You could say a lot about Passyunk Post, but we ain’t no welchers.
Back when the newly opened Noord was first announced, we dubbed chef Joncarl Lachman’s plan to open by the end of April overly ambitious, pompously listed several reasons and set the over-under for his opening date as May 10. He said he could beat it, wagered a bottle of champagne (the real stuff) and proceeded to open two days before.
Two days? Really?
Editor’s Note: Welcome to School Talk, a monthly guest column looking at education issues in South Philly. If you have concerns, ideas or other thoughts about the state of schools and ways to keep improving them, email us at punk@passyunkpost.com. To kick things off, we have Christine Knapp, education committee chair at the Passyunk Square Civic Association.
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It’s clear that South Philadelphia neighborhoods have been undergoing a dramatic change over the last several years that has created a palpable new energy.
However, much of that growth and excitement is stymied when parents begin to think about sending their children to school. Many parents assume that their local public school isn’t an option, which creates a scramble to get into charter or private schools. Others immediately begin to look to the suburbs for educational options.
For many civic associations, (more…)
Earlier this week, we showed off Isaiah Zagar’s magnificent Watkins Street space, a sparkling, frenetic piece of gargantuan artwork that he’s been working on just off 10th Street for seven years.
He’s nearly finished, but there’s just one problem. He doesn’t know what to do with it.
“I thought it could be an event space, or a restaurant, but I don’t know,” Zagar told us in an interview. ”I don’t know how to fulfill the next step.”
A friendly rivalry is taking root in the Navy Yard.
One of the area’s seemingly normal shipping containers is actually a hydroponic garden, built, designed and operated by city high school students from the Sustainability Workshop, Newsworks reported.
Pic by Kimberly Paynter/WHYY, via Newsworks.org
The garden’s fledgling lettuce plants are the product of a $10,000 grant from FreshDirect, an online grocery store that has created the Green Angel Fund Challenge, a bi-city contest that’s pitting the City of Brotherly Love with the City That Never Sleeps.
The senior-living development next to the Italian Market, Cedars Village on Ellsworth near 9th, is finished and residents began moving in this month.
The affordable-housing complex, developed by St. Maron’s CDC, an arm of the little Lebanese Catholic Church at 10th and Ellsworth, built 64 units on the 22,000-square-foot lot, plus 25 parking spaces and a community garden.
Demolition of St. John’s Episcopal at Reed and Moyamensing has begun, sending a cloud of dust onto that section of Pennsport. Thanks to photographer Tug Haines for sending us these pictures:
Otherworldly, no?
The church is being demolished to make way for 12 townhouses.
The East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association has announced that it is starting a community garden this month on the grounds of Neuman-Gorretti High, next to the civic’s office at 1729 S. 11th St.
Matt Simone, beautification chair for the civic, said they’ve been working behind the scenes on the garden for a few months and hope to have it completely built by June 15.
“We’ve made some big steps,” Simone told us last week. “The fence is up, we have a few plots in and have a couple builds planned over the next couple weeks.”
It’s tucked between the houses on Watkins Street and a Neumann-Goretti building. That gray building straight ahead is Isaiah Zagar’s Watkins Street version of the Magic Gardens
A hookah bar opened earlier this month at 1011 S. 11th St., just up the block from Le Viet.
Pics from their Facebook page
New Dehli Hookah Lounge’s website promises it will satisfy you more than any other game in town: “Our flavors are specially selected to enhance the taste of hookah and to increase the density of smoke,” they say. “New Delhi Hookah lounge only use 100% coconut charcoal to maximize the time of hookah.”
Some good news for Philadelphians: Forbes says we’re pretty flexible.
According to a recent study by the business mag, the nation’s fifth largest city is its third best city for yoga, behind Seattle and San Francisco.
Through reader surveys, Forbes found that Philly residents are 42 percent more likely to break out into a downward dog or cobra than the general population. Part of the 58 percent still sitting at home? The Friends of Mifflin Square Park want to change that.
Pic from Mifflin Friends Facebook page
A new pho house called Mi Dac Ky opened recently in the strip mall at 600 Washington Ave., and its gotten at least one good review on Yelp.
But what really caught our attention was this:
Pic comes to us from Foobooz
The restaurant calls it the “Chinese/Vietnamese Hoagie,” made with Peking duck, housemade duck liver pate, cucumber, carrots, jalapeños and cilantro on a French baguette, says Foobooz.
