UPDATE (4/8/2024):

Film production trucks and trailers were parked along 52nd Street on Monday while filming took place at Malcolm X Park.

(4/7/2024): Several streets around Malcolm X. Park will be closed from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday, April 8 as a film crew from the Netflix show The Madness shoots in the park.

Friends of Malcolm X. Park reported that public access to the park will also be closed during these hours. The streets adjacent to the park have been posted and remaining cars will be towed to a nearby street.

Here’s a letter from the production company with more details:

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Here’s some great news for Alain Locke Elementary School students and the surrounding community. Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national nonprofit that helps connect communities to the benefits and joys of the outdoors, has announced the groundbreaking for the revitalization of Alain Locke’s schoolyard into a dynamic community space. A barren, cracked asphalt lot will be transformed into a green oasis for the entire neighborhood to enjoy!

Located at 4550 Haverford Avenue, Alain Locke School has long been a cornerstone of the community. With a goal to foster learning and community engagement, TPL has partnered with the City of Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia, Drexel University and the Philadelphia Water Department to reimagine the schoolyard as a multifunctional space that will serve as a catalyst for social, recreational, and educational activities.

The transformation of the schoolyard will include the installation of new play equipment, green infrastructure elements, and outdoor classrooms. These enhancements will not only provide students with a safe and engaging environment for learning and play but also create opportunities for residents of all ages to come together, connect with nature, and lead active lifestyles.

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In an ongoing effort to make voting more accessible for Philadelphia citizens, the City Commissioners Office has opened the first of 10 new and permanent satellite election offices (SEO) at 4029 Market Street. The grand opening attended by state and city officials, including Mayor Cherelle Parker, took place this morning.

Satellite offices will be installed in all 10 council districts and will be open 7 days a week. At each office, residents will be able to register to vote, request and receive a mail ballot, complete it and return it.

“As Chairman Commissioner of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, I am thrilled to unveil the first of our 10 new Satellite Election Offices,” Chairman Sabir said prior to today’s event. “These offices represent a significant step forward in our commitment to making voting more accessible and convenient for all Philadelphia citizens.”

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Here’s an update on the proposed redesign of 47th and 48th streets south of Market that was presented in the past six months at a series of community meetings attended by hundreds of neighbors. The City is moving on with the 48th Street repaving project and has put the 47th Street layout redesign and repaving on hold, according to the Garden Court Community Association newsletter.

The 48th Street redesign will run from Kingsessing Avenue to Market Street. The plan incorporates traffic calming measures and greener travel options, proposed by the City and supported by neighborhood residents and neighborhood community groups.

“Under this design, 48th Street would remain a two-way street with parking on both sides, but its excess width would be re-organized to create substantially shorter crosswalks and a northbound bicycle lane fully separated from vehicular traffic,” according to the newsletter.

Repaving of 48th Street is expected to take place this spring.

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The 5400 block of Woodland Avenue has been officially named “Dr. Minnie Moore Johnson Way” after longtime Southwest Philadelphian and community leader, Dr. Minnie Moore Johnson.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier also presented a resolution honoring Dr. Johnson’s service to Southwest Philadelphia and the city at large.

Dr. Johnson moved to Philadelphia from Brooklyn as a teenager and became a social worker and community servant. She volunteered to provide food to seniors at Thanksgiving in 1968. Two decades later, in 1988, she hosted Thanksgiving dinner for more than 25,000 seniors at the then-Philadelphia Civic Center, garnering recognition by the Smithsonian Institute for her efforts, which was credited as the largest “one-day feeding in the history of the City.”

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Over the years, University City District (UCD) has provided important services and organized many community events and activities in the neighborhood (Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, Movies in Clark Park, etc.). Many residents have used such services as walking escorts, vehicle jumpstarts and lock-out assistance. UCD has also organized neighborhood cleaning events and regularly removes trash from the district trash cans. It has also supported local businesses through various events and initiatives/fundraising and has been involved with public space maintenance/activation, workforce development training programs, and more.

To better understand where they are performing well and where they might improve, UCD has launched a public survey.

Those who complete this survey and provide contact information, will be eligible to win one of five $100 gift cards to a University City restaurant. Winners will be chosen after the survey closes in April of 2024 and alerted via email.

The survey can be accessed via this link.