Starting today, Philadelphia restaurants can offer limited indoor dining to customers, in addition to outdoor dining and takeout/delivery options. Restaurants are now allowed to seat guests inside at 25 percent capacity, according to a new regulation by the City, and have to follow strict social distancing and other COVID-19 safety rules.

Many city restaurants have been preparing for socially distanced indoor dining – separating tables at least six feet apart and installing barriers. Here are other rules that restaurants have to follow if they want to reopen indoor dining:

• The maximum of four diners per table is allowed.

• Servers must wear both masks and face shields for additional protection.

• Bar service is not allowed. Alcohol can be served when in the same transaction as a meal.

• Food establishments are required to be closed for service by midnight.

• Restaurants must install physical barriers in restaurant kitchens and at cash registers and food pick up areas where maintaining physical distance of at least six feet is difficult.

• Restaurants must screen every employee for symptoms before every shift and prevent them from remaining on-site if they have any COVID-19 symptoms, such as cough, fever, shortness of breath or loss of taste or smell.

Check out the video below for more information:

The city has launched an Eviction Diversion Program to help tenants and landlords with payment arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program enables landlords and tenants to arrive at an agreement that works for both parties, without having to go to court. The program is a required process for all landlords with tenants who have had difficulty paying rent due to a COVID-19 related hardship.

This summer, the City introduced two phases of rental assistance, but doesn’t have enough funding to meet the overwhelming need.  Continue Reading

Here’s a great new way to dispose of unwanted clothing and electronics in an environmentally safe way instead of sending them to a landfill.

The City’s SmartCityPHL initiative has recently launched a new pilot recycling program with Retrievr and what’s even better is that your unwanted items will be picked up from your doorstep! Retrievr’s service covers the entire city, all you have to do is schedule a pick-up time with them, then bag or box your items and leave them by your door!

The service is absolutely free for clothing and small electronics pickup, but the company charges a small fee for large electronics like TVs, microwaves, and air conditioners. Note: you can recycle these items for free at sanitation convenience centers.  Continue Reading

Blue Stoop, a literary hub supporting Philadelphia writers and readers from all walks of life, is offering 8-week writing classes for the 2020 Fall season, including Foundations of Fiction Writing, Foundations of Cultural Essay Writing, and Foundations of Poetry Writing. All classes will be virtual this fall – through Zoom – led by Philadelphia based writers and poets.

The organization is also offering shorter intensives, the first being “Creating the Creative Life You Want” with writer and founder of the online community “Permission to Write,” Ashley Coleman, on Saturday, Aug. 22.  Continue Reading

The City’s Streets Department is expected to collect this week’s trash and recycling a day behind the normal schedule beginning Monday, Aug. 10. Residents should set their trash and recycling materials one day later than their regular day. The Streets Department will use Monday, Aug. 10 to only collect recyclables that have been accumulating curbside from previous weeks.

Streets Department crews have been working hard in the last several days to return to a regular trash and recycling collection schedule after significant delays over the past month due to staffing shortages, increased amount and weather. Trash collections have been on or close to a regular collection schedule over the last week, according to Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams. However, recycling collections have been significantly delayed as the Department prioritized trash collections for health and safety reasons.  Continue Reading

There will be no recycling collections in the city from Wednesday, Aug. 5 through Friday, Aug. 7, the Streets Department announced on Saturday. If these days are your trash/recycling collection days, please hold on to your recyclables until next week.

The Department is still trying to catch up to a regular trash and recycling collection schedule after going off schedule in July, with delays lasting up to 4 days due to shortage of staff and a larger amount of trash and recycling materials last month. While trash collection remains a priority for the Department, recycling collections may still be delayed by several days or even suspended. The city is also currently monitoring a severe weather storm forecast expected to cause high winds and heavy down pours from Hurricane Isaias. Severe weather can cause major delays with trash and recycling collections as it happened in July because of tropical storm Fay.  Continue Reading