The activist group West Philly Food Not Bombs will start serving free food at Malcolm X Park every Friday, beginning today, according to their Facebook page. Some of our readers may know these folks as they used to provide free food to neighbors at the A-Space community center (Facebook page) on Baltimore Ave. The group said that free food, cooked and fresh, will be available every Friday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the park.
Tonight is the last summer jazz concert at Malcolm X Park and West Philly Food Not Bombs will be “off to the side serving food.” Huey Middle School students with the instructors and University of Pennsylvania interns will be helping out too.

Here’s an assortment of events happening in the area this weekend. We hope this list is not too overwhelming. Enjoy your weekend and the warm weather while it lasts. For more upcoming events or if you want to submit an event, visit the West Philly Events Calendar.

Friday, October 4

Bindlestiff Books hosting author Stewart Acuff – 4530 Baltimore Avenue – 7:00 p.m. – This Friday, Bindlestiff Books will host Stewart Acuff, author of Playing Bigger Than You Are: A Life in Organizing. Acuff has spent more than 30 years as a union organizer, including several successful organizing campaigns in the south and serving as national Organizing Director for the AFL-CIO from 2001-2008. The event will be at the bookstore; copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Photo by Kyle Cassidy.

Romeo and Juliet – Curio Theatre (4740 Baltimore Avenue) – 8:00 p.m. – Curio Theatre Company is continuing its season with a production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Curio is taking a very different look at the story by exploring gender roles – they made the decision to case Romeo and Juliet as two teenaged daughters of warring families. The young women fall desperately in love and set off a heartbreaking chain of events.  The same-sex casting proves the universality of Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy of pure, teenage love. Previews begin October 3. The show opens Friday, October 11 and runs through November 2. All performances are at 8 p.m. For more info and tickets ($20), go here. Continue Reading

Once home to the Philly Diner, which closed two years ago after 10 years of fueling college students, the lot at 3901 Walnut Street may soon be the site of an office building, The Daily Pennsylvanian recently reported.

3901 Walnut Street, former site of the Philly Diner / Photo by Annamarya Scaccia (West Philly Local)

The University of Pennsylvania, which owns the plot, plans to erect a six-story office building that will house some of the institution’s administrative offices displaced by the recent construction of the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics off 36^th and Walnut Streets.

According to Penn’s Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services, the project is currently in the proposal stage, with its design and purpose yet to be green lit (funding was already approved, however). The fate of the building currently rests with Penn’s Facilities and Campus Planning Committee of the Trustees, which will meet November 7 to decide.

The Philly Diner closed in October, 2011 and the building was demolished last year. (Archive photo / West Philly Local)

A zoning permit posted at the site, though, does detail Penn’s application to build a six-story office building featuring a green roof, roof top structures, and three bicycle spaces. The zoning permit was approved on September 17. Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services plans to release official information and plans on the project after the November meeting. We will update our readers once we hear from the office.

In 2009, the Philly Diner went from a 24-hour joint to enacting 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. closing times after a late-night shooting occurred outside the university-owned building in February of that year. The owner decided not to renew the lease in 2011, forever closing the doors of a popular—yet troubled—local favorite.

–Annamarya Scaccia

West Philly squatter Jessica Meyers now officially owns this rowhome (with the red bench) near 52nd and Funston.

Awesome news for Jessica Meyers, the heroine of our story “Jessica Meyers, squatter-turned-homeowner, wins bid for home, and loses donations,” originally published in July, 2013. Her dream of home ownership officially came true last week when she paid off the remainder of the auction balance owed for the abandoned rowhome at 52nd and Funston where she had squatted for the past eight years. The Public Housing Authority signed over the deed to the house last Wednesday, NBC Philadelphia reported.

Jessica says going to closing was “amazing.”

“I can’t believe it came to realization and that I came up with the money in two months. It’s a true testament to not giving up,” Jessica told West Philly Local. Jessica landed the winning bid for the legally-abandoned PHA-owned site in July, and had to come up with the remainder, which she partially raised through two online fundraisers, money she received from friends, part-time jobs and selling some of her belongings at flea markets. Some of her friends, though, told her during the two months to just give up. But she didn’t.

Jessica is now putting together a press packet with a letter of request for donation to building material companies like Home Depot, Lowe’s and local lumber yards stating why she needs building materials.

University City is a global city—at least, that was the theme of this year’s The State of University City address hosted by the University City District and the University of Pennsylvania.

The 2013/2014 program, held Monday afternoon at the International House Philadelphia on 37^th and Chestnut Streets, focused on University City’s global reach. University of Pennsylvania Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli and Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Vice Provost of UPenn’s Global Initiatives, both discussed how their institution, as well as Drexel University and University of the Sciences, fosters an international neighborhood connection through its diverse student body and international academic, cultural and social partnerships.

In regards to the larger University City community, University City District Executive Director Matt Bergheiser pointed to recent real estate and commercial developments, cultural and community events, and the neighborhood’s shifting demographics as factors in creating “a global University City.” Each speaker, however, stressed that, while University City does impact the global community at large, people living and working in the neighborhood must continue to promote and support initiatives that are global in practice.

While the panel itself presented numbers relative to this year’s theme, attendees were also given a packet detailing more statistics about University City. In numbers:

• 23 percent of University City households speak a language other than English at home.
• 17 percent of University City’s residents is foreign-born, five percent more than Philadelphia’s overall population.
• According to Dr. Emanuel, the University of Pennsylvania has over 7,000 foreign-born students a year. Combined with Drexel University, that’s about 9,000 foreign-born students. (Dr. Emanuel noted that UPenn doesn’t do its best at integrating University City’s foreign-born residents, which he expects to change with the construction of the university’s Perry World House.)
• Nearly $3.5 billion of new or recently completed real estate projects.
• University City has over 72,000 jobs, with a 93 percent office occupancy rate and 89% retail occupancy rate.
• About 16 academic, commercial, medical/biomedical, or residential/mixed-use properties being constructed within the next three years.
• Average property values have tripled since 2000, from over $100,000 to over $300,000 in 2012.
• Cost of living in University City is 28 percent lower than Center City.
• The number of 20- to 34-year-olds living in University City has increased by 21 percent between 2000 and 2010, with 20- to 24-year-olds making up the highest number of residents.
• Racially, the population breaks down as follows: 25 percent Black or African-American, 20 percent Asian, and 50 percent White.
• In 2012, rate of serious crimes in University City was down 50 percent since 1998, compared to just under 25 percent for the city overall.
• Between 1998 and 2012, University City experienced a -44 percent change in rate of violent crime per 1,000 residents, compared to a -16 percent change in the City of Philadelphia.  Continue Reading

Photo from West Philly Grows Again Facebook page.

West Philly grows again… and again and again. If your child needs something and you don’t want to pay retail, check out the “West Philly Grows Again” kids’ consignment sale this Saturday, Oct 5. This is an annual event benefiting St. Mary’s Nursery School, so you’ll also be contributing to a great cause.

As always, there will be tons of great deals on clothing, toys, games, and other things that local kids have outgrown, all in great condition. The sale will be held at St. Mary’s Nursery School (3916 Locust Walk) on Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

A limited number of Friday evening (9-10 p.m.) pre-sale tickets are available. The cost of the ticket ($20) will offset the cost of renting the space and running the sale. The ticket is good for a child-free shopping evening complete with wine and cheese. Please contact the West Philly Grows Again team at: westphillygrowsagain@stmarysnursery.org for more details and availability.

For more information about this event, click here or visit the event’s Facebook page.