 50 apartments, 149 public parking spaces and 21 bicycle spaces – with a first floor retail space for a Target Express. The developer is headed back to the Civic Design Review on July 10 and then to Zoning Board of Adjustment to see if building variances are granted. Demolition of standing buildings on the site has begun, though. The developer can by-right proceed without the desired variances for less open space, and forgo the need for public input. As we prepare for the Memorial at Weccacoe, we’ve been searching for a new and affordable home for the QVNA office. We want to thank Mona Plumer of Plumer & Associates as well as Candace Roberts of Quantum Think for offering lovely spaces at non-profit rates that would keep QVNA visible and in its borders. But we were surprised when Joynture, the coworking space in the old Pearl Arts building, 417 South Street, made us an offer we couldn’t refuse! By the time you read this, we will be in our new home there and excited to invite you in. So there is a lot happening in the neighborhood and more to come. Through it all, our volunteers have continued to grow. Come September, we’ll be gearing up for more initiatives with micro-volunteer options, so please keep in touch with us online, via facebook or by email or phone. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer and I’ll see you around the neighborhood.

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The Story Of Queen Village Inc. BY PAUL R. LEVY The following is excerpted from a short oral history of Queen Village that was created in 1977 with funding from the Pennsylvania Committee for the Humanities, based on series of interviews conducted with community activists, long-term residents, leaders in local churches and “new” neighbors about the process of change in the neighborhood. After World War II, the neighborhood we know today as Queen Village began an economic decline. The city began to lose manufacturing jobs and the piers along the Delaware River became obsolete, as the shipping industry embraced cargo containerization and local residents who had worked as longshoremen and stevedores had to find work elsewhere. While many blocks remained quite strong and vital, it was very difficult to get conventional mortgage financing and many people began to move to the suburbs. Then, in 1957, city planners announced plans to erect two expressways in South Philadelphia. That had a further adverse impact on the neighborhood with the unwillingness of many businesses and residents to invest in their property. Particularly west of 3rd Street, there was significant deterioration and abandonment of properties. In 1962, representatives of local churches, area institutions and a variety of concerned individuals met at Settlement Music School to begin discussions on how the process of rehabilitation could be stimulated in the area. Conscious of the need to project a new image and to involve the local community, they decided to rename this portion of South Philadelphia as Queen Village.

Workmen fix up four houses at 421-27 Catharine Street as part the Queen Village Inc. renovation program. Photo courtesy of the Evening and Sunday Bulletin

Drayton Bryant (Philadelphia Housing Authority), Reverend John Cochran and Reverend Carl Werner (both of Emanuel Lutheran Church) described the formation of Queen Village Inc. DRAYTON BRYANT It was a stagnant area where there had been no new construction to speak of, very little new investment. Many of the homeowners [in the first two or three blocks from Front Street] kept their houses in nice condition. The deterioration 10 July / August 2018

had set in around 6th or 7th and up Bainbridge and Fitzwater [where there were] third-rate commercial uses — car lots and taxi lots and that sort of thing. Some institutions were abandoned. JOHN COCHRAN Queen Village Inc. started with two chief goals: The first was to begin the rehabilitation of this neighborhood, which was in bad condition, and the second was to provide reasonably

priced housing for moderate and lower income families. CARL WERNER The concern was: what do we do about developing open space, [how do we bring] vacant and abandoned houses scattered throughout the community back into the housing market and [how do we deal with] nonconforming uses elsewhere in the neighborhood. DRAYTON BRYANT I recall Father John Fee of St. Philip Neri saying, “I think we need a name. This may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you that a good Papist like me would talk about a Protestant Queen,” he said. “But the Swedes did get here first and we have Queen Street, Christian Street and Catharine Street and it was Queen Catharine of Sweden and I wonder how you would feel about this might be Queen Village,” and we all said, “We’ll drink to that,” and threw our hats into the air and said let’s call it Queen Village; so I give him full credit. Yet, as the remarks of longtime residents Kathy Conway and Edward Plocha indicate, there existed from the beginning some tension between the proponents of rehabilitation and the reactions of the “old-timers.” KATHY CONWAY We always thought we lived in South Philadelphia — like there was no Southwark, Queen Village, nothing. Queen Village, to a lot of old-timers, was renewal . . . [It was] about young people coming in and [changing the character of the neighborhood]. It was almost something that you steered clear of. EDWARD PLOCHA We called it South Philadelphia but we [also] called it Second Street. When I was a kid growing up we, as young fellows, would refer to it as “Two Street.” We would refer to ourselves as “Two Streeters.” It meant a lot to us that there were outsiders moving in. A variety of factors quickly limited Queen Village Inc.’s ability to produce rehabilitated housing for low and moderate-income individuals. The lack of experience with non-profit rehabilitation, the inability to get adequate financing from local financial institutions that had effectively “redlined” the area and the costs of inflation itself contributed to the problem. In addition, shortly after Queen Village Inc. started picking up abandoned shells at sheriff’s sales, other developers and some speculators began to compete in bidding and began to drive the basic construction costs upward. Finally, the attitude of the very individuals for whom the organization was supposedly building housing contributed to the problem. For many “old-timers,” the suburbs were still viewed as the first step toward upward mobility. They thus viewed the rehabilitation of housing in the “old neighborhood” somewhat skeptically. It became obvious to members of Queen Village Inc. that their customers would have to be from outside the neighborhood. Here John Cochran, Carl Werner and Bud Plumer (of Plumer Real Estate) reflect on the struggles that Queen Village Inc. faced. JOHN COCHRAN When Queen Village Inc. produced its first houses, they

Mummers parade down Second Street. Photo by Paul Levy

came through at a price of about $11,500 and you could hear the screams all the way to Washington, D.C. People throwing up their hands and shrieking, “That’s low-income housing!” [Today it looks] like a song. $11,500 — oh, my goodness — that’s a drop in the bucket. I watched as Queen Village Inc. did its intended job. We lost the $15,000 housing we produced — some houses that sold around $15,000 and $16,000 — [and soon] we were producing houses at $2025,000. Toward the end of active work in Queen Village Inc., we couldn’t touch anything under $30,000. BUD PLUMER We did run some advertising. We [hosted] open houses and the people in the area just weren’t buying. They couldn’t afford them and didn’t want them. It’s funny. People who could afford them in the neighborhood (would say) — “What do I want to live here, for? I want to go up to the Northeast. I want to go to Jersey.” It wasn’t accepted by the residents. They laughed at us and the people who were coming in mainly were single for the most part, semi-professional, some blue collar, but mostly white-collar people, who worked in Center City. July / August 2018 11

New homes rise on the 100 block of South Street, as seen from Howard Street. Photo by Felix Penzarella

CARL WERNER Queen Village had the oldest housing, the most interesting historically. This appealed to a middle-income, highereducated community. In our, perhaps, misguided, best interest in trying to reverse an interest in investment, we used to push the idea that [Queen Village] is right below Society Hill, but you are not going to have to pay those $30,000 and $40,000 prices which then were considered exorbitant. You still have the same conveniences [plus] you have a nicer community, because we still have the neighborhood store where you can buy a newspaper without walking ten blocks. [We also] had Old Swedes’, the Neziner Synagogue, all these beautiful, old, historic buildings that went back in many cases. We used to say with great pride, “We’ve got a street as old as Elfreth’s Alley. It may not be quite as fancily maintained, but the houses are the same design, same age, built the same period. Matter of fact, ours are 50 years older in some cases. Across the street you are in Society Hill and here you can get a good buy that’s within your range and level.” We never projected that it would have the magnitude of an effect as it did. I think another thing is that Queen Village rates spiraled (1) by proximity to Society Hill, no question about it in my mind; (2) by the fact that there was a much higher abandonment rate and much greater potential for a new community to move in than there was at Whitman and Pennsport. The reactions of long-time residents were mixed. Some were pleased 12 July / August 2018

to see houses rehabilitated, especially since members of their family were fixing up their own homes. Others frankly thought that no one in his right mind would pay $10-15,000 for a house in that area, when the average cost of unrehabilitated housing in good condition was closer to $5,000. Still others were resentful and suspicious of the motives of the “outsiders.” From the beginning, what was at stake were very different conceptions of the neighborhood. As Peter Hoff, one of the first to purchase a Queen Village Inc. house indicates, he chose the area for essentially economic reasons. It was close to work, shopping and entertainment in the Center City area. Like many individuals and families who would later follow, he looked first in the restored area of Society Hill to the north, and only came south when prices there were well above what he was willing to pay. In contrast, many of the lifelong residents who lived in the area stayed because of a tradition of work along the waterfront, because of inner connections to the overall fabric of the community, or because they simply could not afford to move. This often produced tensions between the new and old. Marge Schernecke, Edward Plocha, and Pat Cooper describe this conflict. PETER HOFF I bought the first Queen Village Inc. rehabbed house in the neighborhood. The aims of the organization were to take redlined mortgage neighborhoods [and] bring them to a middle-income level. They never aspired to Society Hill standards. If I had my druthers, I would have moved into a beautiful house on Delancey Street, as we all would have.

Residences on Front Street are restored for historic certification. Photo by Felix Penzarella

But I couldn’t afford Delancey Street. I bought [a house on] Carpenter Street for $10,900 rehabbed, and [Queen Village Inc.] admitted they lost money on it. But I got a FHA mortgage of $70 a month for 20 years and my taxes were $40 a year, and it was quite attractive at the time. Still is. MARGE SCHERNECKE I didn’t feel threatened by it. I thought it was something that was nice. Some of the people who had always lived in the neighborhood were starting to [renovate their houses]. It would be, “Oh, did you see Mrs. so and so’s house, doesn’t that look nice? She’s really done a nice job on it.” My aunt and uncle had started to renovate their house and people that you knew were doing it too, so it just seemed like it was all right for that to happen. At the time there wasn’t any massive development, like what was occurring in Society Hill. This wasn’t happening in Queen Village. That made us feel more secure. EDWARD PLOCHA Initially, there was a strong reaction against strangers coming in [to the neighborhood]. Strangers [would move here] to make money and [would] not be sensitive to any [of our] concerns. PAT COOPER [It turned into] a class problem. You have people coming in who have money, who can make repairs. Now they had very good motives. They were going to upgrade the community and support the ethnic people that were there. They wanted

some of the lifestyle, security and safety and knowing neighbors and friendliness that you don’t always get. But what happened is, so then you had individuals just buying the property and doing repairs or whatever and it caught on. It suddenly became fashionable. So you had people who could afford $40,000, young, married, professional couples, some children, moving in. Well, you began to change the composition of the community. There were cultural clashes, lifestyle clashes. It became obvious to the community that these were outsiders. One final issue that divided old and new was the issue of historical certification. Many newer residents were amazed to find hundreds of homes in the Queen Village area that date back to the early 19th century virtually intact. Very much influenced by the city policy of attempting to certify and restore as many houses as possible in Society Hill, they eagerly began to attempt to certify Queen Village houses. Some were content to certify their own homes, while others began to urge their neighbors to do the same. Here cultural and economic clashes began. The tastes of the newer people frequently were quite different from those of older residents. Many of the proponents of historic certification considered awnings, aluminum siding, and storm doors to be an ignorant destruction of colonial architecture. The older residents often resented “outsiders who only moved in yesterday” telling them how to keep their homes. They feared as well that historical certification would not only cost more, but would also act like a magnet for the tax assessor. Here Carol Carey, who moved to Queen Village in 1967, discusses the reactions of old-timers to her rehabilitated home. July / August 2018 13

CAROL CAREY Three years ago, I restored my house to its historic state. At that time, I had seven or eight people in the neighborhood tell me that, while it looked great, they think I shouldn’t have done it because [this would drive property taxes up]. It was bringing different kinds of people in the neighborhood, and why didn’t I leave it the way it was; and things were fine the way it was; why should I have to go and change it? I’d been hearing that sort of thing since I moved here in 1966 so it was no surprise in 1975 that I was still getting that sort of reaction. I was very surprised when I first got the reaction, because it was the furthest thing from my mind. Beyond the clash of tastes and the economic factors also lay fundamentally different senses of historical. To capture the style of the 18th century and to remove all additions from later periods — brickwork, storm windows, screens, etc. — constituted one concept of historical. An alternative was expressed by one lifelong resident who remarked about finding the marriage certificate of her grandfather in the attic of her parents’ home: “To me, that was history, something I was personally connected to and that’s far more important to me that having a plaque on the wall outside.” By the early 1970s, the climate of Queen Village had changed substantially. The “new people” of the early 1960s speak about the sense of a “pioneer spirit.” They felt that they had taken a risk that was not only financial, but that also involved their personal security. Often, they had to deal with the skeptical reactions of friends who would comment that they had chosen to live in a “slum.” But by 1968, two large scale developers had purchased substantial properties and were beginning to rehabilitate entire blocks at a time. Frequently, this involved the eviction of tenants who were presently living in unrehabilitated housing and it clearly meant sudden jumps in tax assessment throughout the neighborhood. Drayton Bryant, John Cochran, Pat Cooper, community activist Ellen Lariviere and Clyde Pelzer (Pelzer Funeral Home) describe the effect that mass development had on the community. DRAYTON BRYANT We never saw ourselves as a redevelopment authority. We thought we would start a process and it sped up. PAT COOPER But, then, suddenly, the word got out there’s no properties up there. You know, my son and daughter are getting married. They can’t buy anything next door to me on my street, which was the tradition and they began to realize it. Again, as with them most of the time, it is too late. They questioned, how can we stop it? And people told them quite frankly, “it’s free enterprise.” You can’t stop anyone from buying a house if they have money. Money was the key. ELLEN LARIVIERE [Property] taxes go up when a house changes hands. That’s the way it should be. But why penalize people that spend all their life living in one place? 14 July / August 2018

Examples of contrasting architectural styles. Photo by Paul Levy

There was a tax meeting where all of the old-timers showed up but none of the new residents [attended]. Why? Because they knew when they moved [to Queen Village] that they would have to pay [higher] taxes. But people on fixed incomes can’t [afford it]. CLYDE PELZER I know of one case. I sold a lady a home and the taxes were $98.00. Last year, the taxes were $360. See, the “Queen Village fees” pushed it up, so she couldn’t understand it. I told her, “they just reassessed your house and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s in Queen Village now. When you bought it, it was in the slums.” JOHN COCHRAN There is a whole social process involved here in which economics figures very powerfully. [Some of] these properties were owned by non-resident landlords [who had moved to] suburban communities. [They did not upgrade or improve their properties] – they just kept renting until [the properties had] worn out. [Once the properties were] abandoned or unfit for human habitation, along comes an urban developer. [The developer buys] the properties and many times there are [renters] living in there [paying] $75 a month in rent. [The developer then gives the tenants] 6 months [to move out so that they can] redo the properties. [After the properties are rehabilitated], they sell for $45,000. You’ve economically predetermined who can afford to live in that house. And the process looks to me inexorable. Money follows money, and it is just eating the neighborhood alive. Or if you stand on the other side and you own one of those properties, it’s coming to life. You see? It depends on where you stand.

The Octavia Hill Association BY AMY SHELANSKI

The Front Street Houses of Workman Place.

Rear houses and courtyard in 1937 (with a woman near fence on left).

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS, Reproduction number HABS PA,51-PHILA,42--4

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS, Reproduction number HABS PA,51-PHILA,42--3

You’ve no doubt noticed the community of small homes and open space that’s contained behind the fences and walls at 742-746 Front Street and runs west between Pemberton and Fitzwater Streets.

improved them, and rented to people they thought could best maintain them. The OHA and its investors provided clean, sanitary and safe living. They also made a small profit of 4% and coined the phrase, “philanthropy and 4%.”

The Front Street houses were built for John Workman, a lumber merchant, and the smaller houses in the rear were built in 1748 for George Mifflin, grandfather of the first Governor of Pennsylvania. Today, Workman Place is a thriving community (still managed by the Octavia Hill Association) and a surviving material artifact of Progressive Era housing reform. These homes are part of a revolutionary approach to affordable housing and alleviating conditions of poverty that was started in London by Octavia Hill, a pioneer of British housing reform. In the late 1800s, the influx of immigrants in Philadelphia resulted in a housing and poverty crisis. Charity could only do so much, and new ideas were sought to alleviate the terrible conditions in Philadelphia’s overcrowded slums and tenements. Looking over the pond at the success Octavia Hill had with the poor in London, a group of Philadelphia women travelled to meet with her and study her methods. Hill believed that environment was a major cause of poverty. She believed that if people were decently housed in neighborhoods with parks, playgrounds and good schools, poverty could be eliminated. She came up with a revolutionary approach to providing good neighborhoods for the working poor. Combining charity with capitalism, Hill worked with investors to purchase and renovate London houses. She charged tenants an affordable rent and was able to give her investors a modest return. Hill believed it was also important to teach her tenants the basics of sanitary maintenance, and she encouraged them to practice “the simple virtues that would make them better people.” Important to her plan was a close relationship between tenants and landlord – she visited them personally and employed a “friendly rent collector.” Inspired by Hill’s success, the Philadelphia women brought her methods back home. In 1896, they founded Philadelphia’s Octavia Hill Association (OHA). They purchased neglected row homes,

The basics were: renovate existing housing, build community by buying in clusters, install flushable toilets and plumbing, and clean, paint and plaster interiors that were free of germy carpets and wallpaper. As in London, a key to their success was the “friendly rent collector.” Friendly faces were rare and these rent collectors went on to become the earliest social workers in Philadelphia and London. They instructed tenants in cleanliness, sanitation, sobriety and good housekeeping. They also stressed the virtue of responsibility – making rent payments on time, working with neighbors and banding together to keep their community safe when threatened by bad influences. The two women at the forefront of the OHA in Philadelphia were Hannah Fox and Helen Parrish. Both were Quakers passionate about their work. Parrish would actually go into tenants' homes, remove liquor bottles and make sure everything else was as it should be. OHA’s first homes were in Queen Village, but they soon expanded to Germantown, Kensington, Roxborough and Manayunk. By 1929, the OHA owned 450 housing units. Their work continued in the 1980s and 1990s with expansion into North Philadelphia and Point Breeze. Some were developed for home ownership in conjunction with YouthBuild, a job-training program. Late in the 90s, OHA partnered with the Women’s Community Revitalization Project and established a family resource center at the Bancroft homes in North Philadelphia. On-site social workers help tenants with a variety of services and counseling – from budgeting to domestic abuse. The “friendly rent collector” is now an on-site property manager who helps find job training and other services.

July / August 2018 15

Our Long Industrial Slide BY AMY GRANT, PAUL LEVY AND CONRAD WEILER Here we look at the end of Philadelphia’s industrial age, the abandonment of housing in the neighborhood that would become Queen Village, and efforts by non-profits, government agencies, and private developers to revitalize the area.

1925

Franklin Sugar Refinery’s parent company closes its Front and Kenilworth location and moves those operations to other facilities.

1929

Baldwin Locomotives closes its 196-acre Broad Street campus; relocates to a new 616-acre facility in Eddystone.

1934

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is created to underwrite long-term mortgages; “redlining” begins with the denial of credit to many inner-city neighborhoods.

After earning the Progressive Architecture Award for Design, the I.M. Pei designed Society Hill Towers are inaugurated.

Over 300 residences and businesses on the east side of Front Street are demolished to make room for I-95.

Packer Avenue Marine Terminal opens, enabling Philadelphia to participate in the containerized shipping industry and rendering obsolete most of the piers along the Delaware.

1964

1966

1967

16 July / August 2018

1936

After suffering financial losses during the Great Depression, Atwater Kent closes his Philadelphia radio factory.

1946

The postwar suburban housing boom begins and is underwritten by FHA and Veteran Administration mortgages. These loans were not usually available in South Philadelphia.

1949

The American Housing Act funds the creation of public housing for families relocated due to “slum eradication.”

Rehabilitation process accelerates as several larger developers begin renovating single-family homes for resale, often evicting longtime tenants. The Housing Act of 1968 formerly ends “redlining.”

Queen Village is declared an urban renewal area; the neighborhood qualifies for funding to provide social services to low-income residents.

After decades of changing fashions and economics, the Stetson Hat Company plant in Kensington closes.

1968

1969

1971

1956

Philadelphia assumes national leadership by restoring older homes in Society Hill; the neighborhood is marketed to attract back the middle class.

Concerned citizens protest against the Southwark Housing Development Corporationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plans to develop additional federally assisted housing projects in Queen Village.

1972

1957

Two expressways are planned with routes running through South Philadelphia; property values plummet, banks cease issuing mortgages.

The 10-year abatement program provides tax breaks for renovation projects, expands in 2000 to include new construction. This spurs increased development throughout the city.

1997

1958

Mass produced and marketed, suburban Levittown opens, accelerating the process of movement to the suburbs.

1959

1961

1963

Dock Streetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wholesale Food Distribution Center relocates to South Philadelphia; the area is cleared to build the Society Hill Towers.

Non-profit Queen Village, Inc. begins rehabilitating properties to provide better housing for those already in the area.

Two of the Southwark Plaza Towers are demolished and replaced with low-rise, single-family subsidized units.

Act 135 enables court appointed conservators to rehabilitate blighted and abandoned properties for resale purposes.

The Actual Value Initiative results in citywide residential property tax increases; longtime property owner and homestead exemptions help reduce the tax burden for some residents.

Act 135 is invoked on a home owned by an elderly Queen Village resident; the property is currently being renovated.

2000

2008

2013

2017

The Philadelphia Housing Authority builds three high-rise housing projects called the Southwark Towers between 3rd and 5th and Christian and Washington.

July / August 2018 17

Boom Village BY CONRAD WEILER This article recalls how Queen Villagers in the 1970s and 1980s used the zoning process to achieve a diverse and redeveloping historical neighborhood – while minimally displacing existing residents.

In the early 1970s, Dubin Paper Company had a warehouse on Queen Street. Photo courtesy of PhillyHistory.org, a project of the Philadelphia Department of Records.

"In 1978, an L&I official said about 7 percent of all building permits issued in the entire city were in Queen Village. That’s at a time when we had less than 1 percent of the city’s population." In the early 1970’s, Queen Village became a popular place to live in Philadelphia. It appealed to people from all over: some wanted an alternative to the suburbs; some moved within the city from smaller to larger apartments; others were buying their first homes. But it was not what it has become. South Street had no chain stores, nor had it become a regional entertainment venue. St. Stan’s still had an elementary school run by Polish nuns, and lots of parishioners at the Polish Mass. Fourth Street was still a good place to go for fabrics. To get to the Delaware River, you could walk straight across Delaware Avenue. East of I-95, Dubin Paper had a warehouse. A slaughterhouse stood at Front and League. And there were still a fair number of vacant houses in the area.

movement. This made it unique from a planning perspective. Few believed redevelopment would continue beyond the downtown ring.

While substantial change seemed to be coming, only a few developed neighborhoods served as models. Society Hill was a governmentally created historic hothouse that virtually no one wanted to emulate. Washington Square West, Rittenhouse Square, and a few other neighborhoods to the north were closely intertwined with and bordered by downtown commercial areas. Queen Village was the first neighborhood beyond the “ring of neighborhoods” heavily affected by the “back to the city”

Zoning is really a complicated set of city rules about the shape and use of buildings. They’re designed to help a city develop land appropriately. Frequently, these zoning rules are out of date or inappropriate for individual parcels and buildings; at the same time, developers and property owners often want to do things not allowed by the zoning. For permission, they have to appeal successfully to the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA), which holds public hearings. Nearby residents and affected

18 July / August 2018

While no one knew how much developmental pressure was coming to Queen Village, it was obvious this pressure couldn’t be fully stopped. Also clear was the fact that if the wave of reinvestment wasn’t slowed and channeled in some way, the neighborhood would soon become totally unrecognizable. Whatever the differences between longtime and new residents, everyone had an interest in gaining some control over the development pouring in. The obvious way to do this was to use the zoning process.

neighborhood organizations may testify. The ZBA then decides whether to grant requested changes or not. After the defeat of the Crosstown Expressway, investment pressures increased. A QVNA zoning committee already handled various zoning and land-use fights. But zoning efforts would need to ramp up considerably to match the increased reinvestment. I joined the zoning committee and eventually became its chair. I was a professor at Temple University in urban studies with an interest in neighborhoods and was a new resident. And I had the schedule and interest in Queen Village to become very active. With support from the neighborhood, and especially the devoted sacrifice and service of many others, the zoning committee became a key institution in developing and governing Queen Village. At that time, there were few examples of active zoning neighborhood organizations in the city. So we developed certain practices largely on our own. Among the most important were: 1. We researched and tried to understand the actual legal zoning issues, and find ways to translate neighbors’ concerns into responses to fit legal requirements. This gave us maximum leverage with the applicant and the ZBA. However, it required not only educating ourselves on the committee, but continually educating the neighborhood, too. While the zoning code allows a range of neighborhood concerns into the zoning process, without education, neighbors may become frustrated that some of their concerns may be legally irrelevant. 2. We considered every zoning application in the neighborhood, and met with applicants early in the process to give all parties time to understand it, and negotiate when appropriate. Many neighborhoods try to pick and choose in advance what applications are “important” – usually because of limited time and resources. The problem with this approach is what’s truly important isn’t always obvious in advance. By not being comprehensive, the neighbors, the ZBA and the development community may also be confused about what the neighborhood process and goals actually are, reducing the committee’s effectiveness internally and externally. 3. We took a stand for or against every application, and tried to forge a unified neighborhood stance – which was often very difficult. Some neighborhoods had a reputation for showing up only to oppose things, for just submitting letters of “no opposition,” or seeming to represent only part of the neighborhood – all which undermined their credibility. By forming a consistent, unified view of what we wanted to do and how our stance on any specific application fit into that view, we did much of the ZBA’s work for it. The ZBA didn’t have to sort out conflicting claims – which they weren’t in a good position to evaluate anyway. By following these rules, we tried to make it easy for the ZBA to do what we wanted them to do. While people can disagree about what we asked for, we nearly always got it. It’s fortunate that we increased our efforts when we did, for the tide of reinvestment kept surging. From 1975 to 1981, the zoning committee held about 150 meetings, with about 5 cases per

A 1965 land use map used for rehabilitation purposes.

meeting – or well over 100 cases per year. In 1978, an L&I official said about 7 percent of all building permits issued in the entire city were in Queen Village. That’s at a time when we had less than 1 percent of the city’s population. Many zoning cases appearing before the ZBA came from Queen Village. When you add them to dozens of liquor license meetings at that time, one could see the avalanche of reinvestment that was occurring. One day, the entire ZBA docket was from Queen Village. So the Chair directed me to sit in the middle of the front row. Applicants came up and made their cases in turn, with me and other neighbors commenting on each application. The Chair then reserved that seat for Queen Village, sending a strong message to potential developers. Besides attending frequent, often long and contentious meetings, we had to assess what was actually going on and figure how to get the best outcome. Developers and their accompanying architects and lawyers were always in a hurry, felt that whatever they proposed was the best thing that could possibly be done and that it could not be modified. They often tried to bully or threaten the neighborhood. Fortunately, as our experience grew, we realized we didn’t have to settle for the first thing to come along. We could wait or bargain significantly for something better, and even influence the kind of project that would come to Queen Village. Some lawyers, architects and developers understood this, and treated us as equals. Those who did not take us seriously often had a bad day at the ZBA. Of course, that word spread, reinforcing our influence. One of the most important functions of the zoning committee

July / August 2018 19

was to give neighbors a forum to express their concerns, often about things that went well beyond zoning. Some could be translated into actions by developers. Others we just added to the QVNA agenda, or for handling by the office staff. By doing this, we better understood what was going on, and used the zoning process to help improve the neighborhood in many different ways. We also built support for QVNA by showing we were able to get things done. It’s difficult to compare Queen Village’s situation today with the past. Certainly the zoning process is somewhat more regularized, with Registered Community Organizations or RCO’s. Hopefully, the training the city provides today helps neighborhood zoning committees be more effective. When one looks at the current rules for RCOs and the city zoning process, one sees that much of what we and other groups did is embodied and formalized in today’s rules. A negative change is the very real threat today of lawsuits against civic groups. We occasionally were threatened, but almost never were sued. We left it to the City Solicitor to defend the ZBA and our interest. Hopefully today, something can be done to protect the First Amendment rights of neighbors “peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances” from being abridged by lawsuits. The pace of development and variances in Queen Village seems to have slowed since the 1970s. Some of this slowdown may be due to revisions to the zoning code and maps. But apparently the revisions haven’t reduced the variance load. Ironically, in the 1970s, the city’s then out-of-date zoning code and maps sometimes worked to Queen Village’s advantage. How? They sometimes forced developers to require a variance or certificate. Had the City actually believed its own planning goal from the early 1950s – to bring people back to live in the city – and zoned most of the area residential, we would have had much less control over what happened. Much of the area east of Front Street and a few scattered other areas were zoned industrial, which essentially excluded any residential and most commercial uses. Given the development trends, there were almost no applications for industrial uses in these areas, because residential development was already clearly the more profitable activity. As a result, any non-industrial use required a variance, which gave us a lot of leverage. The Zoning Board was also not really used to the idea that people and developers wanted to come back to the city. The board found what we were doing novel and interesting, and listened to us tell them what our vision was for the neighborhood. Mayor Rizzo, admittedly a highly controversial figure then and now, as far as we were concerned, gave us space to develop as we wished and generally supported what we wanted. Some zoning policies we followed: 1. Reduce the number of residential units; generally, larger developments were the easiest to get reductions to. Often, it seemed to be a game, where developers inflated the number they asked for, expecting to reduce the number and then appear to compromise. In row homes where there may have been more than one unit per floor, we generally tried to get them reduced to one per floor. We also had some success with a little-used tactic. We appealed the issuance of zoning permits across the counter without hearings. We did this where we thought the interpretation of the zoning

20 July / August 2018

code by the City of Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) zoning examiner – usually to allow expansion of non-conforming uses, (a use or structure that was legal but became non-conforming by change in the code; generally allowed to continue if not expanded or abandoned) – was questionable or undesirable, such as for converting large rooming houses to the same number of apartments, or building a large billboard at Front and Catharine. While we usually lost these battles, they put L&I on notice to be very careful about issuing zoning permits. In some cases, we supported industrial uses that were not obnoxious, such as a ship’s chandlery on the 100 block of Christian, as better than yet more dwelling units. 2. We also resisted attempts by developers to increase size or number of units by reducing yard space, as we wanted to encourage families with young children. In a day before large-scale biking was realistic, we generally insisted upon parking. But it was never enough, especially nearer to South Street, partly because curb cuts only reduce on-street parking; also, some residents with garages did not park in them, and especially because it was very difficult to get commercial establishments to provide parking. Eventually we saw that insisting on parking in new residences was counterproductive in some cases when it competed with yard space, and only ate up on-street parking. In some ways, reducing housing units made housing more expensive for lower-income tenants. But since there were many abandoned buildings in some areas; plus existing public housing, plus most rehab still did not require a zoning variance, and parking was becoming a major problem in the eastern part of Queen Village; add in the desire for more yards and open space, and other factors, and there was little choice. The alternative to the zoning committee was chaos. Also, we felt that trying to guide and slow down the process was better than nothing. At least this process gave existing residents some protection, stability and notice. In addition, the zoning committee did not work in a vacuum — QVNA secured loans and grants to help mostly long-term residents significantly improve their housing; and organized massive counterattacks on rising property tax assessments, and there were other programs, such as sticker parking that were directed to helping keep residents — especially longerterm residents — from being forced out of their homes. Ironically, even when combined with the many other programs to help existing residents, the work of the zoning committee seemed counterproductive to some extent. Going back to the Crosstown Expressway and the later I-95 ramp fights, the more the neighborhood became known for development — even for protesting development — with a zoning and neighborhood organization that was trying to promote a diverse community and neighborhood, the more people wanted to develop and live in Queen Village, increasing the flood of reinvestment. There seems to be a “herd effect” in reinvestment – most reinvestment goes where other reinvestment has already gone. If reinvestment could be spread out more evenly over the dozens of neighborhoods near the downtown, it would lessen the strains when it does occur. But there are few governmental tools for doing that, and that is not generally how markets seem to work. And ultimately, we are in a market economy.

Get To Know Your Committeepeople Promoting community engagement is QVNA’s cornerstone. That’s why in May we urged all Queen Village Members to vote in the primaries and preceded that with our “Meet Your Committeeperson Candidates” event: To help neighbors know the important role of Philly’s most local political officers – the committeepeople – and to help neighbors meet their neighbor(s) running for this office in their 4-5 block voting division. Committeepeople serve as a point of contact between the voters in a voting division and elected officials and their political parties. Committeepeople are volunteers and receive no taxpayer-funded compensation. They are considered party officers – not public officials or government employees. Here are your recently elected committeepeople:

Ward 2 Division 1 1 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27

DEMOCRATIC PARTY Committeeperson

Division

Joan Duckenfield Honey A Polis Ellen L. Greenberg Joni Lipson George Donnelly Kimberly Washington Shelley Aragoncillo Laurie Leas Goldenberg Sara Jennings Caroline Tiger Carol A. Purfield George Sparta Nikil Saval David J. Coughlin Kerry Milch Rebecca Makuen Chad Dixon Heather Atkinson Grace Colleen Puckett William Gross Amy Gershenfeld Donella Nancy Brokaw

1 1 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27

REPUBLICAN PARTY Committeeperson Gregory Mester Elizabeth Mester John Donato Mark R. Hong Avery I. Sinclair III Joshua L. Novotney Paul Laskow Michael Saggio Donna M. Saggio Domenick Lazzaro, Jr. Scott Pello Mike Seidenberg Diedre Crowley Susan Jass -

Ward 5 DEMOCRATIC PARTY Division Committeeperson 4 4 18 18

Jan Bruckner Gaylord Holder Elizabeth W. Fox Jan Stephano

REPUBLICAN PARTY Division Committeeperson 4 4 18 18

Political Ward Divisions in Queen Village

0504 0518 0225

0226

0224

0227 0216

0217 0212

0215

0213

0214 0201

Craig Charlton Constance Q. Yetke Matt J. Borowsky Michael A. Cibik

QUEEN VILLAGE REPAIRS

Carpentry Plumbing Electrical HVAC Property Management

www.qvrepairs.com

215.VILLAGE (215.845-5243)

July / August 2018 21 21

Signs You May Lose Your Property To Act 135 BY EDWIN RIVERA When I first met her I knew she was a “True American, a Good American.” No one had to tell me that. I had read it on the handmade sign taped to the window of her house. That was about 15 years ago, and over the years I got to know her both as that good American and as a wonderful neighbor. Every time I saw her on the street she was very friendly and talkative. She lived alone and was fiercely independent. But there were a few occasions when other neighbors and I would do things for her, like shovel snow, pull the ivy vines off her house, change light bulbs and other simple tasks. She recently moved into assisted living, and when I visited her she seemed happy to see me and eager to talk about her new home. Even though she remembered much of the past and reminisced about the old neighborhood, her memory was failing her. We had lots to talk about, but after an hour into our conversation, she asked me, “Who are you?” I was the neighbor who had noticed the signs on her house, like The Proud American sign. Then, about a year ago, I saw a new sign on her door, a Lis Pendens. It was notice that a lawsuit had been filed against her house. Using Act 135, The Abandoned and Blighted Proper t y Conservationship Act, a local developer petitioned the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for control of my neighbor’s home. I had heard of this legal action and was concerned. I knew of instances where Act 135 had been used to force owners to either defend their ownership or relinquish control of their properties. Here I’ve tried to outline what I understand of Act 135. If you ever feel that you or someone you know may be involved with this legal action, I urge you to contact a real estate lawyer to make certain everyone’s interests will be represented. Act 135 is meant to help communities suffering from blighted properties that have been abandoned. The citizens who own property near substandard properties are adversely affected. Abandoned properties may become a safety threat and diminish property values in the neighborhood. If a building deteriorates beyond rehabilitation, it may need to be demolished at a cost to taxpayers. If the owner of a building fails to maintain the property in accordance with municipal Codes and Standards of the public welfare or safety, the Court of Common Pleas can appoint a conservator to correct violations. It starts when a Party of Interest files a petition in a court for the appointment of a Conservator to take possession of and rehabilitate an abandoned property. This person must have a direct interest in the property. The Party in Interest could be:

• The owner • A lienholder 22 July / August 2018

• A non-profit • A resident or business within 2,000 feet of the property • A Party of Interest can also be a municipality or school district where the building is located.

The petitioner must provide the following to the court:

• A sworn statement that the property meets the conditions for a Conservatorship

• Copies of citations charging the owner with Municipal Code violations

• A recommendation for the person or entity to be appointed as Conservator

• A preliminary plan for rehabilitation that includes cost estimates and funding

• A schedule of mortgages, liens and other encumbrances on the property

• Notification of owner, political subdivisions and lienholders When filing, the petitioner must post a copy of the Lis Pendens, a written notice that a lawsuit has been filed concerning real estate, involving either the title to the property or a claimed ownership. The Petitioner is also required to notify the following by certified mail:

• The current owner of the property • Political subdivisions in which the property is located • Municipal authorities that have provided service to the lienholders

In order for a property to be considered for Conservationship, it must meet the following criteria:

• Not legally occupied for 12 months • Not listed for sale in the past 60 days • The property is not in foreclosure • The owner has had the property for longer than 6 months Once appointed, the Conservator takes possession. The Conservator is required to make necessary repairs and correct violations. The house can then be sold and money from the sale distributed to all those involved in the process. How money is distributed from the sale of the repaired home:

• The Conservator gets 20% of the sale price • The Petitioner and Conservator are “made whole,” their legal fees paid

• The Conservator gets 25% markup on cost of goods and services used in the rehabilitation

• Back taxes are paid off • Mortgage and any Liens are paid off • After paying all these debts, the owner receives the remainder.

My neighbor’s situation was very complicated, and in hindsight, I wish I could have done more for her years ago. After learning

about her situation and Act 135, I decided to make certain her interests were represented. I petitioned the court to be an Intervenor in the case. An Intervenor is “a party of interest” who is permitted to present evidence to support or contest the petition. With the support of many from Queen Village, I tried to make sure that my neighbor’s interests were also voiced. I attended a QVNA board meeting, where I informed the board of the action taken against my neighbor’s home and requested that they support me acting as an Intervenor in her case. I received a letter expressing their interests regarding Act 135, which I submitted to the court. I also spoke to the Historic Commission to express concern about the property possibly being demolished. They were helpful and after studying the case assured me that they would not support a request for demolition. At the first court hearing I sat and listened, assuming that there was nothing that could be done to keep my neighbor from losing control of her house. The Petitioner presented a strong case, portraying the building as blighted and qualifying for Conservationship under Act 135. At the end of the first hearing, I was allowed to speak. While I could not oppose the Conservationship, I simply stated that I did not agree with characterization of my neighbor’s home. Yes, the old house had seen better days, but it was far from the hazardous structure that was described. Several hours later, the Conservator had keys to the new lock on my neighbor’s front door. Several months passed and after some delay the Conservator was scheduled to present detailed construction plans to the court for approval. I was looking forward to learning how the house would be fixed up. Instead, a few days before the hearing, I noticed a new sign, “For Sale.” At this second hearing, the Conservator testified that he had cleaned out the house and stabilized the structure. He had listed the home, given walk-throughs and received an offer he was considering. As the Intervenor, I testified that the house looked worse. The exterior had been damaged, windows were boarded up and the roof had not been repaired. I also pointed out, like other construction projects in our neighborhood, this property could sit neglected for years, continuing to deteriorate if sold “as is.” The Judge heard all the testimony then ruled that the Conservator could not sell the house in its current condition. The Conservator was obligated to make repairs and rehabilitate the property in a timely manner, consistent with Act 135 and the plans they had presented. Today the house sits empty. Construction should start soon. Many more month may pass before I can offer a real ending to this story. I’m hopeful, however, that it goes well for my neighbor and her family. I intend to visit her at the nursing home to say, “Hi.” She will probably have many interesting stories to share. If she asks, I will tell her how well her house was fixed up and how good it looks. She’ll be glad to learn the windows are fixed and the roof no longer leaks. Almost apologetically she had once said to me, “You know, I did all I could to take care of my home, I loved that house.” July / August 2018 23

Kids And Volunteering: How To Get Involved BY HILARY YOUNG Volunteering your time to a good cause is something everyone should do – at all ages. Research has actually linked donating your time to help others to leading a happier, healthier life for yourself. Volunteering keeps you more socially connected and can help ward off depression and loneliness. One of the greatest aspects of raising children in Queen Village is the wonderful sense of community, thanks, in part, to all of the neighbors who volunteer their time to make this neighborhood greener, safer and cleaner for all of us to enjoy. For those of you who would like your children to experience the joy of helping others, but don’t know where to start, have no fear; I’ve done the research for you. There are opportunities both close to home and within the greater community that children of various ages can enjoy: Local Queen Village Parks www.qvna.org From Weccacoe Playground, to Mario Lanza Park, to Shot Tower, Queen Village is lucky to be blessed with so much open space for children (and dogs). But it takes a little bit of work to maintain the parks, and that’s where the opportunity for you and your kids to get involved comes into play. Every season, there are volunteer days available to neighbors of all ages to clean up, replant, and further beautify our parks. Keep an eye on your inbox, as the QVNA sends email updates about organized volunteer days for area parks. Family-Friendly 5K Races Although it might not seem like a volunteer opportunity, signing the whole family up for a 5K race to support a good cause is a great way to start a dialogue with your little ones about what it means to give back and help others. Not to mention, it’s a healthy way to spend a Sunday morning! UpParent has an updated list of family-friendly runs for this summer and fall: www.upparent.com/ lists/philly-s-favorite-kid-friendly-races-and-fun-runs-list-rJGVioodZ Youth Volunteer Corps www.yvcphiladelphia.org The Youth Volunteer Corps is essentially a matchmaker. They identify Philadelphia communities in need of various services and then pair kid volunteers between the ages of 11 and 18 with volunteer opportunities. According to their website, their “projects are planned with learning objectives and skill development in mind to help youth understand the impact of their service” and provide them with the knowledge they need for future success. Habitat For Humanity www.habitatphiladelphia.org For those looking for a real hands-on volunteer experience,

Bill Grubb, Associate Broker 610-220-6203 direct . 610-649-4500 office Bill.Grubb@foxroach.com www.grubbadvantage.com For a Free Market Snapshot of House Values go to BestPhillyHomeValues.com

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24 July / August 2018

A young Queen Village resident helps recycle trees.

Habitat for Humanity is a wonderful way to give back to the community in a meaningful way. The organization is the largest nonprofit homebuilder in the world, and aims to build and repair homes for Philadelphians in need. Although they require that their young volunteers be a minimum age of 16, they will not allow anyone under the age of 18 to use power tools or work more than 10 feet off the ground. Still, they need volunteers who can tackle everything from demolition, to landscaping and painting, as long as you don’t mind getting your hands dirty. Philabundance www.philabundance.org Philadelphia’s largest hunger relief organization, Philabundance collects and distributes food to 90,000 people in need every week. Regular volunteer opportunities with Philabundance have age limits – they’ll allow 14-year-olds to come with an older family member and 16-year-olds to come unaccompanied. They do, however, have a Family Night once a month open to families with children as young as 8.

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More Than Just May Flowers BY DONNA PANCARI Everyone loves bouquets of spring flowers – cheerful daffodils and tulips that pop up reliably as soon as the weather turns warm, ready to be cut and brought inside by the handful. But with a little planning, you can continue to grow your own cut flowers from late spring through the fall. The list below contains both perennial choices and seed options, all of which grow easily in full sun in garden plots or planters.

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PERENNIALS Peonies If you find yourself missing spring bulb flowers as soon as they are gone, you need a peony plant. A perennial bush that dies back every winter, a peony plant will begin growing again in early spring and produce perfect large blooms on long stems from May to June. They do tend to bloom all at once, but they are stunning in a large bundle. Our small peony plant reliably gives us about 15 or so a season. Poppies While varieties of poppies can also easily be grown from seed, a perennial oriental poppy plant will help fill the gap before late summer flowers with exotic and delicate blooms in an array of sizes. They aren’t exceptionally long-lasting when cut, but their unique look makes up for it, and one plant will grow larger and produce from spring into summer for many years.

but you will get a prolific variety of yellow and orange blooms that are both edible and medicinal. Think of these for your bud vases, and pair them with sprigs of mint or sage for an entirely edible arrangement.

5 Zinnia Just about perfect as a summer-cut flower, zinnias can be sown in late spring through the summer, and come in endless colors and varieties. Some do grow tall, but you can encourage a bushier plant by pinching off the tips as they grow, and more blooms by regularly cutting flowers and deadheading as necessary. They are long lasting once cut, and can be dried to harvest seeds for next year.

Echinacea A beautiful purple or pink variety of daisy, echinacea will begin blooming in late spring and continue through early fall. You could of course dry the flowers for tea, but with their long stems they are ideal for cutting. They are also native to North America and an excellent pollinator.

6 Sunflower There’s a reason every elementary school seed growing experiment involves a sunflower. Plant one and it will grow. You’ll have to wait a while for the blooms, but once they come in late summer, they’ll last well into the fall. Choose your variety carefully here to suit your space – sunflowers come as small as three inches in diameter or as large as soccer balls. You’ll want the larger sized heads for seeds, but the small and medium ones are just about the loveliest fall cut flowers you’ll find.

SEED Calendula These little plants are quick to grow and bloom long into the fall. Don’t expect exceptionally long stems or large flowers,

No time or space to grow flowers for your home? Almost all the options above, and many more, are available at the Headhouse Farmers’ Market. Several produce vendors occasionally bring cut flowers, and of course Longview Flowers offers both simple bunches and beautiful arrangements.

Old Pine Street Church Established 1768

Where History, Faith, Message, Music & Fellowship intersect at 412 Pine Street Sunday Worship 10:30am 215-925-8051 www.oldpine.org

R.ChobeRt Painting Residential | Commercial | Interior | Exterior www.rchobertpainting.com Michael Chobert

Creating Beauty Since 1967

215-389-7788 Fax 215-755-6655 rchobertpainting@aol.com 641 Reed Street, Phila. PA 19147

July / August 2018 25

Childhood Lead Exposure BY KATIE LOCKWOOD, MD There’s increasing evidence that we need to be concerned about lead exposure in our urban homes. As parents, there are many things we can do to reduce our children’s lead exposure. First, if your home was built before 1978, you should test your home for lead. You can call the state health department at 1-800-440LEAD for a list of local lead inspectors. If you rent, your landlord should provide you with information about lead testing before you sign the lease. The Philadelphia Lead and Healthy Homes website has information about landlord responsibilities and tenant rights. If your home does have lead, you will want to safely remove it by hiring a certified lead abatement contractor. If you do not remove lead correctly, your children can be exposed to lead through the construction dust. Even without lead in your home, children can be exposed to lead from their environment. Lead dust has been found on playgrounds and near construction sites. You should make sure everyone removes their shoes before entering your home to avoid tracking lead-contaminated dust or soil into your home, where children play and crawl on the floor. Furthermore, you can clean play areas with a damp mop at least weekly to remove any dust. Older children should wash their hands when coming in from outside play and before eating. Since lead dissolves more readily in hot water, use cold water to cook, drink, or prepare formula. Lead can also hide in your home in cosmetic jewelry, pottery, dollar store toys, antique furniture, or imported folk medicines. Children are routinely screened and tested for lead between 6-12 months of age and again at 18-24 months of age. Certain high-risk children should be screened again between 3-6 years of age. Since even mildly elevated lead levels are a causal risk for diminished intellectual abilities, higher rates of neurobehavioral disorders (such as ADHD) and lower birth weight, prevention is important. If your child does have an elevated lead level, eating a diet rich in iron, calcium, and Vitamin C can help reduce the body’s absorption of ingested lead. Foods that contain iron include seafood, red meat, legumes, lentils, spinach, peas, and fortified cereals. Calcium-rich foods include dairy products and certain vegetables, including broccoli, spinach, kale, and collard greens. Citrus, melon, berries, bell peppers, tomatoes, and leafy green vegetables are rich in Vitamin C. Your pediatrician may start an iron supplement or other treatments, depending on the degree

of elevation. Pediatricians closely monitor and trend elevated lead levels to ensure that they decline as environmental and dietar y interventions are started. The city will also help look for the source of lead to prevent further exposure. Unfortunately, the long-term effects of lead toxicity are not reversible, making it crucial that we address environmental sources of lead that put our children at risk. The above is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute as medical advice for any particular patient.

Vive the

n o i t u l o v e r lunch Open for Lunch

Now serving every day!

26 July / August 2018

848 S 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19147 | luckyslastchance.com

Summer Streaming 2018 BY PIERS MARCHANT So, yeah, sure, the multiplexes are all bursting at the seams with big-hype new releases seemingly every week, featuring more attempted tentpoles than an REI outlet. But if all of that seems too daunting to sort out, I’m not going to blame you. Instead, maybe take a couple of weeks off and don’t sweat the big-screen stuff for a while. Here’s a solid handful of what you can find on major streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime over the next few weeks, and watch from the comfort of your own living room.

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NETFLIX 1

13th (2016): Ava DuVernay’s excellent documentary concerns the 13th Amendment, which states that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States….” A description that, as the film makes painstakingly clear in the era of prison privatization, simply isn’t upheld. With 25% of the world’s incarcerated prisoners (and only 5% of the world’s population), the U.S. is the undisputed prison capital of earth, and, unsurprisingly, straight capitalism is only part of the reason.

Tangerine (2015): Before striking big with last year’s excellent The Florida Project, Sean Baker made this micro-budget indie (shot entirely on iPhones) that became a veritable sensation at Sundance. The story involves a transgender sex worker searching the streets of L.A. to find the boyfriend pimp who has broken her heart. It sounds like dour stuff, but in the hands of the impish Baker, it becomes surprisingly spry and generous.

Faces Places (2017): Pairing a legendary 88-year-old Belgian director with a 31-year-old French hipster artist and muralist seems mighty incongruent, but in Agnés Varda’s doc, the aged auteur meets up with the youthful JR, and the two embark on a tour of the French countryside, talking about their craft, the philosophies of their art, and making some of JR’s instant photo-murals in the process. It might sound dry, but I assure you it’s anything but.

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AMAZON PRIME 4

Lady Bird (2017): Greta Gerwig made a triumphant directorial debut with her Best Picture-nominated comedy about a teen (Saoirse Ronan) trying to reinvent herself during her senior year of high school, and contending with her austere mother (Laurie Metcalf) in the process. While it may sound like welltread territory, in Gerwig’s capable hands, the film speaks with great specificity what it was to come of age in the immediate post-9/11 era.

Beatriz at Dinner (2017): Screenwriter Mike White (School of Rock, Chuck & Buck) specializes in what you might call slightly off-putting, awkward-pause comedies, but here, he takes his earnest, earth-loving heroine (Salma Hayek) and pits her against her polar opposite, a Trumpian-overlord tycoon (John Lithgow) who represents her personal and political anathema at a dinner party hosted by one of her massage clients, and you can feel the full burn of White’s conviction. You can say the sparks fly, before things take a turn for the definite surreal.

Moonlight (2017): Barry Jenkins won an unexpected Best Picture award (after famously not winning it seconds before) for this deeply felt coming-of-age drama concerning a gay African-American male growing up in a rough section of Miami, whom we see at three separate crucial junctures of his life: First, as a young boy, trying to understand the concept of gayness; then as a troubled teen trying to come to grips with his emotional self; and finally, emerging out of prison as a young man, still searching for connection. Nothing less than ravishing in its emotion.

July / August 2018 27

A Queen Village Treasure: Harry Azoff BY MARC HOLMES III

Harry Azoff, a self-taught artist, poses in front of one of his stained glass creations. Photo by Judith McCarthy

Harry developed a love for music as a child. He often entertains neighbors in his living room. Photo by Marc Holmes III

For many of us, individual significant accomplishments in life end at retirement. Our work careers over, we look to the remaining days as our time. No more nine-to-five workdays. Our vacation time extends to months and years. Retirement is a time for leisure. For others, the drumbeat of life intensifies even after formal work-life ends. Harry Azoff is in the latter category. A World War II wounded veteran, Harry, at 93, co-wrote a play – “Hospicetality” – which was performed at Pennsylvania Hospital; he regularly hosts gatherings of neighbors at music performances. Harry on the harmonica joins his guitar-playing music therapist. Notably, whatever he does and however many friends he has, Harry lives an independent life as a widower. If Queen Village had a mayor, it would have to be Harry Azoff. He has lived in Queen Village since 1978. Harry moved here with his wife Hilda, from a Philadelphia suburb, initially settling in Society Hill Towers. Given the option of buying their unit when the Towers changed from rentals to condominiums, Harry and Hilda opted for single-family home ownership. As Harry tells the story, it was as simple as taking a walk in Queen Village. He and Hilda spotted a house for sale that needed a lot of work, but would eventually meet their needs. With their two sons away at college, Hilda and Harry decided this was a project they could accomplish. They went at it full bore – which meant investing their entire savings in their new home. Harry’s work as a jeweler in a shop on Philadelphia’s Jewelers’ Row and the effort needed to renovate their new home meant long workdays and work weekends for both Harry and Hilda. Finally, with renovations complete Hilda and Harry settled into the drumbeat of life in Queen Village. Hilda and Harry shared a love for music and theater. A yearly trip to New York City to take in the latest Broadway hit, such as “The Most Happy Fella” by Frank Loesser — Harry’s favorite 28 July / August 2018

musical because of its infectious and witty music — was essential. According to Harry, a piano was a necessary fixture in their household. He readily credits Hilda as being the much better pianist, who could look at a song’s sheet music and play it flawlessly the first time. Harry’s musical talent was on the harmonica. His love for it began at age nine, when he saw his sister’s boyfriend play a harmonica while courting her. Harry asked his mother for one. His mother agreed to pay half the $9.50 cost if Harry would earn the rest. Today, that same harmonica costs about $500. From the $2.00 he earned weekly for delivering laundry to college students, Harry gave $1.00 to his mother for the harmonica. A lesson learned from this, that Harry still lives by, is to save from your earnings towards your future wants. Besides his musical talents, Harry has created stained glass works of art that adorn his house. He is a self-taught artist – who was inspired to do stained glass when he saw a class practicing and thought it was something he would enjoy. He recently gave his tools to his only grandson, who has decided to learn the craft and now consults with Harry for advice. For a change of pace from doing stained glass, Harry took up oil painting. Prominent among the many portraits of Harry’s is one of his mother-in-law and one of his late wife Hilda. Harry often expresses a desire to have a dog. But aware of his limitations at age 93, he settles for greeting dogs and their owners as they pass by his house. It is no accident that Harry is much beloved by his many friends and neighbors here in Queen Village. A recent standing-room only performance at Philadelphia Java House, with Harry joining his former music therapist Molly Hicks his and current music therapist Jenny Borgwardt, was testimony to the love and esteem his friends feel for Harry Azoff, a Queen Village treasure.

?? Gloria

Dei Church (Old Swedes')

BY JIM MURPHY FAST FACTS Name: Gloria Dei (Old Swedes' Church) Address: 916 Swanson Street, Phila., PA 19147 Built: 1698 to 1703 Website: old-swedes.org Phone: 215-389-1513 Marker Location: North facade of bldg., near Christian St. & Christopher Columbus Blvd. ??

Copy on Marker: Oldest church in Philadelphia. Founded, 1677, by Swedish settlers. This edifice of Swedish architectural design was erected, 1698-1703. The earlier place of worship was a blockhouse.

The first time I ever saw ship models suspended over a central church aisle was at Gloria Dei. I thought placing models there was unusual. But it made sense. The Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel safely brought Swedes some 3,700 nautical miles across the ocean to America on four-month voyages. So I would honor them, too. Donated to the church in 1938, the models commemorated the Swedes' first visit in 1638. Gloria Dei (or Old Swedes' Church), the oldest in Pennsylvania, was consecrated in 1700. Its predecessor, a modified blockhouse owned by Sven Svenson, was completed in 1677 at Wicaco. The current building's style mixes gothic and medieval influences – constructed by Philadelphia builders trained in the English craft guild tradition.

Interesting Oddities • The Swedes preferred water travel over roads, and located all their residences near "the freshes of the rivers," says "Historic Tales of Olden Times." The result: when churchgoers assembled at Gloria Dei on the Lord's Day, you would see "quite a squadron of boats along the river side there." (The river was closer to the church then.) • Some parishioners with a long commute wanted the church to be at Passyunk, rather than Wicaco. Fortunately, when names were placed in a hat, Wicaco won. • Only a few parishioners could come to church in winter, wrote Pastor Andreas Rudman. Those in New Jersey could "not come without being in gravest peril from floating ice" which "sometimes breaks large boats right in two. The ice lies piled up on capes and islands in mountainous heaps. Who in Sweden would believe this!"

The original brick building was 30 feet wide, 60 feet long and 20 feet high. A tower was completed in 1703. But when the weight of the steep, sloping roof (with 18,000 cedar shingles) began to bow the walls in 1704, a sacristy and vestibule were added for support.

The church was designated a National Historic Site in 1942. To protect it, the National Park Service purchased land around the property and began demolishing nearby buildings.

The last major changes came in 1846: the floor was raised, balconies and a center pulpit added and a stained glass window – one of the first in the country – installed.

On July 1, 1944, a leased warehouse, temporarily storing varnish, oil and other flammable materials for the war effort, caught fire.

Inside you will find a massive baptismal font created in 1731; wood carvings of two cherubs with wings spreading above the Bible; and a large chandelier donated by Swedish sculptor Carl Miles. Outside is an early lightning rod, probably courtesy of Ben Franklin, and a historic burial ground.

Even though wooden trim on the church was scorched and blistered, and a foot of debris covered the churchyard, The Living Church, a national weekly newsletter, says Gloria Dei "was miraculously saved" by favorable winds and skilled firemen.

The Hook & Hastings organ at Gloria Dei is larger than the church needs. Why? The company wanted to showcase its products in the region.

Sound advice is inscribed on Gloria Dei's bell, which moved here from the first settlement at Tinicum. "I to the living call, and to the grave do summon all."

Gloria Dei, the state's oldest church, served as the Swedish Lutheran Church for over 150 years. It's been part of the Episcopal Church for 173 years.

Note: This is the last in our series on 12 Pennsylvania Historical Markers in Queen Village. Now we'll move on to those in nearby communities.

Fire strikes near Gloria Dei

July / August 2018 29

Queen Village Remembers John Liedman BY COLLEEN PUCKETT John and Julie were instrumental in preser ving and developing properties in the neighborhood, most notably, the old Ralston schoolhouse located at American and Bainbridge Streets. But it was really as QVNA zoning chair that John left his mark. Brilliant and mercurial, John oversaw development in Queen Village just as it was becoming a “hot” neighborhood. It was not unusual for John to host weekly zoning meetings, month after month, to keep up with the demand. From neighbors who wanted to build rooftop decks to politically connected developers who were seeking to build large scale behemoths (think Dockside Apartments), John steered the zoning committee and the neighborhood through many tough decisions. He worked tirelessly side by side with me and Frank Gontowski, former QVNA liquor committee chair, to help create the QVNA parking lot, which today sustains the operations of QVNA.

Neighbors remember John Liedman as "a force of nature" who "truly helped Queen Village [during] his years of service."

John Liedman, longtime Queen Village resident, developer, community activist and former Queen Village Neighbors Association board member and zoning committee chair, died February 2. In recent years, John was Democratic judge of elections in Ward 2, Division 26 of the neighborhood. There, he worked alongside his wife, Julie, who served as Democratic ward committeeperson for four terms, from 2002 until this past May. (Julie continues to be majority inspector.)

Beyond all this, though, John was a character. He was wickedly funny, a contrarian who delighted in turning conventional wisdom on its head. For years, he was a regular at the Friday morning coffee klatch at Famous Deli, where he would join zoning attorneys, neighborhood activists, local politicians and city officials to dissect the issues of the day. You could often catch him in the neighborhood walking the family mastiff, Rose, and after Rose died, Ike the English cocker spaniel. When John bumped into a friend for conversation, Rose would sigh heavily and ease herself down onto the sidewalk. She knew she'd be down for a spell. John leaves a large hole in the colorful fabric that makes up our neighborhood. We will not see the likes of him again.

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ADVERTISE IN QVNA MAGAZINE LEGAL SERVICES MARV FACTOR, ESQ. "I make house calls" • Legal Matters • Real Estate • Landlord/Tenant Issues • Property Management • Construction Management mfactor@lawyerfactor.com 215.370.4231

Our Award-Winning Magazine is distributed to 3500 households and businesses in Queen Village. We offer 11 different sizes for full-color artwork plus classified ads. To learn more, visit qvna.org/advertising

News And Notes

Photo by Marc Holmes III

On June 14 at our General Meeting and Volunteer Celebration, we honored the many volunteers who help make Queen Village a great place to live. Many thanks to Famous 4th Street Deli, For Pete's Sake, New Wave Cafe, Pietro's Pizzeria, Little Italy 2, and Yards Brewing Co. for donating food and beverages. Are you a Philly home owner without a working fire alarm? If so, please call 311 to request one, free from the City of Philadelphia. Here are some tips for enjoying a safe summer in Queen Village: • Attend a public safety meeting with our 3rd District Police Leaders. These meetings take place on the first

and second Wednesdays of each month. For times and locations, visit qvna.org. • Have an outside security camera? Join the Philly Police SafeCam Network by visiting safecam.phillypolice.com. Rest easier knowing you’ve done your part to help our Police protect you, your family and your neighbors. • Get to know your neighbors. The better you know your neighbors, the more likely you’ll look out for each other. Swap phone numbers. Tell someone when you’ll be on vacation. Ask a neighbor to remove weekly circulars from your stoop (so that you do not inadvertently “advertise” Old Swedes_QVNA Ad_July-August-2018-v1.pdf 1 6/12/18 11:15 that you’re not at home).

QVNA HELPS MAKE QUEEN VILLAGE SAFER

O L D

Your tax-deductible contribution to QVNA helps support the ongoing operations of the South Street Police Detail and the Mini-Station, and so much more. Please support us at QVNA.org/donate or send a check payable to: QVNA P.O. Box 63763 Philadelphia, PA 19147

CMY

S W E D E S’

Sunday Service with Eucharist 10:00am Tuesday Evensong—A quiet service of meditation, song & prayer 6:30pm Dream Study Workshop

Saturday, July 21, 9:00am – 12:00pm

Learn from the wisdom within you! What are your dreams trying to tell you? All are welcome to this FREE seminar. Space is limited, so RSVP to patcashman2010@gmail.com. Moving into Summer Mode— When summer comes we see less of each other. Some schedules change, some folks travel, some are at the shore most weekends. If you are not able to attend Sunday service at Gloria Dei during the summer, for whatever reason, consider coming to the quiet service of Evensong on Tuesday evenings at 6:30PM so we can stay connected through the summer. Columbus Blvd. & Christian Street, Phila • 215-389-1513 • www.old-swedes.org

July / August 2018 31

KATHY, PATRICK AND THE

July/August 2018

www.conwayteam.com

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QVNA Magazine (July/August 2018)

Articles inside

A Queen Village Treasure: Harry Azoff