The major redevelopment project of converting the long-vacant former Provident Mutual Life Insurance building site into a public services complex, including headquarters for the Philadelphia Police Department, has been going on for about a year and a half now. Recently we checked on the site and saw that the 88-year-old building’s facade was already partially renovated.

According to this sign posted at the site, the work on the building’s facade and roof improvements is expected to be completed in December 2016.

As we reported earlier, the whole complex, which will also house the Department of Public Health and the Medical Examiner’s Office and Morgue and will include a plaza with public art installations, is expected to be completed by 2018. The complex will stretch from 46th to 48th Street and from Market Street to Haverford Avenue.

UPDATE (8:00 p.m.): Penn officials identified the student who was struck and killed this morning by a SEPTA subway train as 21-year-old Ao “Olivia” Kong. She was a Philadelphia native and a graduate of Central High School, Philly.com reports.

UPDATE (2:44 p.m.) The University of Pennsylvania has confirmed that the woman struck by an eastbound Market-Frankford line train and killed this morning at the 40th Street station was a Penn student. Penn President Amy Gutmann indicated in an e-mail to students and staff this afternoon that the student was a junior. Her name was not released. Police have said there was no indication that she was pushed onto the tracks. The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that the woman was a student in the Wharton School.

An eastbound Market-Frankford Line train struck and killed a woman at about 7 a.m. on Monday at the 40th Street station, according to reports.

Service was suspended between the 30th Street and 52nd Street stations until 9:40 a.m. and shuttle buses were provided along Market Street.

There was no indication that the woman fell or was pushed onto the track, according to SEPTA.

The Philadelphia Streets Department is conducting street improvement work, including road surfacing, in some parts of West Philadelphia this week. Residents are asked to move their cars from the work sites when temporary “No Parking” signs are posted so that vehicles are not towed. If your car has been towed, please contact your local Police District to determine its location.

The work scheduled for this week will be mainly conducted on streets north of Market Street – in Powelton Village, Mantua, West Powelton and Mill Creek neighborhoods. Click here to see if your street or block is scheduled to be resurfaced (weather or special events in the area may alter the resurfacing schedule).

Residents are urged to plan ahead and use alternative routes when traveling in these areas. 

The entire list of streets being paved for the 2016 season has not been completed yet. We’ll post more information as soon as it becomes available.
Continue Reading

Police are investigating the death of a young man, a West Philly resident, who was found with a puncture wound on Sunday morning on the 300 block of South Saint Bernard Street, near Barkan Park. Police believe the man was stabbed.

Medics responded to a call of an unresponsive male lying in the street behind a parked unattended vehicle shortly after 9 a.m. on Sunday and found the man, later identified as 21-year-old Saadiq Abdull Latiyf (aka Saadiq Richardson) with a puncture wound to the upper chest. He was pronounced dead at 9:22 a.m.

18th District police officers responded to the scene and found a cell phone lying next to the victim. No weapon was found.

If you have any information about this crime, please contact Southwest Detective Division at 215-686-3183/3184.

Photos by Jen Roder

A building on the 5000 block of Warrington partially collapsed this morning, injuring a man inside a vehicle. The incident was reported shortly after 6 a.m.. The man was reportedly trapped in the car by the bricks that crushed it after the building collapse. The collapse sent bricks as far as the other side of the street. The man was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, 6ABC reports.

It’s not known what caused the collapse of the building, and if there was anyone inside it. Fire officials were on scene checking the building, and inspectors from Licences and Inspection were expected to arrive, according to 6 ABC.

The video below was shot by a neighbor, Jen Roder.

And here’s what the building looked like before the collapse (Google Street View image, 2012).

Summer is rapidly approaching, which means block party season is just around the corner. The Block Party permit application process has recently been made easier, and traveling to the Municipal Services Building and waiting in line is no longer necessary. Residents can now pay and submit their application online and receive the permit by e-mail.

Block Party permits allow residents to close their street to traffic for a party on a weekend or a summer holiday, such as Memorial Day, July 4th or Labor Day. NOTE: Applications for weekday block parties or Street Festival Permits are not offered online at this time.  Continue Reading