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Where’s the money for Philly parks?

Renters go on strike to end junk fees

PRINT OR BUST: Grid’s new plan

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p. 22

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NOVEMBER 2026 / ISSUE 210 / GRIDPHILLY.COM

TO WA R D A S U S TA I N A B L E P H I L A D E L P H I A

METAL DETECTOR District testing finds lead in school kitchen taps used for prepping kids’ meals

A grassroots photography book By Philadelphians for Philadelphians

***for more info & to order ***

phillyincolor.org “This book unfolds like a beating heart, each picture another pulse of life.” -Peter Barberie, Curator of Photographs Philadelphia Museum of Art “This book is like a spell, a visual series of incantations that will bring Philadelphia to life for you.” -Tre Johnson, author, Black Genius: Essays on an American Legacy

PHILADELPHIA IN COLOR 1950-1990 Hidden City Philadelphia

N OV E M B E R 20 26

G R I DP HI LLY.COM

PUBLI SHE R’S NOTES

publisher Alex Mulcahy associate editor & distribution Timothy Mulcahy tim@gridphilly.com editor Julia Lowe art director Michael Wohlberg writers Marilyn Anthony Kyle Bagenstose Bernard Brown Constance Garcia-Barrio Rusty Gorelick Tasso Hartzog Randy LoBasso Julia Lowe photographers Jess Benjamin Andrea Cipriani Mecchi Tasso Hartzog Julia Lowe Linette Messina Tracie van Auken illustrators Cindy Lozito published by Red Flag Media 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 215.625.9850

by alex mulcahy

In Agreement

hat’s the opposite of doomscrolling? Maybe joyscrolling? Whatever the right term is, I’ve been doing it. If I could sign up for an alert after every vote was counted in Mississippi’s senatorial race, I probably would. Even as my spirits are being buoyed by a Blue Wave, I’m trying to assess what this all means, to neither overestimate or underestimate the results. What’s the lesson here? Is it that we’ve learned an openly corrupt, racist and anti-democratic candidate/party can gain and maintain control of our government as long as gas prices are affordable? I hope not, but it’s safe to say that the delusion that “Americans are better than that” is long gone. Maybe it’s that it’s easier to react to what we don’t want. We don’t want to cede our democracy to titans of tech. We don’t want corporations to unleash artificial intelligence that can threaten our environment, our economy and our species. Most of us don’t want war, and no one wants a noisy, resource-intensive eyesore data center in their neighborhood. Across the country, nearly every data center moratorium on Tuesday’s ballot passed. So it looks like we found some things we can agree on! On a local level, it’s not negotiable whether kids should be exposed to lead when they go to school. In 2022, the School District of Philadelphia made significant steps in the right direction when it began replacing every water fountain in the district with filtered hydration stations. They determined it was taking too long to test each fountain to see if it needed a filter and then install them. They decided to play it safe and to act proactively. Clearly, this is the same approach that should be taken with all water sources in the school, including the kitchens and nurses’ offices. The water that cafeteria staff use to wash fruits and vegetables for students’ lunches, or that nurses use to scrub up before taking a temperature, should be monitored with the same vigilance as the water in drinking fountains. It’s not worth risking the health of our children.

G R I D P H I L LY. C O M

a l e x m u l ca h y , Publisher

GR ID P H IL LY.CO M

NOVEM BE R 20 26

COV E R IL LUSTRATIO N BY CIN DY LOZI TO

PRINT or

BUST We have a new plan. Grid will NOT transition to an all-digital newsroom. Grid will either survive as a print publication, or it will cease to exist. That decision was reached after hearing feedback from our readers, some of whom emailed us, some of whom we spoke to at farmers markets. Not a single person was excited about this “new direction” we announced last month. Your feelings reflected ours. Either we exist in the physical world or we walk away. We feel good about this. Print is a pleasure, a respite from a relentless digital world. When your new issue arrives and you get cozy on your couch with a coffee or tea, you do it on your terms. We don’t spy on you and tell corporate vultures what your preferences are. It’s a one-on-one analog experience, a physical canvas for words, photos and illustrations that you can enjoy privately. We don’t want to be one more app or website vying for your eyes on a screen. Unfortunately, romantic feelings about print do not change our financial realities. The business model of providing a free regional magazine supported solely by advertisers isn’t going to magically return. To survive, we need our readers’ support and we simultaneously need to deliver enough value to our existing advertisers. We’re walking a pretty fine line. Beginning in January, we plan to have a hybrid model where we rely primarily on subscribers while still providing some copies of Grid at select locations for free distribution. To thread this needle, we adjusted our goals. They are, admittedly, high. We need readers to commit at one of two levels. To keep print going, we need 600 additional subscribers to pay $10 a month (or $99 a year.) We also need 54 sponsors willing to offset the costs of distribution to each of the public libraries at $20 a month (or $199 a year.) Libraries are anchors of the community and our democracy, they are in every Philadelphia neighborhood, and we think it’s important for Grid to be there. I recognize this is a pretty big request, but this is what we need to make it work. Our deadline to reach these goals will be March 15, 2027. At the very least, there will be four additional print issues of Grid. We will keep you updated on our progress along the way. In the meantime, I will be savoring every issue, and I hope you do too. Sincerely,

TO SUPPORT US, PLEASE VISIT STORE.GRIDPHILLY.COM N OV E M B E R 20 26

G R I DP HI LLY.COM

sponsored content

For many local solar trainees, the first job is a roof installation like that on Connor Barwin’s home, which he personally helped the Solar States crew with.

Eagle On The Roof

Former NFL linebacker helps install his own solar array, alongside a green-collar crew by micah gold-markel

hiladelphia Eagles executive Connor Barwin is known for two things: chasing down quarterbacks — he had 14.5 sacks for the Birds in 2014 — and improving the region. Through his Make the World Better Foundation, he’s rebuilt public parks and rec spaces in the neighborhoods that needed them most. So when he decided to make his own home more sustainable, he did it the way he does everything — locally and hands-on. We were honored when Barwin chose Solar States for the installation. We’re a Philadelphia-born, certified B Corp installer, rooted here since 2008. And the thing that struck Barwin wasn’t the hardware going up. It was the people putting it up. “I met Micah [Gold-Markel], who started Solar States a number of years ago,” he says. “He was hiring people from YouthBuild Philly, giving people good jobs in a growing industry. But honestly, the coolest part about

being here today is to meet the people who are actually doing these jobs. There were 10 people here — I got to know some of their stories. They’re earning livable wages. They’re part of this new, growing green economy.” That’s the part of solar most homeowners never see — and it’s the part we built our company around. Our mission is a dual one: put solar on roofs and open a door to the green-collar economy for Philadelphians. Our Training Academy in Bridesburg trains the next generation of local installers — many of whom start on rooftops just like Barwin’s. On install day, Barwin put on a hard hat, climbed up with our crew and helped set all 28 modules on his roof. “I’ve always wanted to put solar on my roof,” Barwin told us the day our crew pulled up to his Philadelphia home. “One of the final steps in our renovation is installing solar.”

Then he landed on the thing that clearly meant the most to him. “You hear people talk about all these new jobs with solar. Well, I put solar on my roof. I showed up today and there were 10 people doing a one-day install. And tomorrow they’ll go to somebody else’s roof and do it again. That, to me, is the best part.” You don’t have to be an Eagle to make this call. With utility rates climbing year after year, the math that worked for Barwin works even better for you today — and every install puts one of our crews to work for a day. Connor Barwin found his power. As the season starts, maybe it’s time to find yours!

Micah Gold-Markel is the founder of Solar States, a Philadelphia-based solar and storage installer. NNOV OVEEMMBBEERR 20 2026 26 G R I DP HILLY.COM 7

urban naturalist

Empty Nesters Jersey Shore ospreys struggle to fledge chicks as the fish they rely on grow scarce by bernard brown

ike maahs has been fishing the Delaware Bay and the ocean off New Jersey for at least 35 years, he says. And for most of that time, he has seen menhaden, aka bunker. “A couple years ago, I ran 20 miles out into the ocean and 10 miles was solid bunker schools,” Maahs says. These historically abundant fish have supported the striped bass (striper) and other species that anglers like to catch, as well as charismatic predators such as ospreys and bald eagles. “There were a lot of ospreys around,” Maahs says. “You could watch them dive 8 GRID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM B E R 2026

into schools and grab a fish and fly away with it.” But lately the menhaden have been scarce, and predators that eat the fish, especially ospreys, have been suffering. Menhaden, a kind of herring, travel up and down the coast in large schools feeding on plankton in the water. “They migrate basically from North Carolina up to New Brunswick,” says Jaclyn Lunaas, forage fish program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. Anglers pay close attention to menhaden because if they find a school, they also find predatory sportfish. “We used to have great

striper fishing here. And the stripers were here because the bunker were here,” Maahs says. Menhaden aren’t just abundant, they’re nutritious too. “They have a very high omega-3 content, so they provide a lot of energy to a lot of fish, marine mammals and seabirds that eat them,” Lunaas says. “We call them the most important fish in the sea.” The ospreys breeding along saltwater in New Jersey have historically relied on the easy-to-catch, rich menhaden to feed to their chicks. But over the past two years, Jersey Shore ospreys have had a hard time feeding their offspring, and fewer chicks have been making it out of the nest. In 2025, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey found widespread reproductive failure in the nests its researchers monitor. The 507 nests for which scientists could determine outcomes

COURTESY OF BEN WURST

Ospreys hunt along the New Jersey coast, where scarcer menhaden have been linked to failed nests and chick deaths.

COURTESY OF BEN WURST

fledged only 352 chicks. Fifty-seven percent of active nests had zero chicks survive, a failure rate three times the average. This year, Stockton University researchers using cameras to monitor nests at the Mullica River and Great Bay found that 27 nests only produced nine chicks. The osprey parents are having a harder time catching menhaden for their babies, says Ben Wurst, senior wildlife biologist with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation. Recent unusual weather conditions, such as strong onshore winds in spring and early summer, may have pushed menhaden to swim farther offshore. The winds also rough up the ocean’s surface, making it harder for osprey to see their prey, he says. “They do have a harder time finding the fish when it’s windy like this, especially with an onshore wind.” Researchers in the Chesapeake Bay have also seen ospreys struggling to fledge chicks, particularly near saltier water where menhaden have been the primary prey species. Ospreys in freshwater tributaries at the edge of the bay, where they tend to catch other species of fish, haven’t been suffering. In a report on the 2026 nesting season in the Chesapeake, researchers called it the worst year on record for nest productivity. It’s hard to say exactly why. According to the report, “The underlying causes of reduced availability of menhaden to osprey are not clear. Climate change, commercial harvest, changes in distribution or delayed entry into Bay waters may be contributing factors.” Humans are often happy to dine on stripers, but they don’t often eat menhaden, at least not on their dinner plates. Commercial vessels catch about 50,000 metric tons of the fish to be sold as bait for lobster, blue

“[Menhaden] have a very high omega-3 content, so they provide a lot of energy to a lot of fish, marine mammals and seabirds that eat them.” jaclyn lunaas, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership crab and other species, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which monitors fish stocks and sets catch limits. More, about 134,000 metric tons, go to the “reduction fishery” to be processed into fish meal and fish oil. Most fish meal goes into the feed for chickens and farmed seafood such as salmon and shrimp (more than half of seafood is farmed). Only one company, Omega Protein, operates in the Atlantic reduction fishery. The last one standing after decades of reduction industry decline, it catches fish in Virginia waters as well as federally managed waters (more than 3 miles offshore) up and down the coast. “You see one big mother ship out there, and about three or four support ships,” says Harvey Jenkinson, a retired New Jersey charter boat captain, describing the Omega Protein operation. “And the support ships catch all the bunker, cram them into the mother ship, and the mother ship will steam back to Virginia.” Omega and the bait industry are both required to stick to catch limits set by the ASMFC. These are based on stock assessments, the results of computer models that take into account scientific observations of young fish, catch figures from commercial operations, and estimates of natural mortality.

Leading up to the most recent stock assessment, released in 2025, scientists found an error in the natural mortality data (how many menhaden die from causes other than fishing) that had skewed the computer model’s results. Once fixed, “it showed that we were overestimating coastwide menhaden biomass by 40%,” Lunaas says. As a result, the catch limit had been set too high. In order to leave enough menhaden for wild predators, humans would have to take less. Lunaas says, “The science essentially showed that they would have to cut the coastwide quota by about 54%.” But what the ASMFC landed on was a 20% cut. “This upcoming November, they’ll go back and discuss the next two years’ quota, and we’ll hopefully see some more cuts there.” Jenkinson questions the stock assessment and the menhaden abundance studies that feed into it. “They’re wrong on this one. And it’s a shame, because it’s affecting so many species,” including the striped bass. “I used to be a charter captain, and about half of my trips used to be for stripers. I just retired this year, but prior to that, my striper trips went from 50% to zero.” Whatever the reason for menhaden being scarce, the ospreys are suffering, Wurst says. “They’re telling us, as an indicator species, that something is going on with these fish.” ◆ N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP H ILLY.COM 9

land use

Faith Zerbe, left, and Bonnie Hallam stand in the Collen Brook, a tributary of Darby Creek that sits inside the Mozino Forest, a tract they are part of the movement to protect from development.

Keeping Tract Advocates fight to save 15 acres of Upper Darby forest from development by bernard brown

chools of blacknose dace swim through the clear waters of Collen Brook at Bonnie Hallam’s feet as she and other environmental advocates are fighting to save the forest behind her from development. All they need is $8 million. The 15 acres at the corner of Township Line and State roads are the steep leftovers of a century of development in Delaware County. For 300 years, the land had been part of Collen Brook Farm, until the property was subdivided. The tract was sold to real estate developer Peter S. Mozino in 1960. As Mozino developed other Delaware County farm fields into houses and shopping centers, trees sprouted and grew into a forest on the old pasture along Collen Brook. Luxury home builder Rockwell Development Group recently entered into a purchase agreement with the Mozino family, according to Hallam, and plans to build a 10 GR ID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 2026

mixed-use residential and commercial development on the parcel. In the face of opposition to the proposal voiced at an Aug. 12 Upper Darby Township zoning meeting, Rockwell’s president Greg Lingo offered the community an opportunity to buy the 15 acres for $8 million. Hallam, a retired educator, leads the Tree Tenders of Upper Darby and until recently sat on the township environmental advisory committee. “We said we need to join forces — all these environmental people and the people who are concerned about change in

their neighborhood,” Hallam says. “And we started Save the Mozino Forest.” According to Hallam, there are 14 active members, and “we have almost 1,600 community members who have signed our petitions and 300 people who are displaying lawn signs.” Faith Zerbe, who works for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, picks a rock out of the streambed and points to half-inch ridges on its underside, tubes built by caddisfly larvae. Water quality researchers use the insects to gauge stream health. “I have been doing stream sampling for over 20 years with Delaware Riverkeeper,” she says, “and we do a lot of work in the Darby Creek Watershed, a very paved area.” Collen Brook flows into a culvert that passes under the Drexeline Shopping Center and into the flood-prone Darby Creek, which joins Cobbs Creek in Philadelphia’s frequently inundated Eastwick neighborhood. Zerbe says very little forest remains in Delaware County to buffer the effects of wetter, more intense storms fueled by climate change, making it especially important to save these 15 acres. Zerbe points to the white snakeroot blooming along the bank and the oaks and tulip poplars shading the hillside above them. “This forest is functioning and doing everything that we need to stop flooding below.” Hallam says the group is reaching out to funders and will soon start raising money from the public with help from the Delaware County Community Foundation. She hopes that the woods could be made open to the public and connected to nearby trails, if the group can hit their mark. “We want to have a trail, but we want it to be wild,” Hallam says. “Let people enjoy the healthy forest.” ◆

This forest is functioning and doing everything that we need to stop flooding below.” faith zerbe , Delaware Riverkeeper Network P HOTO BY TRACIE VAN AUKEN

Small Patch, Big Buzz

NATIVE PLANT NEWS

by Rusty Gorelick

A NATIVE LANGUAGE

C LO C K W I S E F R O M B OT TO M R I G H T: PA I G E M E N TO N ; E D E L H O W L I N ( 2 )

del howlin of Glenside calls herself the Mediocre Gardener. With the motto of “mistakes welcome,” she wants to make gardening less intimidating for beginners. After taking a master gardener course in 2023, Howlin wanted to share what she’d learned about native plants and perhaps influence gardeners — both new and experienced — to plant more of them. She made signs promoting the benefits these plants can have on gardens. Each of the four signs indicate a function: bird buffet, caterpillar café, pollinator pit stop and stormwater sponge. Howlin calls the symbols a universal language and wants them to become as recognizable as a stop sign, so shoppers can instantly know a plant’s benefits. “One line of information about how valuable it is for nature can change people’s buying decisions,” Howlin says. “We wanted to remove barriers and make it as easy as possible for people to access.” This spring, she found the program’s first community partner at her local plant store, Primex Garden Center. She and owner Marshall Green realized their beliefs about native plants aligned, so Green decided to bring Howlin’s signage to his store. Primex added stickers to native plants, fueling over 400 website views

A typical lawn is a dead zone for bees. But plant a patch of native plants, and it begins to buzz with excitement. Pollinator Palooza, a do-it-yourself program from land restoration nonprofit Journeywork, provides Philadelphiaarea residents with enough native plant plugs to fill a 4-by-12-foot space on their lawn. Registration costs $85 and runs through late November; Journeywork delivers the plant plugs in the spring. The gap gives participants time to smother the grass with cardboard and mulch over the winter, so the patch is ready to plant when the plugs arrive. “The program is designed for everyone, especially people who don’t necessarily garden but want to do something to increase biodiversity and pollinators and see more butterflies,” says Journeywork founder and executive director Paige Menton. “This helps break it down and make it affordable.” Menton focuses the program on beesupporting plants, since they pollinate food crops. The goal is to remove barriers to growing native plants at home by giving “people the complete package to get started, with plants that are pretty hardy,” she says. “Once you have [the plants] established, you really don’t need to do too much,” says two-time Pollinator Palooza participant and Mount Airy resident Patrick Case. “I’ve gotten some carpenter bees setting up shop in my yard, so it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.” As the patch fills in, participants can watch insects and birds arrive in numbers less likely with a standard lawn. “Once they have a few [plants] and see what they attract, it gets to be exciting to see what’s coming to your yard,” Menton says.

Above: Edel Howlin’s Caterpillar Café signage at Primex Garden Center in Glenside. Right: Pollinator Palooza participants receive their plant plugs in the spring.

from QR codes and 150 sales of the Mediocre Gardener’s native plants guide. Howlin aims to expand the program to as many gardens and garden centers as possible, as well as schools and libraries, with the goal of motivating people to add natives to their gardens and spread the native plant gospel to friends and neighbors. “It’s important to understand how valuable native plants are,” Howlin says. “When you see nature showing up in your garden, you’re changed forever.” ◆ N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HILLY.COM 1 1

parks

Friends in Need Philly leans heavily on volunteers for park upkeep. Friends groups want a fix by bernard brown

ngela miles would like to focus on the positive. As president of Friends of Vernon Park and an organizer for Philly Parks United, a loose association of Friends groups formed to share ideas and resources, she knows how easy it is to burn out. “A common feeling among volunteers … is that sometimes we can really focus on what we’re not able to do instead of feeling really proud of the things that we are doing. So we’re there to affirm each other and have each other’s back.” Miles and other members of the Friends group devote long, unpaid hours to Vernon Park. They organize park cleanups as well as festive events. They pick up litter and tend trees. They alert Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to any repair needs and nag the right people until the work gets done. “We’re kind of the eyes on the ground,” Miles says, and lists challenges that have popped up over the last two years. “We’ll report to our stewardship coordinator if a huge tree branch has fallen, or if a car drove through the fence and crashed into the playground, or if teenagers are climbing the light posts and surfing them down so they snap like an asparagus.” Philadelphia relies on outside groups and volunteers for 24% of parks spending (including the value of volunteer hours), according to the Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore. Among the 100 most populous cities, the average is 7%. Miles knows that the department depends on and appreciates the labor of groups like Friends of Vernon Park, but she wishes it didn’t rely on them so much. “When things are said like, ‘This department wouldn’t function without all the hardworking volunteers,’ that is so thankful and kind, but it is extremely concerning,” she says. “I don’t know what other City agency would put so much reliance on a volunteer base.” Now Friends groups, parks advocates and City leaders are starting to ask if there’s a better way. 12 GR ID P H IL LY.CO M NOVEM B E R 2026

The ParkScore numbers show that the City spends much less on park maintenance than most peer cities. For the 2026 ParkScore, Philadelphia reported spending $33 per capita in City funds on maintenance and administration, which ranks it No. 89 out of the 100 most populous cities in that category. Philadelphia would have to roughly triple its spending to beat what Pittsburgh spends ($96) in the same category and more than quadruple it to pass Min-

neapolis ($154). To match Boston, which sits at the middle of the pack (spending $60 per capita), Philadelphia would need to budget $95 million. These are only rough comparisons. “The complicating piece is no park system is the same. It’s not cookie-cutter,” says Jayne Miller, a principal at PROS Consulting, a firm that specializes in parks and recreation best practices. But there are more precise benchmarking tools. “Our industry has maintenance standards for all the different kinds of assets — mowing cycles, tree pruning, playground maintenance, ball fields — and so meeting those industry best practices from a professional standpoint is what makes a well-maintained park system.” No park funding or maintenance system is perfect. “There is not a park system in the country that does not have a backlog,” Miller says. “The question is, what’s the size of that backlog?”

Angela Miles organizes volunteer cleanups and other events at Vernon Park in Germantown through the Friends of Vernon Park.

P HOTO BY L IN ETTE MESSI NA

Parks & Rec declined to make leaders available for an interview and instead sent a statement by email: “Philadelphia Parks & Recreation works to leverage City funding with external resources, including state and federal funding and private partnerships, to support our facilities, programs, and public spaces. We manage our operations and priorities within the budget approved by City Council and remain committed, as One Philly, to partnering across government and with external organizations to make the most of available resources for Philadelphia residents.” The William Penn Foundation, which funds a parks advocacy position at PennFuture, is trying to help Friends groups and others organize to demand more money for the system, says Nathan Boon, the interim program director for environment and public space at the foundation. “Since the Philly Parks Alliance disbanded in 2024, there’s really been a lack of a coordinated voice that we believe the city warrants around parks and parks funding.” The Fairmount Park Conservancy raises money for the park system but does not advocate for more public spending. “We’re not that advocacy group,” says Tony Sorrentino, the organization’s CEO. “But we all care about parks, and there’s a kind of unification around that.” Many municipal parks systems rely on private fundraising organizations to augment public funds to some degree, a model pioneered by New York City’s Central Park Conservancy in 1982, Sorrentino says. Recently, the Fairmount Park Conservancy wrapped up a five-year fundraising campaign that yielded $115 million. “Since its inception in 1998, the conservancy has raised $185 million for parks,” Sorrentino says. Along with running parks programs like We Walk PHL and TreePhilly, the conservancy handles big capital projects for Parks & Rec, including the Trolley Trail renovation and the FDR Park master plan. It also supports Friends groups with coordination and supplies for events such as Love Your Park week. Parks & Rec’s reliance on private groups can yield inequitable outcomes, as residents of wealthier neighborhoods chip in with dollars and spare time that residents of lower-income areas can’t afford. Cobbs Creek Park has no Friends group at all. The Friends of Vernon Park in Germantown is run entirely by volunteers, and its annual revenue is

I don’t know what other City agency would put so much reliance on a volunteer base.” angela mile s, Friends of Vernon Park usually under $1,000, according to Miles. The Friends of Rittenhouse Square has two staff positions and reported more than $1.2 million in revenue on its 2024 IRS Form 990. Advocates and City leaders agree that the parks system doesn’t just need more money; it needs a new way to raise money. On May 28, City Council adopted a resolution introduced by Councilmember Anthony Phillips calling for a hearing on the park system, “including funding, maintenance, infrastructure, staffing, safety, and opportunities to establish sustainable long-term revenue streams.” The hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1. “We’ve been chronically underfunded for years,” says Tom Forkin, chief of staff for Councilmember Mike Driscoll. Forkin was previously a deputy director in Parks & Rec. “The people that are in the maintenance section of Parks & Rec do yeoman’s work. I’ve got nothing but the greatest respect and admiration for that team,” he says. “But they need a more robust financial structure.” Philadelphia Parks & Recreation competes with other City departments for its annual operations budget (including maintenance), but other funding models exist. The Minneapolis park system receives funds appropriated by the city council, but the independent parks and recreation board levies its own property taxes as well. In 2019, Pittsburgh voters approved a referendum to introduce a property tax that generates about $10 million per year for a parks trust fund. Philadelphia actually has a dedicated funding mechanism for some capital spending (new construction and renovation) through the Rebuild program. Rebuild borrows its funds by issuing bonds, and the City’s beverage tax helps pay the money back. Could the City also find a way to shore up operations? “It became very important to me that we need to figure out how we have an appropriate funding mechanism that will be consistent with the need for making sure that we have the best parks and recreation centers in the nation,” says Phillips, who chairs City

Council’s Committee on Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs. Phillips says he went on a tour of recreation centers when he assumed the chair of the committee in 2024. “We found common themes that were at every rec center,” Phillips says. These included sidewalks in poor repair and broken lights and security cameras. Money won’t fix everything; Parks & Rec’s systems need to be modernized, Miles says. The department wrestles with “outdated asset management systems, software and technology that the City uses for project management around repairs, dispatch and stuff like that,” she says. Phillips says a repair to a security camera might seem simple. “But then you start asking questions: who’s responsible for repairing it? Is there an inventory showing which cameras work? Is funding available for replacement? How quickly can procurement happen?” He says the difficult part is “creating a system that consistently solves the problem and makes sense in an efficient, effective way.” Staffing is another thorny issue. The department struggles to fill positions in its budget. Parks & Rec reported a 19% vacancy rate in its testimony for budget hearings in April. “I think it’s true for just about every department, but [staffing] is just a more onerous, cumbersome process, and it just takes way longer than the average person can imagine,” Forkin says. “The necessary training to do the job is not something that happens overnight either.” The upcoming hearings fit into what Phillips sees as a need for the park system to be strategic rather than react to problems as they pop up. “The problem … right now is that we are very reactionary. We’re reactionary to every single issue as opposed to thinking proactively about what we need to be successful.” he says. “The advocacy groups and the Friends groups, all these coalitions of people who care about parks and rec centers, we’re just trying to make sure that we have a vision and we strategically operate the vision.” ◆ N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 13

zero waste

Randy LoBasso’s summer project was to turn a discarded bike into his dream ride, using mostly parts he found in neighborhood trash.

One Man’s Trash, Another’s Ride You, too, can build a bicycle from discarded parts — with the right tools and attitude by randy lobasso

lack grease smeared across my phone screen as I plucked at the keyboard. “About to take trash bike for a spin,” I wrote in the group chat. “It’s either going to be awesome or deadly.” A minute later, the first response: “11 p.m. sounds like the best time to try a bike out for the first time.” My friends were probably tired of hearing about my trash bike project. I’d been giving play-by-play updates for a month, ever since I came across a rusty road bike left out on the sidewalk for scrappers. I took it home with a vague plan for a sustainable summer project: refurbish and piece it together with other found bike trash from the neighborhood. Never mind that my bicycle repair skills 14 GRID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 20 26

were limited to changing a tube and installing basic add-ons; I live in an era in which anyone with a phone can learn how to do just about anything — and people throw everything away. With that in mind, I set a goal to build a bike for $0. That goal was dashed immediately. It turns out a screwdriver, hammer, hex key set, tire lever and wrench are not enough to Frankenstein a bicycle together. I visited the worker-owned cooperative Keystone Bicycle Co., where an employee figured (correctly) that I needed three new tools and some goo: a chain tool, freewheel remover, wire cutter and rust remover (cost: $118). Now the real work could begin. Over hours spent sanding the frame and remov-

ing rusted brakes and gears, I realized my options were practically limitless. I could build the bike exactly the way I wanted: cherry red, like the vintage Peugeot my dad passed down to me when I was a teenager; with tall, wide granola handlebars so I’m not always leaning over when I ride it; and single speed, like the beater I used to learn Philadelphia’s geography in the early 2000s. You can find almost anything on the city’s streets. College students dump their whole lives on the sidewalk when the semester ends. My neighbor who scraps metal estimates he’s picked up thousands of bicycles — an estimated 15 million are discarded worldwide each year. Bicycling is better for the environment than virtually any other form of transportation, but a discarded bike can take hundreds of years to decompose. Luckily, as long as a frame isn’t bent or warped, it can be the body of your bike. Places like Neighborhood Bike Works (which salvages reusable bikes and parts from sources including the City’s yearly dead-bike sweeps) will even teach you how to maintain it. Within days, I found usable pedals, brakes and the highly coveted granola handlebars. I bought glossy red spray paint from Benito’s Ace Hardware (cost: $20). My friend Jorge Brito had a basement full of bike junk and offered me wheels, a stem and a saddle (cost: $60). I did the responsible thing and bought new brake pads and tubes from Frankenstein Bike Worx in Center City (cost: $25), and spent my nights rewatching YouTube bike repair videos. All of which led me to my 11 p.m. maiden voyage. My first ride on “trash bike” was neither awesome nor deadly; it lasted about 100 yards before a chain link broke. I rolled the half-block home, reattached the broken link and retightened everything. It would be another week and a slow ride on the Delaware River Trail before I realized I needed a new brake that fit the wheel (cost: $20). In the end, I spent $243 — which, while not $0, is a deal for my new skills and the feeling I get from riding it. There’s a bicycle project out there; you just need to find it. ◆ P HOTO BY TASSO HA RTZOG

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N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 1 5

philly cooks

In their role as community outreach coordinator at the Philadelphia Orchard Project, Deja Morgan aims to expose Philadelphians to the fruits that grow locally, like persimmons.

Country Cooking, City Fruit A Texas transplant shares their love for local flavor and a recipe for honoring a native fruit by marilyn anthony

deep connection to food and a conviction that there is power in being able to feed yourself drew Deja Morgan to the role of community outreach coordinator at the Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP). The grandchild of Texan rice farmers, Morgan grew up moving between towns across 16 GRID P H IL LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 20 26

the Southern state, but the flavors of home stayed constant: a backyard bursting with tomatoes, corn and strawberries, and blackeyed peas slowly simmering on the stove. Eating simply prepared, fresh foods from the garden figured so centrally in Morgan’s upbringing that, they say, a love for food “feels like a natural part of who I am.”

As a teenager, Morgan dreamt of moving to New York City to pursue an acting career, but a Thanksgiving spent with relatives in Philadelphia in 2016 suggested another possibility. Morgan arrived here expecting that people would be cold. Instead, Morgan found the people so friendly and welcoming that the city felt more like being in the South. After graduating college in 2019, Morgan made the move. “Philly,” Morgan says, “is like a portal that pulls you in unexpectedly.” It came as a surprise for Morgan to learn that their Philadelphia relatives ate blackeyed peas only on New Year’s. Black people across the country, Morgan realized, didn’t all grow up with the same foods in rotation as in Texas. The regional differences fascinated Morgan, who began to explore them. Part of this exploration led Morgan to the work of the legendary Black chef and educator, Edna Lewis. While reading Lewis’ influential cookbook, “The Taste of Country Cooking,” Morgan felt inspired by the slowness, the simplicity and the goal of celebrating the inherent flavors of seasonal foods. Morgan admired Lewis’ deep reverence for the earth and its abundance, as well as her spiritual connection to food and its sources, qualities Morgan feels even supporters of the farm-to-table movement have lost. Last summer, to introduce Lewis to a new P HOTOS BY J ESS BENJA MI N

Recipe • Taking another page from Edna Lewis’ cookbook, “The Taste of Country Cooking,” Deja Morgan suggests trying Lewis’ recipe for a fruit you are probably unfamiliar with: persimmons. As Lewis notes in her original recipe, persimmons become sweeter if left on the tree until after the first frost, making persimmon pudding a perfect treat for November. POP encourages Philly residents to seek out persimmons that flourish here or pick some up at an Asian market.

PERSIMMON PUDDING Adapted from “The Taste of Country Cooking” by Edna Lewis. Makes 4-6 servings.

audience, Morgan held a POP workshop demonstrating how to make Lewis’ wild blackberry jelly recipe. The intent was to encourage participants to learn to use what they could gather, and to be inspired by how slowness and simplicity combine to create something exceptionally delicious. There’s no need for NutriBullets or Vitamixes or expensive ingredients to make something nourishing. Empowering diverse communities to use healthy, accessible foods underlies POP’s mission. Last year, the nonprofit and its partners harvested and distributed over 12,000 pounds of fruit grown in communities across Philadelphia. Morgan’s personal hope as community outreach coordinator is to build an awareness of some of the healthy foods growing here — such as pawpaws, persimmons and figs — to cultivate more connection to our environment, and to show neighbors how to preserve and enjoy harvested foods. “Philly is a leader in urban agriculture and community gardens. We’re one of the best cities to be able to eat locally,” Morgan says. But the benefits of participating in this abundance go beyond eating. Morgan believes that grounding yourself in a practice like joining a community garden or volunteering at a food bank has tremendous power. “Getting in tune with what’s actually available to you is going to be people’s biggest guide to navigating a time when things feel so unstable,” Morgan says. “Building relationships not only with yourself but with your neighbors and with the food that’s already around you.” ◆

For the pudding 4 ounces suet cup freshly grated breadcrumbs, crusts removed ½ cup hot milk 1 cup packed brown sugar ¼ cup flour 3 eggs, separated ¼ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg ½ teaspoon mace 4 large, cultivated persimmons (use three times as many if using wild) ¼ cup rum 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder

• Remove all tissue and skin from the suet and chop it finely with a chopping knife. • Remove the crust from enough slices of white bread to make 2/3 cup grated. Grating the bread against the large holes of a foursided grater makes much lighter crumbs; it is quick and easy, too. • Put the crumbs in a mixing bowl. Pour the hot milk over the crumbs and let them stand for a few minutes. • Add the chopped suet and mix well. Add the brown sugar and flour. • Beat the egg yolks, add them to the bowl and stir well again. • Add the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace, stirring after each addition. • Cut the persimmons in half, remove the seeds and scoop out the pulp. You should have about 2 ½ cups. Add it to the breadcrumb mixture. • Add the rum and baking powder.

For the clear sauce cup sugar Pinch of salt 2 teaspoons cornstarch ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 cup boiling water 3 tablespoons brandy

• Beat the egg whites until stiff, fold them in and spoon the mixture into a pudding mold. • Cover the mold and set it in a container of boiling water. Steam for 1 ½ hours. • Remove from the burner and leave to cool in the mold. While the pudding cools, make the sauce: Mix the sugar, salt, cornstarch and nutmeg in a nonaluminum saucepan. Pour in the boiling water, stirring constantly. • Set the saucepan on a medium-low burner and simmer for 12 minutes. • Reheat the sauce and add the brandy before serving. Serve the pudding with the clear sauce. • To make ahead: If you prepare the pudding in advance, let it cool completely in the mold, then refrigerate. Before serving, reheat it by steaming on a slow burner for 1 hour.

Philly is a leader in urban agriculture and community gardens. We’re one of the best cities to be able to eat locally.” deja morgan community outreach coordinator, Philadelphia Orchard Project N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 17

community

Preserving the Neighborhood A novel approach to combatting gentrification is working in Kensington by constance garcia-barrio

n 2023, j. c. zerbe, community advocate and acclaimed muralist, welcomed an unusual offer: a spiffy, brand-new space for below-market rent. The offer came from the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT). Most landlords buy buildings to hold onto them, but KCT buys properties to give them away — rehabbing them and transferring them to community ownership. Zerbe was already well-known in Kensington for building grassroots relationships, including using art projects to practice harm reduction for homeless neighbors living with mental illness. Now, his space is large enough to accommodate not only living quarters but also Vizion, an art gallery that has become a hub for exhibitions, workshops and community events. “I have an after-school program too,” says Zerbe, whose gallery in the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue has exposed-brick walls alive with spectacular street art. “I’ve always liked working with kids.” In addition to providing room for classes and exhibitions, Vizion has helped revitalize Kensington Avenue by encouraging other galleries to open nearby. It’s the kind of outcome that KCT seeks, as does Joseph Margulies, professor of the practice of government at Cornell University and a leading proponent of community ownership of real estate. Margulies, author of “Thanks for Everything (Now Get Out): Can We Restore Neighborhoods Without Destroying Them?” advocates for neighborhood trust models to deter displacement of longtime community residents due to gentrification. Margulies and cities facing gentrification are keeping a close eye on KCT. The first program of its kind in the country, KCT could become a model and resource center for other cities seeking anti-displacement and economic justice, says Jasmin Velez, 18 GR ID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 2026

KCT’s manager of development and communications. “Our goal is to preserve affordability in ZIP Code 19134, [which includes Kensington, Harrowgate and Port Richmond],” says Velez, who, like many KCT staffers, grew up in Kensington. KCT addresses a crying need. Kensington’s

once-bustling textile mills closed between 1960 and 1980, taking with them the jobs on which Kensington’s largely Black and Brown families depended. The opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered still more businesses. Disinvestment took a toll. Kensington is treated like Philadelphia’s stepchild, some KCT employees say. Kensington has become one of the poorest neighborhoods in America’s second-poorest big city. The area’s median household income is about $44,000, compared with about $62,000 citywide, according to the Pew “State of the City 2026” report. To some outside developers, Kensington seemed ripe for the plucking. They began snapping up run-down buildings, rehabbing them and charging high rents, or constructing townhouses and apartments priced beyond the means of many longtime Kensing-

Vivian Chang has served as executive director of Asian Americans United since 2023.

Jasmin Velez, left, and Adriana Abizadeh-Barbour of Kensington Corridor Trust work to steward and transfer properties along Kensington Avenue to the community.

P HOTO BY J ESS B ENJA MI N

ton residents. For example, a two-bedroom apartment in a new building on Venango Street rents for $2,500 a month, according to Rent.com, while KCT charges, on average, $1,063 a month. “The amount varies, depending on tenants’ income,” Velez says, noting that the Department of Housing and Urban Development sets income guidelines. “Because we’re not charging market rate, people have room to breathe,” Velez says. “They can save money to, say, go back to school.” For Chambs, a film artist who spoke under condition of using their first name only, a KCT apartment has meant much more. “I live below the poverty line, but KCT’s income-adjusted rent means that I can have my own apartment,” says Chambs, who values being near public transportation. “The managers [of the building] are nice and treat me humanely,” she adds. “That doesn’t always happen.” With high rents threatening to price many neighbors out of the area, four groups stepped up: Impact Services, a local community developer; Shift Capital, a social-impact real estate developer; IF Lab, a small-business incubator; and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Philly’s public-private economic development corporation. In 2019, the four organizations co-developed KCT. They hired Adriana Abizadeh-Barbour, a Camden resident and policy fellow at both Princeton and Rutgers universities, who has experienced deep poverty, as inaugural executive director. Abizadeh-Barbour leads community engagement, project development and real estate acquisition at KCT. KCT’s mission of buying real estate and putting it in trust for the community required an unusual legal structure. KCT is a hybrid, combining a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — which allows it to accept grants and donations — with a perpetual purpose trust, which establishes a way to hold land and buildings in perpetuity under community control. While the hybrid entity is new, collective ownership has proven effective against gentrification in at least one other case. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, composed of cultural organizations and family groups, bought some 60 buildings in Manhattan’s Chinatown, journalist Nick Tabor writes in his 2015 article, “How Has Chinatown Stayed Chinatown?” That critical mass of real estate helps preserve the neighborP HOTO BY A NDR EA C IP R IA N I M ECCH I

J.C. Zerbe was able to secure the space for Vizion Gallery through the neighborhood trust.

hood’s distinctive culture and provides low-income housing for seniors and immigrants who have just arrived. With KCT, community governance is assured in two ways: A board of directors oversees operations of the nonprofit arm while the Trust Stewardship Committee ensures that decisions fulfill the purpose of the trust. Both governing bodies consist of Kensington neighbors and small business owners. By 2022, KCT had received $2.85 million in low-interest loans and $1.35 million in grants from philanthropies and donations from local and national organizations. The funds allowed KCT to purchase and rehab five buildings that year. “We’re focusing on properties on Kensington Avenue between Glenwood Avenue and Lehigh Avenue,” Velez says. KCT rehabs buildings with both cost and the environment in mind, says Josh Harris,

KCT’s staff contractor. “Most of the places have no insulation,” Harris says. Due to budget constraints, “We can’t put in triple-pane windows, but we put in good ones and seal up every leak,” he says. “In the future, when we buy contiguous houses, we plan to put large solar panels across multiple properties for energy efficiency. We’ll build green roofs with native plants, when it’s appropriate, to reduce street flooding when big storms hit.” Neighbors have a say in the kinds of businesses that move into rehabbed sites. The community has barred liquor stores, pawn shops and other enterprises that extract value, Velez says. On the other hand, KCT and neighbors welcome tenants like Vizion or the Waxery that encourage fun and creativity. At Crystal Ortiz’s Waxery, in the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue, guests learn candle-making. “I wanted a space where peoN OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 1 9

community

ple could feel comfortable being themselves,” says Ortiz, who offers birthday parties, family events, girls’ nights out and celebrations like “Candles and Karaoke.” “Sometimes, I have a DJ,” says Ortiz, who grew up in the area, adding that her business has grown steadily since it opened in 2023. Steady growth seems a KCT hallmark. The organization now owns a total of 32 assets, including 25 leased residential units and several pollinator gardens, a solid achievement in just seven years. It also has 45 mixed-use units under development and stewards spaces for 12 small businesses. However, KCT faces challenges. High on the list is securing funds to continue acquiring properties, given competition from other developers. Also, some grants will end while others will pay decreasing amounts. Operating costs are another consideration. The properties must generate enough rental income to cover staff salaries, maintenance and debt service. Stigma about opioid use in Kensington could also affect the area’s revitalization. In addition, businesses sometimes get off to a slow start. Tom Sheridan, owner of the Kensington Food Company, which provides food inspections and restaurant supplies, opened a licensed commercial kitchen on the second floor of a building in the 3400 block of Kensington Avenue. The first floor houses Sheridan’s grocery store and bakery. Opened this July, it’s one of the few neighborhood places where one can buy fresh fruit and vegetables. “We’re getting 20 to 30 people a day, so I’ve had to compost a lot [of produce],” says Sheridan, born and raised in Kensington. “But we just got fully approved for SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits. I believe in what KCT is doing.” Like Sheridan, Margulies has faith in KCT. “The model in Kensington is exactly what I had in mind,” he says. “From … what I can tell, [it] has been a stunning success. In fact, I think it should be more vigorously supported by the City. I also think the idea is making headway beyond Philadelphia. In addition to the sites with whom KCT is partnering — for example, Trenton — there is the Mixed Income Neighborhood Trust in Kansas City, for instance. I think the idea has legs.” ◆ 20 GRID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 20 26

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community

Ripped Off Philadelphia tenant unions take on junk fees, broken elevators and AI property management story and photos by tasso hartzog

hen tenants at King’s Ferry Square Apartments in South Philadelphia call their property manager, Camden answers the phone. “Hi there!” she says, unfailingly chipper. Camden, however, is not a property manager, nor is she an employee of The Michaels Organization, which owns the building. In fact, Camden is not a human. She’s an artificial intelligence agent, named for the South Jersey city where The Michaels Organization is headquartered. Earlier this year, Camden started fielding residents’ calls to the building office. “We can’t communicate with them,” says June Almond, a King’s Ferry resident since 1999 and member of the building’s recently formed tenant union. “When you call AI, they always ask you if you want a tour. They advertise.” Camden would present callers with information tailored toward prospective renters, not current tenants, Almond explains. “It takes too long,” she says, and “when you get to the end, it says no one’s in the office. You cannot leave a message.” “If a resident wishes to speak with a staff member directly, telling Camden they need to speak to an agent will route the call to our front desk team,” a representative for The Michaels Organization said in a statement, though King’s Ferry tenants have described being unable to get through to a human despite repeated attempts. That’s been a problem when tenants have urgent issues; Almond recently went without hot water for two days and had trouble contacting management to make a maintenance request. It wasn’t always that way, she says. Under a previous property manager, tenants and management met once or twice per month to discuss building conditions, and issues were dealt with promptly. This summer, frustrated by their experi22 GRID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 2026

ences with management, Almond and her neighbors gathered signatures from a supermajority of tenants to form an association under the auspices of the Citywide Tenant Union, an arm of the Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). She’s hopeful that their organizing will encourage Michaels to negotiate with residents. “We got their attention,” she said. At the very least, the tenant union has given Almond and her neighbors a sense of united purpose and power: “I know I’m looking out not just for myself no more. We’re looking out for each other.” It’s been a busy year for tenants like Almond. The number of tenant unions in Philadelphia has quadrupled since the pandemic, WHYY News has reported, from about five to at least 20, and housing advocacy groups secured an important victory in April when City Council passed the Safe Healthy Homes Act, which was drafted in consultation with OnePA Renters United Philadelphia. The legislative package — a pair of bills that take effect Nov. 1 — codifies tenants’ right to organize, establishes that landlords have a duty to negotiate in good faith with tenant unions, and expands “good cause” protections, which require that landlords provide written justification before ending or deciding not to renew a lease. A new phase in the fight for tenant rights began on the morning of Oct. 1, when the Citywide Tenant Union of Philly DSA convened advocates, tenants and a trio of City councilmembers — Rue Landau, Jamie Gauthier and Nicolas O’Rourke, chief sponsor of the Safe Healthy Homes Act — at City Hall to launch the End Rental Ripoffs Campaign. Drawing inspiration from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “Rental Ripoff Hearings,” the campaign calls for an end to a range of practices that tenants and organizers view as exploitative, including

Councilmembers joined members of the Citywide Tenant Union for the launch of the End Rental Ripoffs campaign.

late fees, “junk fees” and AI property management. (Almond was one of three tenants who spoke at the morning press conference. She and her King’s Ferry neighbors brought signs, one of which read, “Fire Camden. Pick up your phone.”) Standing behind a lectern on the north side of City Hall, Councilmember O’Rourke addressed the gathered crowd: “Nothing gets me going like that special six-letter word: strike!” Indeed, the assembled tenants, most of whom wore red T-shirts that identified them as members of the Citywide Tenant Union, were not merely announcing the start of the End Rental Ripoffs Campaign; they were declaring a strike. Beginning Oct. 1, more than

I know I’m looking out not just for myself no more. We’re looking out for each other.” june almond member, King’s Ferry Square Apartments tenant association

40 tenants from The Emerson and Florence Gardens, two West Philly buildings with tenant unions connected to the Philly DSA, have refused to pay a mandatory $25 monthly fee that their management company, New Age Realty Group, charges in addition to rent. Tenants call it a “junk fee.” “New Age Realty and our landlord, Ghodrat

P. Sholevar, rip us off every month with a fee they like to call the Resident Benefits Package,” Gavin Bartlett, a member of the Emerson tenant association, said at the press conference. “This $300-a-year junk fee grants us access to a laundry list of so-called benefits that entirely miss the mark of what we need as tenants.” Accord-

ing to a copy of a lease reviewed by Grid, perks include a “moving concierge,” “free preventative supplies to clear your drain,” reimbursement for lockouts, and waived brokerage fees when tenants buy property through New Age Realty. “When you try to actually utilize any of these benefits that we pay for the privilege of having,” Bartlett continued, “you’re met with terms and conditions that make it unclear if you’re actually eligible for them.” After canvassing more than 65 residents, organizers at The Emerson and Florence Gardens say they found that fewer than 20% of tenants had used any of the perks included in the package. And, lest a $25 monthly fee seem insignificant, the organizers note that N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 23

community

Tenants at The Emerson unfurled banners protesting New Age Realty and what residents say are excessive fees amid ongoing maintenance issues.

the sum of the benefits paid annually by tenants at the two striking buildings is $30,000. “What we’re actually paying for is the privilege of lining our landlord’s pockets,” Bartlett maintained. New Age, which manages Florence Gardens and The Emerson, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Tenant unions in Philadelphia and beyond have developed amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis. Pandemic-era rent increases and elevated inflation from the Iran War have left a growing share of renters struggling to afford housing. Organizers cite ongoing protests in Spain, where tenants are demanding stronger protections against rent increases and evictions, as evidence that their efforts are part of an 24 GRID P H IL LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 2026

“international uprising” of renters who are feeling the squeeze and fighting back. “This entire campaign’s focus on affordability is right on time, because the rent is too high,” O’Rourke said at the press conference. “And that’s before we add the junk fees on top of the too-damn-high rent.” O’Rourke, a member of the Working Families Party, closed with an announcement that he was introducing a City Council resolution to honor the Citywide Tenant Union. “I hope the recognition can serve as a starting gun for your efforts,” he said. The resolution, which “calls upon the individual owner and New Age Realty to come to the bargaining table … and negotiate contracts in good faith with the tenants,” was adopted Oct. 8. Organizers hope to work with City Coun-

cil on legislative solutions for some of their immediate demands, like an end to junk fees, but “tenants who are organizing are more ambitious,” according to Rebecca Grayum, co-chair of the Citywide Tenant Union. “They want their elevator to work, but they want more than that. They want rent they can afford that’s not going to go up every year, and they want landlords and leases that are accountable to them.” The End Rental Ripoffs campaign aims to lay the groundwork for longer-term goals, like collectively bargained leases, rent control and decommodified housing, Grayum says, by demonstrating that organizing can deliver real improvements in tenants’ lives. Tenant associations are “an experiment in democracy,” says Jax Hebner, an orga-

nizer with the Philadelphia Tenants Union, which leads eviction defense trainings and helped win the first “good cause” protections for tenants in 2019. “We’re figuring out how to govern ourselves, which can then lead to how we govern the land.” (The Philadelphia Tenants Union is unaffiliated with the DSA but stands in “full solidarity” with the End Rental Ripoffs campaign.) One evening less than a week after the City Hall press conference, a group of about a dozen organizers and tenants stood outside The Emerson on Chester Avenue, discussing logistics. “Tape or velcro?” someone asked. Before long, heads emerged from a fourthfloor window, followed by a banner, followed in turn by clapping and whooping from the sidewalk. The banner read: “Ban junk fees.” Tenants at The Emerson formed a union in February after a power outage — the latest in a series of annual, dayslong winter outages that residents say started after management replaced the building’s failing boiler system with window-mounted electric heating and cooling units. Residents, who didn’t pay for heating before the radia-

Likewise, tenants at King’s Ferry Square have made headway in their negotiations with building management since forming their union this summer. Representatives from The Michaels Organization first sat down with the tenant association in September, and then, not long after the End Rental Ripoffs campaign launch at City Hall, residents noticed that Camden’s usual script had shortened. It had become easier for residents to leave messages. When representatives from The Michaels Organization met again with the tenant association on Oct. 15, June Almond found them more receptive. She thinks that Michaels has paid more attention to the association’s concerns in the aftermath of the junk-fee strike at The Emerson and Florence Gardens. “They know that would be the potential here,” she says. “They know we’re serious.” Cyrus, a member of the Emerson tenant union who asked that he be identified only by his first name, has lived in the building for six years. He tends to be a “fly-underthe-radar kind of person,” not prone to ruffling feathers, and besides, The Emerson

What we’re actually paying for is the privilege of lining our landlord’s pockets.” gavin bartlett member, The Emerson tenant association

tor was replaced, have since reported utility bills as high as $300. They contend that poor insulation and other maintenance issues are partly responsible for the exorbitant costs. “They’re paying for their landlord’s lack of investment in their building,” says Grayum. Earlier this summer, after the tenant union went public, New Age announced that a new boiler would be installed. Management treated the timing as a coincidence, but residents and organizers weren’t convinced. “The power had been going out every year for at least three years,” says Vincent Montoya, an organizer with the Citywide Tenant Union, “and suddenly, the first year that tenants actually stood up and did something about it, the impossible became possible and now they’re replacing the boiler.”

wasn’t as badly maintained as past apartments where he’d experienced “unmitigated greed” from landlords. So when the monthly charge for the Resident Benefits Package first appeared, he didn’t push back. “I’ve just kind of rolled over and taken it all these years,” he said, standing in front of The Emerson. “Until the tenant association really started speaking up about it.” “$300,” he realized, citing the annual sum of the monthly fee, is “a lot of groceries.” “Our organizing efforts have shown that they’re willing to make certain changes,” he said. The promise to install a new boiler was one “concrete win,” and he hopes that more will follow. A resident of a nearby New Age building, who asked not to be named, stopped to

ask about the junk-fee strike. He reported having no maintenance issues in his own building, but he was supportive of the End Rental Ripoffs campaign nonetheless. “I have an interest in not being taken advantage of,” he said. He had a question for Cyrus and the organizers: “What kind of leverage does the union have?” By that point, residents had secured another banner below a third-floor window, and its message provided part of an answer. “Boycott New Age,” it read. “Don’t rent here!” Organizers are calling on renters across the city to boycott New Age until the company and Sholevar, the owner of the two buildings, agree to negotiate with the tenant associations as the Safe Healthy Homes Act requires. (Last year, Sholevar paid $900,000 to settle a Medicaid fraud case related to three mental health clinics he operates.) “It’s gonna take some solidarity to win this campaign,” Montoya, the Citywide Tenant Union organizer, says. Having secured their banners at The Emerson, the group walked a block and a half to Florence Gardens. Fed up with recurring pest issues and leaks, and equally perturbed by the Resident Benefits Package, tenants at Florence Gardens formed their own association in May. Florence Gardens tenants have also reported that, despite leases in which the landlord promises to keep amenities in working order, a nonfunctioning elevator has forced at least one resident with a disability to use the stairs in the four-story building. After months of organizing — doorknocking, tabling — tenants at the two buildings are excited to at last take “big leaps” toward achieving their demands, which include a three-year rent freeze, working appliances and pest control. “I think we’ve scared New Age into potential loss of business,” said Jared Winters, a member of the Florence Gardens tenant association, as his fellow residents secured a “Boycott New Age” banner below a second-floor window. “And I think that is powerful.” As dusk descended, the assembled tenants broke out in a chant — “No more rental ripoffs! No more rental ripoffs!” — and then, after concluding with a cheer, headed back to their apartments. ◆ N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 25

education

Tainted Taps

High lead levels found in kitchen tapwater in Philly public schools

BY KY L E B AG E NSTO SE

ne in 10 Philadelphia public schools had high lead levels in water sources used for food preparation, according to tests conducted by the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) over the past three years. The dangerously high levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin linked to stunted development and learning difficulties, were found by the district during routine water testing, the results of which were posted to its website. Grid then analyzed the results and the potential exposures to district students, which has not been previously performed by other media. The high lead results were predominantly taken from water taps found in kitchens or food prep areas, affecting 21 schools out 26 GRID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 20 26

of the 219 tested. In an additional seven schools, high lead results were discovered in several nurses’ offices, a pre-K room and a special needs room. In some cases, the lead levels were more than 10 times higher than the district’s safety level of 10 parts per billion (ppb). In one high school kitchen, lead was found at 6,200 ppb. School district officials and documents indicate that contaminated water sources were immediately taken offline until filters could be installed and the water retested. But health and environmental advocates say the data reveals the latest vulnerability in an ongoing districtwide plan to address leadin-water risks that dates to 2017. That year, former Philadelphia Coun-

cilmember Helen Gym successfully spearheaded a bill to require testing water for lead in every Philadelphia public school in five-year cycles. When that testing began to reveal widespread lead issues in drinking water fountains, Gym and Council passed a second bill in 2022 requiring the district to proactively install filtered water hydration stations in every school, a task that was completed by a June 2025 deadline. However, the 2022 law did not require filters to be installed on all kitchen faucets, many of which are used to wash or prepare food for students. That is a weakness in the district’s plan and a risk to students that is now being realized, says David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that has advocated on the issue. “The law was silent on other sources of water for drinking and cooking,” Masur says. State law does not require districts to test for lead, a shortcoming further enabled by a recent change that relaxes requirements for school districts to report results when they

DOUGLASS GROSS

David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, says that in failing to require water filters for kitchen faucets, the School District of Philadelphia’s plan has put students at risk.

do test. Philadelphia, however, operates a robust lead testing system and spends millions of dollars on filters to protect students, making it an outlier in the state. Victoria Flemming, executive director of SDP’s Office of Environmental Management and Services, says the district tests every potable water source — about 3,100 in total — within its roughly 220 school buildings every five years, as required by the 2017 law. That means the district has now sampled every potential source of contamination twice. The 37 faucets found to contain more than 10 ppb during this most recent cycle represent a little over 1% of all faucets. The district has access to more than $5 million in federal funding to install water filters, and last year successfully completed its initiative to place more than 2,400 filtered hydration stations in the district’s hallways, at a 1-to-100 student ratio, as required by the 2022 law. The federal funding, made available through a $5 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, is also used to pay for “point-of-use” filters where high lead levels are found in places like kitchens and nurses’ offices. These devices are placed directly into the plumbing beneath a sink to filter out lead before it reaches the tap. “The day we get [high] test results back, the outlet is turned off … and there’s no continued use of it until we’ve come up with a corrective action,” Flemming says, calling the district’s strategy “quite proactive.” Masur says the district’s approach to drinking water fountains and other water sources like kitchen sinks are fundamentally different, but that they shouldn’t be. As a result of the 2022 City law, the district is required to install filtered hydration stations on every floor of every school building, even if high lead levels were not previously found there. That gives students and staff surety that their water is safe to drink. Masur says that on the other hand, the ongoing effort to find-and-fix contaminated water in kitchens or other rooms represents a reactive approach to filtration. The problem is exacerbated, Masur says, by the devilish nature of lead, in which a tap that previously tested clean can later become contaminated due to aging pipes, changes in water chemistry or other factors. “It’s likely that even kitchen and nurse

sinks that tested negative for lead in their most recent round of testing will inevitably have a percentage test positive in the next round,” Masur says. The latest testing results are cause for concern, current Philadelphia city councilmembers told Grid. That includes Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, who previously addressed lead issues as a member of the Local Government Advisory Committee for the EPA. “Hearing that there may be elevated levels of lead in active food preparation areas is deeply concerning, not only as a Councilmember who has worked to ensure our children have access to healthy drinking water, but as a public school parent of children who eat breakfast and lunch at

cording to district testing data. It wasn’t the first time lead was found in tap water in the building, which was constructed more than a century ago. Testing results show that in 2017, lead was found at 27 ppb in its kitchen, and 130 ppb in a field house kitchen. Then in 2022, two more faucets in the high school’s kitchen were found to have lead at 43 ppb and 19 ppb. In all cases, the faucets were immediately taken out of service and notifications sent to the school community, district documents show. And yet, testing in July 2025 found the hit for 6,200 ppb in what the district’s testing report logs as a “sink in middle of kitchen” used for food prep. Two other faucets in a kitchen by the school’s office also tested at 13 and 23 ppb, the latter of which is the same

I appreciate the School District’s quick response when lead is discovered, but we need to be more proactive about this. No parent should have to wonder if the water in their kid’s school is safe.” JAMIE GAUTHIER,

Philadelphia City Councilmember

school,” Gilmore Richardson says. “This warrants immediate attention and a thorough review to understand the scope of the issue and ensure appropriate steps are being taken.” Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, chair of Council’s Environment committee and a co-sponsor of the 2022 bill, says that while the City and district have made “real progress,” the results indicate the work isn’t finished. “I appreciate the School District’s quick response when lead is discovered, but we need to be more proactive about this. No parent should have to wonder if the water in their kid’s school is safe,” Gauthier says. Where lead was found The persistent challenge of addressing lead was revealed in the testing results of schools like Roxborough High School, where the sky-high sample of 6,200 ppb was found in a kitchen sink in the summer of 2025, ac-

faucet that tested at 19 ppb in 2022. Flemming says the 6,200 ppb result was taken from a faucet that investigators later discovered to have its cold and hot water lines mixed up. Hot water is known to corrode lead and thus is not recommended for use in cooking or drinking, even in domestic settings. “It was an anomaly,” Flemming says, referring to the plumbing mixup that led to the astronomically high result. But Shanée Garner, executive director of the nonprofit Lift Every Voice Philly and a former policy director for Gym who worked on the 2017 law, was incredulous that such high lead levels are still being found in district schools. “6,200 parts per billion is insane,” Garner says. “It’s 10 years later, you know what I mean?” District documents show the three Roxborough faucets were shut off and then retested this spring after filtration was inN OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 27

education

28 GRID P H IL LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 2026

UNWELL WATER School District of Philadelphia sites with lead ﬁndings above 10 ppb during the most recent testing cycle (2023-2026). Elementary schools are red, middle schools are gold and high schools are blue. 13

17 3 7 18

11 5 8 21

16 1 20 9

HIGH SCHOOLS 15. The U School @ Ferguson 16. Motivation High School 17. Northeast High School 18. Olney High School 19. School of the Future 20. South Philadelphia High School 21. Strawberry Mansion High School 22. Swenson Arts & Technology High School

Risks to students Just how much lead exposure students endured, and any resulting health impacts, would prove tough to pin down. Because the district tests all potable water sources every five years, and these contaminated sources were found during a second five-year cycle, it stands to reason that high lead levels began to appear sometime in between the two testing cycles. But the exact date would be unknowable.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 1. G.W. Childs Elementary School 2. Eleanor C. Emlen School 3. Thomas K. Finletter School 4. Anne Frank Elementary School 5. Francis Hopkinson School 6. John F. McCloskey School 7. Andrew J. Morrison School 8. Hon. Luis Muñoz-Marín Elementary School 9. Penrose School 10. William Rowen School 11. Edward T. Steel School MIDDLE SCHOOLS 12. AMY @ James Martin 13. Baldi Middle School 14. The Science Leadership Academy at Beeber

There’s also variability in how district schools prepare food. Lisa Norton, executive director of SDP’s Office of Food Services, says that 147 district schools use “full service” kitchens, meaning food is actually prepared there, and tap water could be used for tasks like making pasta or washing fruits and vegetables. Another 111 locations use prepackaged food that is warmed up for students without the use of tap water. Health experts say that using lead-con-

S O U R C E : P H I L A S D.O R G

stalled. The retesting results came in below the district’s 10 ppb safety and action level, with two faucets testing at 4 ppb and the third at 3.2 ppb. Across all district schools during the most recent testing cycle, high lead results were found at 13 middle schools, 12 high schools and three middle schools. Other results exceeding 100 ppb were found in a culinary arts kitchen at Randolph High School (400 ppb) near East Falls, in the kitchen of Julia de Burgos Elementary School (250 ppb) in North Philadelphia in the kitchen of Edison High School (100 ppb) in North Philadelphia, and in the kitchen of Thurgood Marshall Elementary School (100 ppb) in Olney. Other affected elementary schools were: Childs Elementary School, Emlen Elementary School, Thomas K. Finletter Elementary School and Little School House, Ann Frank Elementary School, Hopkinson Elementary School, John F. McCloskey Elementary School, Andrew J. Morrison Elementary School, Munoz-Marin Elementary School, Penrose Elementary School, William Rowen Elementary School and Steel Elementary School. Other affected high schools were: The U School @ Ferguson High School, Motivation High School, Northeast High School and Field House, Olney High School, School of the Future High School, South Philadelphia High School, Strawberry Mansion High School and LP Hill, and Swenson Arts and Technology High School. Impacted middle schools were AMY @ James Martin and Baldi Middle School. The Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, which serves students in grades 5 through 12, was listed as both a high school and middle school in the district’s testing data. In nearly all cases at all schools, high lead results were found at just one or two taps, while numerous other faucets at the schools — in some cases dozens — tested below the district’s 10 ppb action level. In all instances, the district’s records show, the contaminated water sources were immediately taken offline and the school community notified. The district maintains a public-facing database that includes test results and notification letters for all district schools, located at philasd.org/environmental/#watersafety.

taminated water to prepare food is dangerous because the toxic metal does not boil out of water and can contaminate food like pasta or rice when the water is absorbed. In one instance, researchers found a North Carolina boy who was being exposed to 20 ppb of lead in his home tap water, and calculated that a single serving of pasta prepared with the water contained the same amount of lead as a dime-sized paint chip. Once they began to filter the water, the boy’s blood lead levels decreased. Marilyn Howarth, an environmental health expert at the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Pennsylvania, says that schools are particularly important places to address lead, since children can also be exposed to the metal in tap water or peeling paint at home, in soil on playgrounds, and other environments. “That adds up, and is why I would say we have a public responsibility to protect them in schools,” Howarth says. Howarth agrees with most public health experts that there is no safe level of lead, and that the goal for exposure should always be zero. Children exposed to lead can suffer from irreversible harms including lowered IQ, damage to the brain and nervous systems, learning and behavioral difficulties, slowed growth, hearing problems and headaches, according to the EPA. “Lead is a toxic metal that can be harmful to human health even at low exposure levels,” the EPA’s website reads. Adults can also suffer reproductive harms, high blood pressure, nerve disorders, cognitive issues and muscle and joint pain. Long-term exposures, such as through contaminated drinking water, food sources or lead paint, present the most risk. Policy problems Because lead was widely used in plumbing and paints prior to the 1990s, it remains a challenging public health threat nationally, in both homes and buildings that are even just a few decades old. Policymakers often struggle to respond. Masur, with PennEnvironment, is a critic of Pennsylvania state law, which does not require school districts to test for lead, so long as school administrators discuss the topic at a public meeting at least once a year. Through

a provision tucked into this summer’s state budget negotiations, lawmakers weakened protections further, requiring districts to only report lead results to the state if they test above 5 ppb, whereas they previously had to report any results above zero. Masur was already skeptical of school districts’ compliance with the law, saying it wasn’t clear if the state is actually tracking and enforcing whether districts were performing testing or discussing the topic at a public meeting. And echoing public health experts, Masur says that 5 ppb is an arbitrary threshold that could still leave students vulnerable to health impacts. Howarth agrees. “There’s no safe level of lead, because every amount of lead that gets into the body basically can kill brain cells,” Howarth says. “How many brain cells do we want our children to be losing?” For that reason, Philadelphia was wise to adopt a proactive policy to install hydration stations in every school, she adds, since it protects against any lead from water fountains, and the possibility that a fountain that tested low could later spike. “You can’t rely on a test of 2 parts per billion or 5 parts per billion,” Howarth says. “What you have identified is that there is lead in that infrastructure, and so if a child walks in and they’re the first ones to drink out of that water fountain after a weekend, they may get a far higher number.” That presents potential issues with the School District of Philadelphia’s ongoing approach to test and remediate water sources like kitchen taps. Testing results from the most recent cycle show at least 19 additional schools had results between 5 and 10 parts per billion, bringing the total number of schools with test results above 5 ppb to 47 — more than one in five district schools. District documents do not indicate that water sources at those 19 schools immediately received filters. But asked about the results, district spokesperson Monique Braxton said in mid-September that the district is adopting a “new standard” of 5 ppb, in line with new recommendations from the state Department of Education. “As part of that process, we are reviewing the locations with previous results between 5 ppb and 10 ppb to assess the sources of lead and implement any corrective action needed,” Braxton wrote in an email.

Flemming says the district’s prior use of 10 ppb was still more protective than federal standards that public drinking water utilities must follow. The EPA requires such utilities to use a 15 ppb “action level,” with compliance calculated by creating an average of a utility’s highest decile of lead results. However, the EPA also maintains a non-enforceable health “goal” of zero lead. The district’s testing results also hint at the growing importance of filter maintenance, now that there are more than 10 hydration stations in each school, on average, plus any point-of-use filters. Two of the district’s hydration stations tested high for lead during the last five-year cycle: a 34 ppb result at Motivation High School, and a 12 ppb result at AMY @ James Martin Middle School. That is just a fraction of a fraction of the 2,400-plus stations installed so far, but advocates say it underscores the need for the district to remain on top of maintenance. In some instances, other faucets that tested above 10 ppb this cycle, and then received a filter, were still showing measurable lead levels after installation. In one example, a faucet listed as a food preparation source at a kitchen in Penrose Elementary School tested at 28 ppb in January 2023. In a letter sent to the school community a month later, the district says it installed a point-ofuse filter and retested the faucet. Lead was found at 6.2 ppb, and the district considered “remediation complete.” The district has not posted any additional testing results since then, but the water source will presumably now be addressed under the district’s new 5 ppb policy. Flemming says the district has established a careful and thorough testing system where each water source is assigned a number and scannable barcode to avoid any mixup. Hydration stations have a visible green-yellow-red system to indicate filter health, and all filters are changed at least once a year, she says. She acknowledged the district’s efforts to address lead are ongoing, and says that the fact that the district continues to identify and fix problems demonstrates that they take the matter seriously. “We want to identify locations where we have an issue and we need to take a corrective measure,” Flemming says. “And we want to do it proactively across the district.” ◆ N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HI LLY.COM 29

local food

A Real Green Star A Michelin-honored vegan restaurant centers seasonality and neighborhood values by julia lowe

an Graye, in his crisp white chef shirt and apron, is not the likeliest image of a gardener. But the chef of Northern Liberties vegan restaurant Pietramala stalks around a plot in Liberty Lands Community Garden, snipping at herb bushes and tucking the sprigs neatly into a small wooden box. He plucks at rosemary sprigs and fennel blossoms, tossing out names for plant parts and their flavor before he moves on to the next bush: a marigold leaf that’s zesty like a citrus peel, the berry of a sansho plant that tingles like a Sichuan peppercorn, a sour clover-shaped leaf of wild sorrel. Pietramala sources ingredients only from nearby farms and from plants growing just three blocks away in Liberty Lands. Last November, the now 4-year-old restaurant became the first in Philadelphia to receive the Michelin Guide’s Green Star, honoring Pietramala as an industry leader for sustainable practices. Just six months later, Michelin began phasing out its Green Star program. But for Graye, sustainability was never about the badge — cooking any other way “was never really an option.” “I’m vegan. The restaurant’s vegan. We view the world in a certain way, and this is just how we live our lives and how we operate. So it was never like, ‘Hey, we’re going to open a sustainably minded restaurant,’” Graye says. “That’s already built into the ethos from the inception.” Graye says the restaurant’s main sustain30 GR ID P H I L LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 2026

The herb sprigs that chef Ian Graye harvests in the afternoon from Pietramala’s plot in Liberty Lands Community Garden garnish beverages at dinner service the same evening.

able practice is its sourcing. Instead of writing a menu and acquiring the ingredients that fit, Pietramala builds its dishes around what’s available at local farms. Inscribed to the left of each dish listed on the menu is the name of the farm that provided its central ingredients. “Every single day of the week that we’re open, Tuesday to Saturday, we’re getting something through the door from a different farm. We’re utilizing that from root to leaf, top to bottom,” Graye says. Using the entire ingredient often means getting creative with food scraps: “We take any of that trim, we’re fermenting, preserving it, we’re pickling it. We’re using it in a beverage, infusing it into a vinegar, figuring

out all of these different ways that we can not waste something that was so lovingly grown by someone that we know.” Those close relationships with farmers mean the restaurant shares in its providers’ hardships: if a local crop fails during a season, Graye won’t seek to source the same crop from farther away. The menu will adapt to feature something else — these minor changes are common with seasonality. A late spring frost delayed the peak of pepper season this year, creating a culinary “microseason” that inspired pairings of chilies and sweet peppers with autumn ingredients just beginning to flourish. One dish features roasted honeynut squash from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, piped P HOTOS BY J ESS BENJA MI N

Pietramala’s roasted honeynut squash from Lancaster Farm Fresh is piped with a puree of habanada and habanero peppers and served over pumpkin seed tahini.

Every single day of the week that we’re open, Tuesday to Saturday, we’re getting something through the door from a different farm. We’re utilizing that from root to leaf, top to bottom.” IAN GRAYE, Pietramala with a puree of both habanero and habanada peppers (“habaneros that have been bred to have no spice,” Graye says) as well as preserved local husk cherries. The squash is encrusted with puffed grains and laid on a dark pool of tahini made only with roasted pumpkin seeds. The occasional habanada pepper in the dish grew on the plant in the restaurant’s plot at Liberty Lands Community Garden. Neither the plant nor the plot is big enough to supply all of the key ingredient for any dish, but restaurant staff use the plot to grow herbs and garnishes for beverages, as

well as other produce to supplement their main supply. Liberty Lands is a privately owned, volunteer-run park in Northern Liberties. Its community garden has 37 plots, each of which is privately managed and gardened for an annual fee of $90 for a full plot or $45 for a half, plus additional required service duties, says Francesca Yepikhina, president of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association. Pietramala is currently the only business at the garden with a plot; household gardeners plant the rest. Max Gordon, Pietramala’s forager and garden manager,

mainly maintains the restaurant’s plot. Early on, Graye says, he wanted a location close to the restaurant where they could grow herbs, and tasked Gordon with finding a space. When Gordon applied for a Liberty Lands plot on behalf of the restaurant in late 2022, Yepikhina was interested in their idea of growing food there that would then be served in the neighborhood. But there were no plots available at the time. “Right now, we have like 50 people on the waitlist,” Yepikhina says. “It takes anywhere from two to five years to come off the waitlist for a plot.” Graye and Gordon asked if, while on the waitlist, they could plant along the garden’s perimeter on the Bodine Street side of the garden. Yepikhina says the walkway space had previously only been used to get around her plot and a neighbor’s, so they offered up the roughly 1-foot-wide strip to the restaurant to grow herbs. “They had every right to just say no,” Graye says. “And they were like, ‘Yeah, come on in. No one’s ever asked us that before.’” The following year, a gardener with a full plot decided to leave, creating two vacant half-plots. “We were able to bring in a new person off the waitlist, as we wanted to do, and gave the other half to the restaurant,” Yepikhina says. Now, the restaurant’s sage, thyme, lavender, bronze fennel, basil and shiso plants cover its surface. Gordon says that a culinary benefit of the garden is “having access to flowering things, which have a different kind of flavor because they push a lot of their energy into that.” It allows staff to capture those brief moments of taste by minimizing distance and time between harvest and plate. Gordon and Graye also connect with

N OV E M B E R 20 26 G R I DP HILLY.COM 31

local food

other gardeners, who sometimes stop by the restaurant to drop off some of their harvests. “People are always sharing things with us, and then, in turn, asking what we would do with things or how we would use things. And we get to share the food knowledge that we have,” Graye says. When Pietramala was announced as the recipient of the Michelin Green Star last fall, it was a “total game changer” for the restaurant, Graye says. “Within minutes, we were sold out for the rest of the year. And to be honest, at that point, we were probably on the verge of closing. So that award really pulled us out of the fire and really made people more aware of us.” But Graye had been skeptical of how the star was awarded in the first place. He recalls completing a questionnaire for the Guide that essentially asked him to summarize the restaurant’s sustainability efforts in a few sentences. “I remember I got cut off very quickly because there was a word count on it, and I was like, I can’t even write all the things that we do because it’s not enough space.” It was basically an honor system, Graye says. “There was no audit. The anonymity of the Guide prevents them from doing that,” he says. Michelin said in an emailed statement that Green Star restaurants completed a questionnaire about restaurants’ mindful practices in addition to the anonymous visit conducted as part of standard Star selections. “It’s hard to bite the hand that feeds, because it did save us. But it was always something that I was skeptical of, and I feel like with them discontinuing it, I don’t really find the Guide to be legitimate anymore.” With or without the Guide, or other accolades, Graye says Pietramala will stay true to its values. “This just comes naturally to us. It’s not something that we really are preaching loudly. If you pay attention, it’s there.” Closing the gate to the community garden behind him, the still apron-clad Graye cradles his box of garnish for the evening’s plates. He walks through the school-pickup crowd back to the restaurant, past its windowed facade and under the green globe lamp at the doorway. With hours until dinner service, he sets the box on the kitchen pass, in full view of Second Street. ◆ 32 GRID P H IL LY.CO M NOVEM BE R 20 26

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