UnLitter US, the movement for a litter free Philadelphia, kicked off in Frankford, Monday morning at 8:30 AM with Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez addressing a small crowd at the Frankford Transportation Center. As is often the case, I was a late arrival and only caught the last minute of her talk. Marie Delaney, President of the Frankford CDC and Tracey O’Drain, managing director were also on hand.
Now for the editorial rant. Some people will look at this effort and think “This ain’t going to make a difference”. Well I beg to disagree. Yes, it can make a difference. Harken back to 1979 when SEPTA hired David Gunn to be their the new General Manager. The first thing he saw was the deplorable state of the system which was covered with graffiti. I remember it well. There were some El cars with windows through which you could not see the light of day. He said that could not go on because it made people afraid to ride the El and subway. He said it had to be eliminated and it was.
Now why was that problem allowed to go on in the first place? Because people said “you can’t eliminate graffiti”. If you think you can’t do it, well of course you can’t. If you decide to solve the problem, at least you have a chance. You might fall short but you will be farther down the field than if you never had tried in the first place.
Cleaning crews have been in Frankford working since September 7th. I’ve seen them up on Oxford Avenue. They will continue until the 29th. A community cleanup is scheduled for October 2nd. There will be a big rally and fair on October 1st in front of the Thriftway at Frankford and Pratt from 11:30 to 2:30 PM.
We’ll pass along updates as they become available.
