I also have pictures here, but only if someone wants to look at them --
-- of some of the things that I'll be talking about. I've already said what I'm representing. There are concerns -- I want to talk first about one of our concerns as a 86 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. business. One of my major current concerns is the construction of a huge pillar right in the center of our door at 6011 Market Street.
It's a pillar, a post, cement post, right in the center of our door. Now, my husband and I have been involved in meetings since the beginning of this project, and one of those was that there would not ever be a structure right in your door. It would be between buildings or in front of vacant buildings or in front of a place with a space, but not right in front of the door. It encroaches on our property to the amount of about seven feet and interferes with future plans we might have had for that space. In the early years of planning, we were told by representatives of SEPTA that such structures, as I just mentioned, would be not placed between buildings to obscure the front entrance of a business. 87 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. SEPTA has not been in contact with us regarding this obstruction to our business, although we have informed them of our concern. I have driven along Market Street, and very seldom -- I didn't see anywhere where such a structure as this, a huge cement structure, was right in front of a door. Other issues affecting all of our businesses, and now I'm talking as an officer of our business association, are the following: Loss of revenue everyone knows about, but no compensation, except what the Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell has secured for us, has come forth, and we have lost up to 75 percent of our business, many of us. We have asked for a moratorium on taxes. We are paying taxes just as before and we have no income coming in. There are discretionary funds that perhaps could be used to relieve us of certain taxes that are affecting us as businesses that are not doing business because of this construction. I feel there is less police presence in our area now. It looks like a war zone, 88 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. and I think we should see the presence of police. We had foot patrols before. And with those huge trucks and fences that are up, you cannot see around certain corners and all, and at night it looks very dangerous. So don't forget us just because construction is going on there. We still need policemen walking the beats. The Parking Authority met several times regarding how they could help businesses with their parking concerns. I went to one meeting where they talked about giving tickets to business people. They did it on Baltimore Avenue, but nothing has happened. New laws have come out regarding how we should park, and as has already been mentioned here, people have received tickets. Other incidents, which we had to refer to Baker & Associates, we did get a good response. We're in contact with Michael Tucker, and many cases he has responded, and we appreciate that but, I think you should still note about why we needed to call him. There was a hose running. Now, 89 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. there's a big hole in front of our store where they're going to put the pillar and there was a hose running from the construction site at 60th and Market draining into that hole. Now, we know when it gets mushy and rainy and so forth, that was going to be a problem, just standing water, sitting in that hole. So we had to call about that. There was also at one point a porter-potty sitting in front of businesses when it should have been down on the corner where the work was taking place, and the odor of it was flowing in front of our businesses. Now, these fences that are up can be moved back and forth, but they put them in such a way that it really is hard on people living in the area to even get around these fenced constructions. There was a fence at Edgewood and Market so close to the phone booth that no one could get around it with a baby carriage or a shopping cart. So you could not even come on the sidewalk leading up to the businesses beyond that sidewalk.
Excuse 90 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. me, Ms. Willis. I will pass these pictures around so some of you can see what we're talking about while she's speaking. Thank you. Continue.
Right. You actually could not get past the fence and the post. And these are just things -- the fences are made so they can be put in such a way that traffic can take place. Pedestrians or handicapped, you have to be there to see how hard it was for them to walk all around the way to get to one part of the street, when with just some consideration to the people there and locating them in such a way that it would make transportation and walking easy. When work is at a standstill, traffic is still blocked off. Now, they mentioned that the contract at 63rd and Market is no longer, that they're not even -- I mean, that has ended, but look how long that has been blocked off. We were blocked for about four weeks from 60th to 63rd, and neither traffic, walking or riding traffic, was going 91 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. on at that point. And if it was, the people who were walking, it was very hard and difficult, especially for the elderly. When they stop construction and no 6 work is going on, I cannot see why the fence cannot be removed so that construction can take place and some of these side streets can be opened up. About a couple of days before Thanksgiving, I will say that they opened up the street so traffic could flow on both sides of the street, but we were hurting up to that point. And, of course, as I mentioned before, we need monetary help to offset our losses. And that might be forthcoming, but a tax break would also be helpful. But not only should we consider the businesses, we should consider the people that live in those areas, because I've seen people struggle to just walk from Edgewood to 60th Street. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Willis. We note that for many of you, 92 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. because the streets run the same as downtown, they have had streets closed from Chestnut to Arch and then you have little streets in between, and a lot of seniors, you can't get through the sidewalks, everything is a mess, and then when it rains, it's muddy. It's been a real, real -- it's been an absolute horrendous problem. And let me note that we've also asked the Administration -- and I say this to Commerce as well -- we have asked about the taxes. We have asked that they be deferred or forgiven or forgotten, something, some help, but it appears that for some reason these people, their plight has not been taken to heart as it should be by those of us who have the responsibility to try to help in this matter. And we would like to note that we hope that somebody can come forward after they make their remarks. I wrote down five issues that Ms. Willis spoke of. One are the pillars and what happens with the holes that are being dug 93 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. and the odors therein when it rains, et cetera. Second was moratorium on taxes. Third was their financial compensation during this construction issue, and fourth was the discrepancy regarding how funds are used and fifth was fences. It seems to me that that's easy. The whole issue of fences being moved around, they do them all the time, should not even be a question. So I stand corrected, if you would like to correct those terse notes I made, Ms. Willis.
My name is Jerry Jordan and I own the restaurant at the 5211 Market Street, and I've been up there 94 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. possibly four years. I remodeled the whole restaurant. I put $200,000 in the restaurant. Before SEPTA started, I was doing a good business. I have ten employees working for me. After SEPTA started, I went from 100 percent down to 80. I had to lay off. And I went from 80 down to 40, and from 40 to zero. I still have to pay the bank each week. That's $500 a week. That's $2,000 a month. Whether I'm open or whether I'm closed, they want their money. The second thing is, I just heard SEPTA speak about how to clean up 52nd Street and keep everything -- I'm up there every day. They have cars up underneath the El there. They had a wreck, an accident, with a station wagon car. They pushed it right up underneath the bridge, right in front of my building up underneath of there. It hasn't been cleaned. It's dirty from 53rd all the way down there to 50th and Market. Mostly up there you have the hacks up there that park their cars. You have a lot of the people just walking around up there. 95 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. Nothing has been cleaned. If some of the SEPTA people that are here today go up there right now, they'll see it's dirty from one end to the other. They will see abandoned cars under there. They will see cars -- there's been accidents pushed underneath of there. Something has to be done, and they always say that they're going to try to do something with us. Nobody has been around. They bring you papers, Mr. Jordan, we're going to do this or can we help do something. They will say they're going to do it and don't do it at all. And I want to know, why is it that you can't park on the street when you had meters like before and still have to park underneath the El? You at least have more cars park on the street, because if you're underneath that El, each post you only can put two or three cars. And then they say about the lots to park. Now, in my restaurant, I have a lot of older people, senior citizens, that come to 96 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. eat. They're not going to walk two blocks at a parking lot to come eat in my restaurant or to shop. They'll keep riding and go somewhere where they can park. Now, SEPTA says, We're trying to do something for the businesses. They're home. They're home asleep while we're suffering. And if we don't meet anything, we have nothing, and there's nobody going to -- the same thing with me. If I'm going to a restaurant or going to a store and I see there's nowhere to park, I'll keep riding. I'm not going to have my wife get out of the car and walk a block or a block and a half to go eat or a block and a half to go and shop, where there's so many other places. And at nighttime, it is dark. There's no lights but two lights up from 52nd and Market down to 53rd. And I wish some of the SEPTA people that's here today go out there and take a ride up there. It's very dark. You have two lights on one end to the other, and it is dirty underneath of there where those cars are, and you have abandoned 97 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. cars. And I would appreciate it if they did more action than do a lot of talking, because we're the ones that are suffering. I had to close my business down. I had to lay off ten employees behind this, and there's nothing else I could do until they get -- now, they're going to come back next year or so, because the beams that they put in the middle there down in the ground, they have to let that stay for a long while so it settles. They're going to come back again and close us down again. And then when they close us down again, the people are not going to come up there. I asked people to come off the bus and come down the steps from the El. I said, Don't you like to shop up here? The first thing they say, No. We want to hurry up and get the bus home.
They say, There's nothing up there for us. And it's a shame. But I'd appreciate it if SEPTA put a little more effort in doing things like they say they're going to do. I appreciate this 98 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. very much. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jordan. And we note -- and I know I say this every time I talk about SEPTA, and, that is, at 55th and Market, we were out there when we had to prevail upon them to get porter toilets, because the workmen were urinating on people's steps and in their lines. I mean, that is just the ultimate insult and disrespect of a community. And certainly, again, I don't believe that it should be too difficult to check on lighting. We ask that that be done between SEPTA and -- Mr. Denny and Kasim, would you all work with me on that and try to get some light out there? And, again, that's why this time we asked when we passed this little stipend, because it's not enough to even mention, that we put 250,000 in it just to provide for a cleanup so that we can have a neighborhood group, keep the area clean so we don't have to beg people to sweep every day. 99 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. It's just so unbelievable that from 1999 till now we have to beg for every human kind of service. We're not supposed to have to do this. Thank you.
-- Councilwoman. My name is Louis Yancy. I am a landlord business man. I don't have a business in the 5200 block, but I am the landlord/owner of the property at 5248, 52nd and Market, and I'm here because nobody -- well, I thought nobody was addressing the landlords' issue in this whole manner where we have to pay taxes and we have to abide by all the rules and regulations of the City, but we're not getting any compensation or we're not getting any consideration. Like Mr. Jordan has said, I've been up there on 52nd and Market Street and it is very dirty. There are lots of things. I'm 100 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. not there every day like he is, but I do have to go up there and check on my property even though it has been vacant for months now, because nobody wants to start a business up and the one that had started up, he had to fold up. So most of my issues were addressed by the other two, so I won't take up the Council's time reiterating them, but we do need some more consideration from SEPTA. And once I asked about it when it first started, they told me there was nothing I could do, nothing for me as the landlord. It's like "get out the office" almost, not literally saying it, but almost just "get out the office, you're not a business person." But I am a business person. That is income for me, and I have lost a lot of income based on the fact that I can't get a tenant to rent my property. And that's all I had to say. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We totally agree, and as you know, we're trying to do a commercial corridor 101 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. revitalization, and I don't know how we're supposed to attract businesses to these areas. And my greatest fear is that by the end of '08, if we finish then, we won't have any businesses open. So we'll have an El, a new El, but we won't have any businesses there and we will have blighted area underneath and we will have no place for neighborhood people to shop, who are used to dealing with their neighborhood businesses, and seniors who can't go in town to get their hair done or to go shopping or to go to the supermarket or buy the other items they need to have some decent quality of life. It's very, very frustrating to say this over and over and over and over again, and we're very unhappy to have to do that. Do we have anyone else here who would like to testify? Thank you. We note that we did talk with Bill 23 Wilson, who mentioned that he and Jim Baker are going to be dealing with some new initiative with regard to the SEPTA project, 102 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. and we look forward to any fresh energy that we can have. Thank you.
Madam Chairlady, my name is Walter L. Anderson. I'm the owner of Andy's Auto Center at 58th and Market, which I have been there for 35 years. It looks to me that this is not City renewal; it's black removal. Because the ones of us that are old enough to remember, from 32nd and Market to 46th and Market were a lot of black businesses there, and they got rid of all of them. I've lost about 80 percent of my business since this thing has started. I'm going to try my best to hold on, but we're going to have to have some sort of relief, and I imagine the only kind of relief we can get now is taxes and financial. Madam Chairlady, thank you very much for allowing me to have something to say.
Thank you, Mr. Anderson. We thank you and ask that you try to hold on. And certainly we want to know if anybody there has any response to the 103 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. concerns that the businesses have raised. If you are not prepared, we would ask that you prepare something that you can give to us by the first of the week. And let me say that at this point in this whole process, we feel that if we don't get some relief, then we're going to have to decide what we, as their leadership, needs to do to try to help them. I don't know what that will be at this point, but I will tell you, from 1999 to now, it's just too long, and we are not prepared to continue to try to look business folks in the face and tell them, Well, we're sorry. Well, we keep asking them. Well, well, well. It's wrong. It's irresponsible on all of our parts who deal with this issue, and certainly we would be prepared to go to the next level if we do not have some redress, some talk about what we can do to help these businesses. I can only tell you that we are going to prepare to try to do something else from our level and beyond. So having said that, thank you 104 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. again. Is there anyone else here who would like to comment? (No response.)
We thank you very much. Councilman Cohen, we're about ready to wrap it up. Would you like to have something to say, sir? The Chair notes that Councilman Cohen is in the room. He's been a major supporter of this project and of our concerns for the neighborhoods and the residents from the very beginning. We're very, very happy that he could come to the hearing, and we thank him for being here.
I think it's very important what everybody is doing. I think it's an absolute disgrace what SEPTA is proposing to do. I'm, therefore, delighted at this hour to find so many people in the room 22 here. So keep on your fight, with Councilwoman Blackwell helping to lead the fight. I think we're going to get a 105 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. turnaround, but nobody knows how long that will take and we've got to be ready to work very hard every day of the week. To think of Comcast having $30 million made available as a special grant after the $66 billion offer to Disneyland and no money for SEPTA, it makes one wonder what life is all about in Pennsylvania. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. We had like to thank all of those folks who are there on the site who are trying to do their part. I'd like to thank my staff, especially Alisa Orduna-Sneed, Marty Cabry, Jeff Felder, Darwin Beauvais. We'd like to thank all well-meaning people who want to help us have some positive resolve to this horrendous problem. Thank you very much. This hearing will be recessed subject to the call of the Chair, and I note we look forward to hearing a response on the five issues we raised certainly by the first of the week. 106 12/7/04 - Res. No. 040799 - Finance & Trans. Thank you very much. (Committees on Finance and Transportation hearing adjourned at 4:00 p.m.) - - - 107 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on December 7, 2004, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)