The Pitt News
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | September 21, 2017 | Volume 108| Issue 29
7-Eleven forced off Forbes
CATO VS. HERITAGE PG.2
Rachel Glasser News Editor
The 7-Eleven convenience store on Forbes Avenue will close by the end of the month, with Pitt’s Oakland Bakery moving into the location at an unknown date. The owner of the 7-Eleven franchise location, Don Young, said Pitt owns the property and 7-Eleven will move out Sept. 29. “We’re leaving because they want to move their bakery shop here. Corporate told us we had to go,” Young said. University spokesperson Joe Miksch confirmed Pitt made 7-Eleven vacate its space so the Oakland Bakery can take over the location. Miksch did not respond to specific questions about the bakery’s hours or products for the new location. Maggie & Stella’s — a Pitt gift shop located on Oakland Avenue before it closed earlier this summer — will move into the current Oakland Bakery location on Fifth Avenue, according to their website. The current location of Maggie & Stella’s is being outfitted into an Amazon campus pick-up location, according to Joe Eismont, the superintendent for general contractor WR Newman who is overseeing the site’s construction. Many students are disappointed and confused as to why the Oakland Bakery will replace 7-Eleven. Shane Taylor, a senior chemical engineering who frequents the convenience store, is one such student. “For me it’s more convenient to have a 7-Eleven than the bakery,” Taylor said. “I come here often, especially since IGA closed. It’s easier than running down to Giant Eagle in Shadyside.” Anna Tomani, a fifth-year chemical engineering student, said she goes to 7-Eleven at least once a day. “I gotta get all my Rockstars and gum before it’s gone,” Tomani said. “Now I have to go to RiteAid instead.”
Student protesters hold up signs during the Cato vs. Heritage debate before being ushered out by security. Anna Bongardino|ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR
INDIVIDUALS RALLY TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY
Caroline Bourque
Assistant News Editor Disability advocates crowded the sidewalk on the corner of Bigelow Boulevard and Forbes Avenue Wednesday, Sept. 20, to spread information on three key issues they want to reform. These three initiatives — distributed to passersby on multi-colored flyers — focused on problems with accessibility in the Oakland and Greater Pittsburgh area, primarily taking issue with aspects of the Bus Rapid Transit system implemented across the city this past summer. In attendance was Joan Stein, 62, a private ADA consultant from Forest
Hills and an advocate for people with disabilities — individuals whose needs, Stein said, are often overlooked by community planners. “They’re not thinking about people with disabilities or seniors in the planning process,” she said. The BRT project both increases the distance between bus stops — forcing seniors and those with disabilities to travel farther to take public transit — and includes the installment of a protected bike lane which runs along Fifth Avenue, obstructing safe drop-offs for people with disabilities. One rally organizer, DJ Stemmler, age
56, from Allison Park, said the increased distance between stops is especially detrimental to seniors and people with disabilities, and only gets worse in instances of bad weather. “Imagine your grandmother using her walker and she has to catch the bus at the corner of her street,” Stemmler said. “Now she has to walk six blocks.” Stemmler said the addition of a bike lane prioritizes the needs of cyclists over those with disabilities. “We don’t want our rights to be compromised over a community that is not a protected class,” Stemmler said. See Accessibility on page 3